PBC list template: columns and sections for an Excel request list

Most small audit firms already have a PBC list template, usually a spreadsheet that started as one partner's list years ago and has grown a column at a time. This guide is for tidying that template or starting a clean one: which columns earn their place, how to lay out sections, sample rows you can paste in, and how to roll it forward without carrying last year's noise.

It assumes Excel, but everything here works the same in Google Sheets.

Two audiences, one sheet

A PBC list is read by two groups with different needs:

• The client needs to know what to give you, by when, and in what form. They want short, plain requests and nothing else.
• Your team needs to track every item: who owes it, whether it arrived, whether it was right, and how late it is.

The usual mistake is building the template for only one of them. Put the client's columns first, the tracking columns to the right, and hide or drop the tracking columns when you send a copy out.

The columns

Days late, with the due date in column E, the status in column G and the sheet starting at row 2:

=IF(OR(G2="Received",G2="Not applicable",E2=""),"",MAX(0,TODAY()-E2))

Format the due date and date received columns as dates. If dates were pasted as text, the formula returns an error; re-enter them as dates.

Header names that travel well

Keep header names plain and conventional. Tools that read a spreadsheet (including your own lookups and pivot tables) work best when the headers say what they hold. "Request" or "Description" for the item, "Responsible" or "Assigned to" for the owner, and "Due date" or "Date needed" for the date are all clear. Avoid merged header cells and multiple header rows; one header row with one name per column is easiest for everyone.

If you put a title block above the headers ("Riverside Food Bank, PBC list, FY2026"), keep it to a row or two so the header row is still obvious.

Sections and sample rows

Group rows by section, either with a Section column or with a section heading row above each group. A Section column is easier to sort and filter; heading rows are easier for clients to read. If you use heading rows, leave the other cells in that row empty so it is clear the row is a heading, not an item.

These sample rows are a starting point for a small nonprofit audit. Your audit program decides the real list.

Ref   Section            Request                                                         Responsible        Due date    Format
A-1   Cash               Bank statements, all accounts, Jul 2025-Jun 2026 and Jul 2026   Controller         10/09/2026  PDF
A-2   Cash               Bank reconciliations, all accounts, at 6/30/2026                Controller         10/09/2026  Excel
B-1   Receivables        Schedule of grants receivable at 6/30/2026                      Executive director 10/14/2026  Excel
B-2   Revenue            Donor-restricted gift agreements over $10,000                   Executive director 10/14/2026  PDF
C-1   Fixed assets       Fixed asset roll-forward with additions and disposals           Controller         10/14/2026  Excel
D-1   Payables           Accounts payable aging at 6/30/2026                             Controller         10/16/2026  Excel
E-1   Payroll            Payroll registers for the year                                  Payroll manager    10/16/2026  Any
E-2   Payroll            Quarterly payroll tax filings (941s) and state equivalents      Payroll manager    10/16/2026  PDF
F-1   General            Board minutes for the year and through fieldwork                Executive director 10/21/2026  PDF
F-2   General            Trial balance at 6/30/2026 after closing entries                Controller         10/09/2026  Excel

The dollar threshold in B-2 is an example; use your own materiality and sampling decisions.

Writing requests clients understand

• Name the period. "Bank statements" invites a question; "Bank statements, Jul 2025-Jun 2026 and Jul 2026" does not.
• Use their words. An HOA treasurer knows "reserve account statements," not "restricted cash support."
• One thing per row. "Loan agreement and amortization schedule and covenant calculation" will come back two-thirds complete and be hard to mark off. Split it.
• Say what "complete" looks like. "For all accounts" or "including the payroll provider's summary" saves a round trip.

Rolling it forward each year

1. Copy last year's final list, not the template you started with. It holds the owners and the items that turned out to matter.
2. Clear the tracking columns. Status, date received, client notes and days late start empty.
3. Update every date in the requests. Search for last year's year-end date and replace it.
4. Remove what no longer applies (a paid-off loan, an ended grant) and add what is new.
5. Check owners against the planning meeting. Staff turnover at small clients is the most common reason an item goes to the wrong person.
6. Stagger the due dates so the schedules your team needs first are due first.

Keeping it the source of truth

The template only helps if the live copy stays current. Update it the day items arrive, sort by Responsible and then Due date before each follow-up, and keep one copy per engagement rather than one per staff member. The PBC list guide covers tracking and the habits that keep a list from stalling.

Using the template with PBC Nudge

PBC Nudge works from this kind of spreadsheet. You upload the .xlsx or .csv, it finds the header row and suggests a mapping for item, ref, section, owner, due date and format from your column names, and you confirm it once; the mapping is saved for your next engagement. Each owner then gets one link with only their items and reminders until each one arrives, and you can download the status back to Excel with your own columns plus status, received date, client notes, file names and days late.