A documented evidence chain from media plan to invoice to platform to business outcome. Our methodology explains what we collect, how we test it, how findings are reviewed, and what appears in the final report.
A paid media audit is only as credible as the evidence behind it. We begin by defining the audit period, entities, markets, agencies, platforms and business questions in an engagement letter. We then obtain source records directly, test their completeness, perform the agreed procedures, and document the evidence supporting every material finding.
The work is designed for decision-makers who need more than a campaign review. Finance needs reconciliation. Procurement needs contract and fee transparency. Marketing needs an accurate view of delivery and performance. The final report connects those perspectives without allowing any one reporting system to become the sole source of truth.
Engagement scopes, agency contracts, rate cards, fee schedules, insertion orders and approved media plans establish what was agreed.
Invoices, credits, purchase orders and general-ledger extracts establish what the company paid and how it was classified.
Read-only platform exports, ad-server logs and verification records establish what was bought, served and attributed.
Orders, recognised revenue, margin, lead quality and other source-of-truth outcomes test whether reported performance reached the business.
A standard engagement runs for six weeks. Larger multi-market or multi-year scopes may require additional time.
Define the questions, period, material channels and stakeholders. Identify where financial exposure or reporting uncertainty is greatest.
Collect source records, document systems and owners, and reconcile control totals before detailed testing begins.
Perform plan-to-invoice, invoice-to-platform and platform-to-outcome procedures across the practices included in scope.
Discuss exceptions with record owners, obtain supporting evidence and distinguish isolated errors from systemic control failures.
Partner review tests whether the evidence supports the conclusion, the financial effect is defensible and limitations are disclosed.
Deliver the written report, supporting schedules and a stakeholder readout focused on decisions, owners and remediation priorities.
What the evidence shows happened during the period under review.
The contract term, control, approved plan, reporting rule or business expectation used for comparison.
The process, incentive, system or oversight failure that produced the exception.
The quantified exposure where records support a defensible calculation, with assumptions stated.
The source records and procedures that support the conclusion and allow it to be challenged.
The specific control, contract, reporting or buying change required, with an accountable owner.
The methodology supports all five paid media audit services: spend reconciliation, ROI verification, fee and incentive review, process and controls testing, and benchmarking.
We will explain the proposed scope, evidence requirements and reporting standard before an engagement begins.