Maybe a detailed explanation of practical as it pertains to refining accounting is in order here.
First off, my accountants were CPA's (certified public accountants) and as such they are held to a level of accountability as well, and they were anything but pliable. Let me go through what was involved with their 4 annual in house audits which they felt were adequate to verify my ongoing "self assessments."
To start every job that came into the refinery had a lot number which was a combination of the day it arrived and the customers 4 character identifier. This was followed with the scrap type, incoming weight, after burn or after melt weight, settlement weight. This paper traveled with the lot until it was ready for assay. The assay number was only linked to this sheet of paper in the office. In the assay lab every lot number contained the sample weight and the results for every metal requested. These assay results were kept in stitch bound numbered notebooks which were in the assay lab until a new book was required and then it moved to the vault. When the assay results were reported, our in house bean counter entered the assay results onto the sheet of paper that started when the lot arrived on site. He added the date we settled the job and the metal prices for the day of settlement. From the data on this sheet a settlement could be calculated.
When the accountants came to do an audit they typically stayed 2 or 3 days. First thing they would do would go to the assay lab and pick out randomly about 6 or 8 assay numbers. Totally random, I had no say in what they picked. They then went to the in house accountant and got the data sheets that pertained to those lots and from there they could calculate the amount of money (or metal) the customer was paid. They also could calculate the number of ounces of metal retained for charges as this was potential income.
To double verify this information for lots sent out to the majors for sale or refining, every lot that made up a larger melt for karat or powder for sweeps indicated the process lots that went into that lot and the larger bar being shipped was melted in house and assayed. And the sweeps lots were blended and sampled as well. All of the numbers in these lots had to add up to the totals the CPA's calculated or they would have questions.
At the end of their audit they would know if the lots they randomly chose added up. Once I remember a lot where one drum of a 6 drum blend was not shipped by omission on our part. But that last missing drum was given a lot number and assayed and entered the paperwork process again. When they randomly picked that lot the note on the paperwork directed them to the follow up paperwork which made things add up.
This is far from me giving them a page full of numbers and telling them to do their thing. We didn't have to do anything special to prepare for an audit as all of the paperwork was on file and it never failed us. Actually not true.... we did have to supply the auditors with coffee and donuts.
They did not.... nor could they, do this process with every job that went through the shop. I knew our paperwork added up and my in house accounting totaled our expenses, metals bought, refinery payments incoming from which we calculated our margins.
The accountants were satisfied that we had a proper paper trail and we never failed an audit. And some of our lots were every refiners favorite account called "house". Those lots were assayed and recorded but the values went straight to the bottom line.
I hope you can see from the above description that the word pliable never entered the accounting process.
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