Daily Casefile · Audit

The Inflated Fat-Bill at Murchison & Syme

≈ 4 min

Murchison & Syme Candle and Soap Works in Leith purchases rendered tallow from several local slaughterers on a quarterly basis, reimbursing the purchasing clerk for all verified expenditure. For the quarter ending 30 June 1885, clerk Duncan Prentice has submitted a schedule of four tallow purchase invoices totalling £47 3s 6d. The Works comptroller, suspicious that costs have risen sharply against last quarter with no change in output, has referred the schedule to an independent auditor. You are asked to read the filed invoice lines against the supporting records and identify any line that cannot be reconciled with the evidence.