Oct 31, 2026Sourcing Guides
Factory Audit Checklist: 12 Documents Before You Wire a Deposit
A supplier can send a thick file and still leave the important questions open. The 12 document sets we read before a deposit, and the gap inside each one.
A supplier sends a folder before the deposit: a license, a few certificates, a floor plan, photos of machines and a bank account. The folder looks complete, and that is the risk. A document is not a badge. It is a claim with a date, a scope and a boundary, and the buyer must read the boundary before the deposit leaves.
We review supplier files for importers and brands, usually after the buyer has a quote and before the first deposit. The review is not an audit. An audit sends someone to the floor; a file review decides whether a visit is worth the money and whether the deposit should wait. The 12 sets below are the file we ask for. Some sets contain more than one sheet, but each set answers one question and leaves one gap. They run in five groups: identity, capacity, quality, compliance and commercial.
A File Is Not a Badge
The first mistake is treating a document as a pass. A business license proves that a company exists, not that it makes the product. A certificate proves that a management system was audited at a site on a date, not that the next batch will match. A test report proves that a sample passed a standard under stated conditions, not that every unit will.
The second mistake is asking for everything and reading nothing. A 200-page file can hide the one page that matters: the scope line, the expiry date, the model number or the name on the bank account. We read for the line that ties the document to this order, this product and this payment.
The third mistake is letting the supplier choose the file. A good file review begins with the product and the order: what is being bought, from which site, for which market, at what volume. Then the documents are read against those facts. A file without that frame is a brochure.
The 12 sets are not a score. They are a way to see if the supplier can support the claims in the quote. A strong set in one group and an empty set in another raises a question; it is not a pass.
Identity: Three Sets
Set one is the business license together with the current public record. We check the company name, the unified social credit code, the legal representative, the registered address, the business scope, the establishment date and the status. The public record shows the legal representative and shareholders, and it may show litigation or enforcement entries. It does not prove that the person signing the quote has authority to bind the company; that needs a company chop, a board resolution or a written authorization, checked against the contract.
Set two is the bank account and the payment path. The account name should match the license, and the path should be explained before the deposit. A personal account, a Hong Kong account with no explanation, or an account in a different company's name is a stop sign. We ask for a payment path letter on company paper and compare the beneficiary with the contracting entity.
Set three is the site document: a lease, a property certificate or a site-use letter. It tells us where production happens and whether the address on the license can be checked against a real place. A trading office can hold a lease too, so the document does not prove a factory. It proves that the address is not only a line in a chat.
A file has a date problem even when every page is current. A license issued before a name change, a certificate that expired last month, a test report from last year's revision: each one may be genuine and still describe a different company or product. We line up the dates and the names before we read the content. What matters is not whether the document exists; it is whether it describes the supplier you are paying.
Capacity: Two Sets
Set four is the floor plan and the process flow. The plan should show the production area, the warehouse, the QC area, the packing area and the loading area. The flow should show where material enters, where it is cut, molded, assembled, tested and packed. We set the plan beside the flow and look for a step that has no space or a space that has no step. A plan without a flow is a drawing.
Set five is the equipment list with maintenance and calibration records. That list needs to name the machines that matter for this product, their quantity, their age and their status. A list of every machine in the building is less useful than a short list of the machines your order will touch. We ask which machine runs your part and what happens if that machine stops. The maintenance log shows care; the calibration record shows whether a measurement can be trusted.
A current floor plan and a current equipment list should carry a date and a version. A plan from the old building or a machine list from before a line was replaced is a history file. We ask for the version that matches the site visit, and we compare the machine list with the process flow. A step that needs a machine not on the list is a gap.
Quality: Two Sets
Set six is the quality manual, the golden sample record, and the inspection records. The manual describes the system; the records show whether the system runs on an ordinary day. We ask for the IQC, IPQC, FQC and OQC records for a recent batch, with defect codes, sample size and disposition. We also ask for the golden sample record: what was approved, when, by whom and against which drawing. The sample itself should be sealed and held by both sides. A photo of a sample is not a sealed sample.
Set seven is the product test report. We check the model, the batch, the standard, the test conditions, the lab and the date. A report for a different model or an older revision is a report for a different product. A report from an unknown lab is a question. A report with the model but no production site is a partial answer. The report supports a claim about a sample; it does not certify the next batch.
Traceability is the quiet test in the quality set. A lot code should connect the incoming material to the finished carton and to the inspection record. If the factory cannot connect one batch from material to shipment, the records are separate pages, not a system. We ask for one recent lot and follow it through.
Compliance: Three Sets
Set eight is the management-system certificate. We read the scope, the site, who issued it and when it expires. A certificate for a different site or a different product category does not cover your order. A certificate that expired last year is a history file, not a current claim. The certificate describes how the site operates; it does not approve the product.
Set nine is the social compliance audit. A BSCI audit report or a SMETA audit shared through Sedex describes a labor and social audit at a point in time. We read the date, the grade or findings, the scope and the corrective actions. A report with open corrective actions is a live document, not a clean bill. It is not a quality certificate, and it does not approve a product.
Set ten is the permit file: fire safety, environmental approval, production license or export license, as applicable to the product and the site. We check the scope and the validity against the actual process. A permit for a different process or a different building is not a permit for this order. The permit proves that a process is allowed; it does not prove that the process is controlled.
A management-system certificate covers the site, not the item. It says the site has a system for quality, environment or safety; it does not say the product meets the market's rule. The product report belongs to the product, and the certificate belongs to the site. A buyer who treats one as the other will miss the gap.
Commercial: Two Sets
Set eleven is the export record. A customs declaration or a bill of lading shows that goods moved across a border. A shipment schedule shows intent and rhythm, not a completed export. We read the dates, the product description and the destination, with the consignee redacted. The record proves that the company has a working export path; it does not prove that the goods were good.
Set twelve is the sub-supplier list with the tooling and mold list. The first names the critical parts or processes that come from outside: a board, a cell, a coating, a molding step. The second states who owns each tool, who maintains it, where it is stored and what happens when the relationship ends. If ownership is not written down, the buyer has no documented claim; treat the tool as factory-controlled until a tooling agreement assigns it. The list should match the agreement, not contradict it.
The commercial file has one more test: consistency. The company name on the quote, the invoice, the bank account and the license should be the same, and the address should match the site document. A mismatch is not always fraud; it can be a trading arm, a group company or a recent rename. But the explanation should be in the file, not invented by the buyer.
Read the File, Then Decide
The 12 sets do not produce a score. They produce four decisions: proceed, request more, visit the site, or stop. A file that is consistent across identity, capacity, quality, compliance and commercial is a reason to continue. A file that is strong in one group and empty in another is a reason to ask why.
The file is checked against this order, not a generic checklist. The license must cover the product; the bank must match the seller; the site must match the address; the equipment must match the process; the quality records must match the batch; the certificate must match the site; the export record must match the product; the tooling must match the agreement. The match is the evidence.
A file review is cheap compared with a wrong deposit. It is not a substitute for an audit or an inspection. It tells the buyer which of the two is worth paying for, and which questions should be answered before money changes hands.
Send the supplier's name and the file set you have. We will return a one-page read on what is missing (/contact-us). The contract is signed in the name of Dore Technology Co., Ltd. B2B buyers are accepted once their yearly spend passes USD 10,000. This file is not the decision. It is the map to the decision. The site work that follows this read is described on /b2b-sourcing.
