Rules & Resources
Guides and Recordkeeping
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How a Circulation Audit is Conducted

While each audit is based on individual circumstances, ABC auditors generally examine the following items during a newspaper audit:

  • Circulation ledgers showing totals for each issue by circulation type; i.e., home delivery, single-copy sales and mail subscriptions.


  • Publisher records verifying geographic circulation breakdown by counties and towns and/or by Postal code receiving more than 25 copies.


  • Analysis of subscriber records, including payment and term received.


  • Subscription and single-copy prices, including changes that occurred during the audit period.


  • Return policies and percentages of leftover, undelivered or unsold copies by geographic area.


  • Carrier and dealer records, including billings, contests, credits and payments.


  • Promotion file detailing direct marketing campaigns, radio and television promotions and telemarketing efforts to verify validity of reduced-price offers and premium offers.


  • Any facts required to verify additional circulation information.
When conducting an audit, ABC auditors familiarize themselves with local conditions affecting circulation patterns. For example, increases in the number of households in an area usually will be followed by increases in circulation. Popular tourist areas may show increases in single-copy sales during the tourist season. A temporary increase in home-delivery sales may indicate a contest for newspaper carriers. These are only a few of the situations auditors may investigate.

ABC newspaper Publisher's Statements are issued every six months and are printed on yellow paper to differentiate them from the Audit Report, which is white. In addition, Publisher's Statements merely contain the claims of the publisher and are subject to audit by ABC.