China Factory
Audit Checklist (Excel)
84 checks across nine sections — licence and identity, machines and real capacity, quality records, materials, testing, workforce, export experience, safety and the red flags — with an audit score and recommendation that calculate themselves.
Get the Free Excel ChecklistAudit in 3 steps
Walk the plant, rate every line
Nine sections, 84 lines. Rate PASS / CONDITIONAL / FAIL / N-A from the drop-down and write what evidence you were actually shown.
Log the evidence
The evidence sheet lists the 22 documents and photos to ask for — licence, inspection records, calibration log, test reports, bills of lading, headcount.
Read the score
Section counts and the overall recommendation calculate automatically: approve, approve with conditions, or do not place a large order.
An audit without evidence is an opinion
A factory audit answers one question: can this company make my product, at my quality, on the date they promised — and are they who they say they are? The cheapest audit you will ever pay for is the one you do before the deposit. What follows are the checks that separate a factory from a reseller, and a real capacity figure from a sales number.
| Section | What you are verifying | Lines |
|---|---|---|
| A. Legal identity | Business licence, scope, registered address vs the address you visited, taxpayer status, export rights, bank account name | 10 |
| B. Facility & capacity | Machines actually present and running, warehouse, loading ability, declared capacity vs machines × shifts × cycle time | 12 |
| C. Quality system | Written standard, in-process and final inspection records, defect rate, non-conforming segregation, rework, complaints, calibration | 11 |
| D. Materials & traceability | Raw material source, grade vs quoted grade, batch traceability, storage, restricted substances | 8 |
| E. Testing & certification | In-house test equipment, third-party reports that match your model, routine batch testing, destination-market compliance | 8 |
| F. Workforce | Headcount by department, independent QC authority, engineering depth, shift pattern, key-person risk | 7 |
| G. Export experience | Previous shipments evidenced, experience with your market, document set, marking capability, in-house loading | 7 |
| H. Safety & compliance | Fire equipment, clear exits, electrical safety, PPE, chemical storage, waste, accommodation, age records | 11 |
| I. Red flags | Ten stop signals — mismatched company names, no production records for your model, outsourced critical process, no test data, prepayment to a third-party account | 10 |
Auto-scored result
PASS counts as 1, CONDITIONAL as 0.5. The summary sheet returns a percentage and a recommendation, and flags any FAIL first.
Evidence log
22 documents and photo sets to ask for, with columns for file name, date and who showed it to you — filled in as you go, not from memory.
Corrective-action block
A place to write the FAIL items, what the factory must fix before the deposit, the deadline and whether a re-audit is needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is a factory audit checklist?
The list of things to verify when you visit — or have someone visit — a supplier's plant before you order: legal identity, facility and equipment, real production capacity, quality management system, materials and traceability, testing, workforce, export experience, safety, and the red flags that mean you should walk away.
Factory audit vs product inspection — what is the difference?
A factory audit looks at the company and the plant — licences, machines, capacity, quality system, records — usually once per supplier, before the first order. A product inspection looks at the goods — an AQL sample of the batch, function, appearance, labels, packaging — per order. A good supplier is not automatically a good batch, and vice versa.
How do I tell a factory from a trading company?
Compare three things: the company name on the quotation, the name on the business licence, and the address registered on that licence against the address you are standing in. Then ask to see production records for the exact model you are buying. A trading company quoting as a factory usually fails on the registered address or cannot show the production record — and that matters because it adds a margin you did not agree to.
How long does a China factory audit take?
A one-day audit is the normal unit of work: half a day to a full day on site depending on the size of the plant and the number of production lines, plus travel. Larger or multi-building plants, or audits with a full document review and staff interviews, can run to two days.
How do I score a factory audit?
Rate every line PASS, CONDITIONAL, FAIL or N-A; count PASS as 1 and CONDITIONAL as 0.5, and divide by the number of items rated. Around 85% and above with no FAIL items is an approve; 70–85%, or fixable FAIL items, is approve with conditions in writing before the deposit; below 70%, do not place a large order. Any FAIL in the red-flag section is a stop signal whatever the score.
What documents should I ask for?
Business licence and unified social credit code record, product-specific operating permits, machine list, final inspection records for the last few months, defect-rate and customer-complaint logs, calibration records for measuring tools, raw material purchase invoices, component certificates, third-party test reports, previous bills of lading, and an organisation chart with headcount by department.
What are the biggest red flags?
The name on the quotation differs from the licence; the address you visited is not the registered address; the plant cannot show production records for the model you ordered; critical processes are outsourced with no traceability; no test equipment and no third-party report where one is required; a refusal of a video call or third-party inspection; and a demand for full prepayment to a personal or third-party bank account.
Do I need an audit for every order?
No — an audit is per supplier, not per order. Audit once before the first significant order, then rely on pre-shipment inspection for each batch. Re-audit when something changes: a new production site, a new product line, a change of ownership, a run of quality problems, or after two years without a visit.
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A checklist only works if somebody is standing in the plant with it. Send us the supplier name and city — our auditors visit, photograph, rate every line and send you the scored report with the red flags called out.
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Your numbers
Audited it. Now inspect the goods
The audit clears the supplier. These are the tools that keep the batches coming out the way the audit promised.
AQL Sampling Table
How many units to inspect and how many defects are allowed — ISO 2859-1 in a ready-to-use workbook.
Get the tableInspection Report Template
The fill-in report: 6 checkpoints, defect log, photo index and a signed PASS/FAIL.
Get the templateSupplier Risk Assessment
12 questions, four risk dimensions, no signup — run it on the audit findings before the deposit.
Run the assessmentWhy is this audit checklist free?
Because we use it ourselves. Every line on it comes from a factory visit that went wrong somewhere — the licence in another company's name, the machine that only existed in the catalogue, the inspection records that stopped three months ago. Publishing it costs us nothing and saves buyers the deposit.
Source and date: published by the audit team at Sourcing Agent China, Guangzhou; last reviewed in September 2026. The team has worked 12 years in the Pearl River Delta and verified 2,000+ suppliers for 3,000+ buyers.
Would you rather we visited the factory?
Our auditors in Guangzhou and the surrounding provinces visit the plant, work through this checklist, photograph the evidence and send you the scored report — including the FAIL items and the red flags, in writing, before you send any deposit.