A CAB audit verifies the total average distribution of a publication over a defined audit period. Every copy within the defined six or twelve month period is verified to produce the Average Net Distribution of an issue. The audit verifies and reports the average net distribution per issue, highlighting the printing and method of distribution, number of issues and the publishing frequency of each publication.

There are two audit periods, April to September and October to March.

All CAB information is published and distributed to members in the hard copy Summary Reports as well as to this web site.

What is an ABC audit?

An ABC audit verifies the paid circulation of a publication over a defined audit period. The audit verifies and reports the average number of copies sold per issue, the number of issues audited in the period, the cover price, any exclusions from audit and the publishing frequency of each publication.

The ABC reports average net paid sales of publications, quarterly. The intoroduction of four audits per year, each covering thirteen weeks for National, Metropolitan, Newspaper Inserted Magazines, Saturday and Sunday Newspapers, Weekly Magazines, Regional Dailies, Country Press and Agricultural Publications with circulation greater than 25,000 replaces the previous system of audits every six months.