A.)  Primarily, the auditors want you to be able to prove that valid licenses for each specific product are present and that the number of licenses you are contracted to possess matches or exceeds the number of copyrighted products you have loaded on your systems.

Come down on the wrong side of this little math problem and you, may friend, get the chance to officially become a software pirate.

Second, and every bit as important as the first, the non compliance auditors will closely examine your receipts & proofs of purchase, certificates (stamps or proofs) of authenticity to determine if the products you have purchased are legal and not counterfeit.

And here's a REAL show-stopper - The collective enforcement groups are permitted to reach back as far as ten years searching for documentation to support--or deny--your claim to legal possession of their products.

Does anybody know ANYBODY who keeps receipts that long?

(There is MUCH more to audit documentation, but this description will at least get you started.)

Do you want to know more?

Here is a very valuable resource for you: Take a look at the Table of Contents (TOC) of my book: Modern Pirates. This is the only book where you can gain a complete vendor-neutral overview of the software auditing industry. Here's the thing: You have three choices in how you handle these issues.

• You can spend an enormous amount of money on consultants and proprietary software to help you get your copyright compliance and software asset management house in order. (Costs= $10,000 plus.)
  
• You can completely ignore the problem and the potential for catastrophic losses represented by the copyright protected products on your systems. (Cost= An easy six-figure settlement for the enforcement group.)
  
• You can establish an effective baseline asset management process using the simple--very cost-effective--methods I deliver in the book and via this web site. (Cost= Maybe $30.)
  

In Modern Pirates, I explain the audit process; the identities of a majority of audit enforcement groups as well as their tactics; and the processes you can use to stonewall the audit.  At the very least, through the simple information you'll find in Pirates, you'll be able to drastically cut the financial impact of the audit.