Audit sample

Audit sampling is the application of audit procedures to less than 100% of the contents of the articles of the account balance or business transactions. When it is formed, the auditor can select all (solid sampling), specific or individual elements. Continuous verification in many cases is not rational and expedient. Therefore, most often it is conducted by private elements.

In determining the appropriate method for selecting elements for analysis, the auditor should correctly assess the goals set for him, the population and the volume of the forthcoming sample.

The sample in the audit consists of the following stages:

1. Determination of the selection method;
2. Determination of volume, sampling;
3. Execution of the main audit procedure in relation to the selected material;
4. Analysis of results, their distribution to the general population.

Audit audit begins with the definition of the site of accounting and specific tasks that need to be solved on this site. Typically, such purposes are to identify violations that could affect the reliability of reporting (financial, accounting).

It is mandatory to perform all control procedures, such as the correctness of the preparation of primary documents (contracts, invoices, invoices, etc.), coordination with the management of all ongoing business operations, accompanied by the expenditure of funds for the acquisition of material values specified in the documents. The auditor should establish the degree of timeliness and completeness of the reflection of transactions in financial and accounting statements.

The aggregate is all documents or business transactions that need to be checked. Audit sampling is the basis for analyzing the entire set of financial documents. Based on the results of this analysis, an audit report is subsequently formed . If the sample is made from documents for the first half of the year, then the conclusions will be distributed, respectively, to the total set of documents for this period (and not for the entire fiscal year).

The method by which the audit sample is conducted is determined by the reception of stratification. It is understood as the process of splitting the general population into subparticles (subsets), which consist of elements possessing the property of homogeneity (having common characteristics).

When determining the sample size, it is necessary to take into account its risk, the level of admissible and expected errors.

The risk of sampling means that the auditor's conclusion based on it can differ from that made on the basis of an analysis of the total population.

An acceptable error is the possible maximum distortion of data in the general population, expressed in monetary terms, which does not lead to a significant distortion of the reporting. The allowed error size is determined when planning an audit.

The expected error is called the forecasted by the auditor, which should be present in the total aggregate.

The audit sample should be representative (representative), which means that any element of the general population may have the opportunity (equal probability) to get into the sample.

The main methods are the following: random, unsystematic and systemic selection.

The selective audit study is completed by conducting an analysis of the deviations detected during the verification and their distribution to the general population. Absolutely representative sample is almost impossible, there is always the possibility that according to the results of actions performed by an expert, due to the audit risk, an incorrect opinion will be drawn up.