Audit Procedures For Statistical Sampling Of Inventory

Auditors using the relationship prefer to evaluate these judgment risks explicitly. Auditors know that an inventory sample is not necessarily identical to the entire population. The actual population is always going to deviate somewhat from the result of the samples. The auditors can decide how large of an allowance they can have based on their risk tolerance. Inventory accounts are the culprits for misstatements, so most auditors will choose a smaller allowance.

Financial statements are prepared per accounting standards and are meant to provide useful information for relevant decision-makers. However, the information provided needs to be accurate and fairly presented. Auditing is the process by which a company’s financial records are verified and examined.

Performing Audit Procedures

No errors anticipated in the sample, accept 5% risk that four or more items in 100 are incorrect in the population. Calculate the sample sizes which should be used in tests of control in the following circumstances. Auditor should select sample items that are the representative of the population in respect of characteristics being tested. 1.2 This HKSA is based on the premise (前提) that auditors do not normally examine all the information available to them; it would be impractical to do so and using audit sampling will produce valid conclusions. Whenever 2 or more accounting populations for a particular tax return are combined and examined with the aid of a statistical sample, the sample result can be combined according to the rules for a stratified sample. In this case, they may select 50 items randomly from the population or they may decide to select items from a fixed interval from the first item to the second item and onward. Statistical audit sampling is the sampling method that involves the application of probability theory and statistical inference.

Systematic selection is particularly useful when sampling from non-monetary populations, for example dispatch notes. Audit effort is directed to the larger value items because they have a greater chance of selection. Items to obtain information about the client’s business, the nature of transactions, or the client’s accounting or control systems. If an audited person does not have sufficient records or fails to provide records, the auditor shall determine the best information available and base the estimated tax liability on that information. To be used as a tool to investigate a specific matter that could lead to misstatement which is due to error or fraud.

Non-statistical audit sampling is the sampling method that auditors do not rely on the application of probability theory or statistical inference. Also, they do not use tables, formulas, or statistical percentages to compute the sample size. Sampling risk represents the possibility that an auditor’s conclusion based on a sample is different from that reached if the entire population were subject to audit procedure. The auditor may conclude that material misstatements exist, when in fact they do not; or material misstatements do not exist but in fact they do exist. In completing SOC 1 and SOC 2examinations , there is testing involved to determine the operating effectiveness of controls. There are different types of tests that can be applied to testing controls , and to complete a majority of these tests there is a sampling of populations that are required.

Planning Samples

The Auditor shall investigate the nature and causes of any deviations or misstatements identified, and evaluate their possible effect on the purpose of the audit procedure and on other areas of the audit. The Auditor shall consider the purpose of the audit procedures and the characteristics of the population from the which the sample will be drawn. Every item in population has equal chance of selection for sampling and each selected item for sample is of equal importance. Based on the theory from ISA, any method that not mean the criteria of the statistic is non-statistic.

To prove auditors have done their jobs base on the required auditing standards. External audits are performed by external parties that are seen as having more unbiased opinions since internal audits may be influenced by conflicts of interest. Internal audits are performed by the internal employees of an organization, but they are usually not distributed outside of the company. The relationship of the sample to the objective of the test of controls.

What Are The Different Types Of Audit Sampling Methods?

Audit sampling means, according to International Standard on Auditing 530“Audit Sample”, applying audit procedures to less than 100% of the items or class of transactions within an account balance. Sampling is used not only in auditing financial statements, but widely in market research, scientific analysis, market analysis, surveys. An ideal situation would involve studying the entire population under investigation. This is impossible in situations where we find large populations of data. Lower costs for auditors and the audited entity resulting from the application procedures for selected units only, is another advantage of using this technique. The auditor must use professional judgment to assess audit risk and establish appropriate procedures for the transactions and accounts tested. This article studies the non-statistical sampling technique used in testing area suppliers, presenting a selection of sample application based on this method.

Instead, auditors typically obtain a list of the inventory item numbers and use a random number generator to select samples. Statistic audit sampling is the sampling approach where auditor uses random sampling to select the items from the total population use the probabilities technique to measure the result of the testing and make a conclusion. For example, with statistical sampling, ten items are selected from the total population randomly. Every single item within the 100 has an equal probability of being selected and tested for accuracy as a result. Again, it benefits auditors since they can still make an audit opinion but do not have to check all 100 transactions. Sampling, as defined in this section, applies to such tests of controls. In addition, sampling may not apply to tests of certain documented controls.

Five Methods Of Audit Sampling Selection:

In statistical sampling, after using their professional judgment to consider the above factors, auditors determine to have 10% as the sample sizes which are 50 items. It is useful to note that if auditors use non-statistical sampling to determine the sample size and select the sample to test, the sampling risk cannot be measured or controlled. Also, each item in the population does not have an equal chance to be selected into the sample at all. Statistical audit sampling and non-statistical audit sampling are the two common approaches of audit sampling.

Usually, in an applicable auditing standard, e.g. in ISA 530, auditors need to follow the audit sampling guideline, so performing audit sampling can be considered as a basis of compliance with the required auditing standard. Hence, auditors need to determine how many records they should look at and what kind of records are more important to examine. This is where the audit sampling comes in to play an important role as auditors need to determine what is their sample of the records and documents to review. Audit sampling is usually performed in a way that all sampling units in the population have a chance of selection in order to provide us with a reasonable basis on which to make conclusions about the entire population. The Auditor shall perform audit procedures, appropriate to the purpose, on each item selected. If the audit procedure is not applicable to the selected item, the Auditor shall perform the procedures on a replacement item. The Auditor shall select items for the sample in such a way that each sampling unit in the population has a chance of selection.

Statistical Audit Sampling

The use of probability theory to evaluate sample results, including measurement of sampling risk. Simple Random Sampling – Every unit has the same probability of being selected. This type of sampling can easily be accomplished by assigning a number to each item in the population and then using a random number generator to randomly select numbers in the range of the population . Learn accounting fundamentals and how to read financial statements with CFI’s free online accounting classes. Using statistical sampling is recommended due to the high number of transactions.

• Increase in the size of population does not mean increase in sample size.
• For example, if there are 250 items in the population and 25 will be selected for testing, 250 is divided by 25 to come up with 10, therefore every 10th item in the population will be selected for testing.
• Either approach of audit sampling can provide auditors sufficient audit evidence when applied properly.
• The auditor should also consider whether to modify the other audit tests that were designed based upon the inherent and control risk assessments.
• Based on experiences, there are many different tools available in the market that we use could use to perform audit sampling.
• Auditors must perform audit procedures, appropriate to the purpose, on each item selected.

To ensure that the selected items could represent the total population, the selection process and methods should not involve too much from human judgments and should be avoiding bias from auditors. This is to ensure that the items selected represent the total population which enables auditors to draw their conclusion and express their opinion based on their predetermined objective. The risk of incorrect rejection is the risk that the sample supports the conclusion that the recorded account balance is materially misstated when it is not materially misstated. The risk of incorrect acceptance is the risk that the sample supports the conclusion that the recorded account balance is not materially misstated when it is materially misstated. 1.3 The auditor may select certain items from a population because of specific characteristics they possess. The results of items selected in this way cannot be projected onto the whole population but may be used in conjunction with other audit evidence concerning the rest of the population. In this method, auditors select a block of contiguous items from within the population as a sample.

Advantages Of Statistical Sampling

Consider a car dealership that sells a mix of its own cars and cars on consignment. Just because a car is sitting on the lot doesn’t necessarily mean it belongs to the dealership. In this case, the auditor may ask to see the car title to verify ownership.

• These two types of sampling contain many other methods which will be discussed in detail in this article.
• The auditor’s treatment of unexamined items will depend on their effect on his evaluation of the sample.
• A systematic selection of choosing every “nth” item doesn’t always work well in an organized inventory list.
• Complete procedures and processing of transactions should be studied from starting to end.
• Random-based selection of items represents one means of obtaining such samples.
• Monetary Unit Sampling is a type of value-weighted selection in which sample size, selection, and the evaluation result in a conclusion in monetary amounts.

Risk of under reliance (信賴不足風險) – this is the risk that the assessed level of control risk based on the sample is greater than the actual compliance rate of the control. Non-statistical sampling – the auditor considers sampling risk without using law of probability to measure it. Auditors must perform audit procedures, appropriate to the purpose, on each item selected. Haphazard sampling is the method of sampling that does not follow any structured technique. In this method, auditors choose a sample of records in a population without any conscious bias. In statistical sampling, each item in the population has a calculable chance of being selected as a sample to be examined.

Substantive test – analytical review and cut-off test provide conclusion of moderate assurance. Based on the given set of data, discuss the relationship between “extent of testing” and “degree of assurance”. The maximum amount of monetary overstatement or understatement error in the population will be expressed. It can only show the deviations from some benchmark but cannot give the monetary effect of such deviation.

Rules For An Inventory Audit

For example, if a given client’s control risk is high, a firm would typically require a high sample size when selecting records. In some circumstances the auditor may not be able to apply the planned audit procedures to selected sample items because, for example, supporting documentation may be missing. The auditor’s treatment of unexamined items will depend on their effect on his evaluation of the sample. If the auditor’s evaluation of the sample results would not be altered by considering those unexamined items to be misstated, it is not necessary to examine the items.

During audit, if any error or fraud is identified, those should be further investigated thoroughly. The information of medicine and health contained in the site are of a general nature and purpose which is purely informative and for this reason may not replace in any case, the council of a doctor or a qualified entity legally to the profession. Population – total debtors value of $5,525,000, excluding credit balances. It measures whether or not an individual monetary value is in error and by how much. Complete procedures and processing of transactions should be studied from starting to end. Internal control system of organization should be studied thoroughly to decide at what extent the test checks are to be applied. Some transactions should be identified during audit and those are to be checked thoroughly.

No doubt, this technique may provide a certain degree of reliability instead of complete reliable results. If, there is a satisfactory internal control system in any organization, a lesser degree of reliability of sample result may be acceptable. An Auditor may apply test checks where adequate internal control system is adopted by the organization and it is widely accepted in accounting and auditing profession. In it, the Auditor goes for selective verification instead of checking all the entries in the books.

Government audits are performed by government entities to ensure that financial statements have been prepared accurately. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service performs audits that verify the accuracy of a taxpayer’s tax returns.

What Is Statistical Sampling?

Based on experiences, there are many different tools available in the market that we use could use to perform audit sampling. And, if you don’t have the tool, you can use the function in excel instead of software. These two types of sampling contain many other methods which will be discussed in detail in this article. As the projected population error is significantly lower than the tolerable error, we can conclude that the recorded debtors are in existence and the balances are no materially misstated. Sequence sampling may however produce samples that are not representative of the population as a whole, particularly if errors only occurred during a certain part of the period, and hence the errors found cannot be projected onto the rest of the population.