Auditing Ritter 审计学基于的环境变化的概念ch09.pptVIP

Chapter 9 Audit Sampling Overview Audit sampling is defined as applying audit procedures to less than 100 percent of a population in order to estimate some characteristic about that population Typically, auditors sample to determine whether A control procedure is operating effectively (test of controls) An account balance is presented fairly (substantive test) Fraud exists Overview (continued) In some cases, sampling may not be the best approach Some audit procedures do not provide sufficient evidence when applied on a sample basis Example: auditors read minutes of all BOD meetings to identify related party transactions Reading the minutes of a sample of BOD meetings would not be sufficient Audit procedures that provide high quality evidence at low cost may be applied more extensively simply because its cheaper to test all items rather than sampling Example: auditors typically confirm all bank account balances Account balances that are immaterial (or where the potential misstatement is immaterial) may not be worth sampling Such accounts may be audited more efficiently with analytics Overview (continued) From the results of sampling, the auditor makes an inference about the underlying population For this inference to be valid, the sampling units tested must be representative of the underlying population The auditor needs to make four important decisions to ensure the sample is representative and to control against making an incorrect inference: Which population should be tested and for what characteristics? (population) Sample size? Which items should be included in the sample? (selection) What inferences can be made from the sample? (evaluation) What is non-sampling and sampling risk? When auditors draw an erroneous inference from sampling, the cause is either non-sampling or sampling risk Non-sampling Risk Occurs when auditor does not appropriately carry out audit procedures or misinterprets results Results from human error Cannot be quantified CPA firms try t