Audit Sampling: Audit Guide (2025)

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Unlock audit confidence

Your essential resource for mastering both statistical and nonstatistical audit sampling, this guide is designed to help practitioners with complex sampling concepts and step-by-step instructions for planning, performing, and evaluating audit samples. Whether you’re performing tests of controls or substantive procedures, you’ll find clear explanations, illustrative case studies, and practical tables that translate theory into actionable procedures.

Audit sampling is about making confident decisions with less than 100% of the data. This sampling guide addresses the core challenge: how to obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence while balancing efficiency and effectiveness. It also answers critical questions such as:

• How do I determine the right sample size?
• What’s the best way to project results?
• How do I evaluate sampling risk and respond to unexpected findings?

Recent updates

Stay ahead of the curve with guidance that reflects the latest standards, including:

• SAS No. 146, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Generally Accepted Auditing Standards
• SAS No. 145, Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement
• SAS No. 142, Audit Evidence
• SAS No. 138, Amendments to the Description of the Concept of Materiality
• SAS No. 137, The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information Included in Annual Reports

Key Topics

• Audit sampling fundamentals — definitions and objectives, as well as when to use audit sampling rather than 100% testing
• Statistical vs. nonstatistical sampling — differences and advantages, as well as when to apply each approach
• Factors influencing sample size: risk, tolerable misstatement, expected misstatement, and population variability
• Sampling risk and nonsampling risk — understand, measure, and mitigate risks in audit sampling
• Monetary unit sampling and classical variables sampling
• Step-by-step guidance, tables, and case studies
• How to design and evaluate samples that serve multiple objectives or cover multiple locations
• Methods for projecting misstatements, handling deviations, and interpreting findings

Who Will Benefit

• Auditors, investigators, management oversight personnel