Advanced Audit Assignment 4 MM
Advanced Audit Assignment 4 MM
According to The international standards on auditing (ISAs), ISA (530) defines audit sampling
as "The application of audit procedures to less than 100% of items within a population of audit
relevance such that all sampling units have a chance of selection in order to provide the auditor
with a reasonable basis on which to draw conclusions about the entire population".
• Tolerable Error: refers to the maximum error in the population that the auditor would be
willing to accept. ISA 530 defines the tolerable rate of deviation as “A rate of deviation
from prescribed internal control procedures set by the auditor in respect of which the
auditor seeks to obtain an appropriate level of assurance that the rate of deviation set by the
auditor is not exceeded by the actual rate of deviation in the population”.
Tolerable rate of deviation has also an inverse relationship with sample size. Thus, the sample
size increases when the acceptable tolerable rate of deviation decreases.
• Expected Population Deviation Rate: The expected population deviation rate is the rate of
deviation that the auditor expects to exist in the population. It can be estimated by the
auditor’s judgment taking into account factors such as the overall control environment and
previous audit findings.
The expected population deviation rate has a direct relationship with sample size. So, if the
expected population deviation rate declines, the sample size decreases.
• Population Size: Population size has a direct relationship with sample size. Therefore, the
increase in population size leads to an increase in sample size.
Auditors most often use systematic sample selection to generate random numbers because it
reduces bias. A. In systematic sampling, the auditor calculates an interval and then
methodically selects the items for the sample based on the size of the interval.