Audit sampling 审计抽样

Audit sampling is 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.

审计抽样是指注册会计师对具有审计相关性的总体中低于百分之百的项目实施的审计程序，使得所有抽样单元都有被选取的机会，为注册会计师针对整个总体得出结论提供合理基础。

The population is the entire set of data from which a sample is selected and about which the auditor wishes to draw conclusions.

Sampling risk is the risk that the auditor's conclusion based on a sample may be different from the conclusion that would be reached if the entire population were subjected to the same audit procedure. Sampling risk can lead to two types of erroneous conclusions:

(i) In the case of a test of controls, that controls are more effective than they actually are, or in the case of a test of details, that a material misstatement does not exist when in fact it does. The auditor is primarily concerned with this type of erroneous conclusion because it affects audit effectiveness and is more likely to lead to an inappropriate audit opinion.

(ii) In the case of a test of controls, that controls are less effective than they actually are, or in the case of a test of details, that a material misstatement exists when in fact it does not. This type of erroneous conclusion affects audit efficiency as it would usually lead to additional work to establish that initial conclusions were incorrect.

抽样风险是指注册会计师根据样本得出的结论，可能不同于如果对整个总体实施与样本相同的审计程序得出的结论的风险。

Non-sampling risk is the risk that the auditor reaches an erroneous conclusion for any reason not related to sampling risk.

非抽样风险是指注册会计师由于任何与抽样风险无关的原因而得出错误结论的风险。

Sampling unit is the individual items constituting a population.

Stratification is the process of dividing a population into sub-populations, each of which is a group of sampling units which have similar characteristics, often monetary value.

An anomaly is a misstatement or deviation that is demonstrably not representative of misstatements or deviations in a population.

Tolerable misstatement is a monetary amount set by the auditor in respect of which the auditor seeks to obtain an appropriate level of assurance that the monetary amount set by the auditor is not exceeded by the actual misstatement in the population.

Tolerable rate of deviation is 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.

Examples of factors influencing sample size for tests of controls

The extent to which the auditor's risk assessment takes into account relevant controls

The tolerable rate of deviation

The expected rate of deviation of the population to be tested

The auditor's desired level of assurance that the tolerable rate of deviation is not exceeded by the actual rate of deviation in the population

The number of sampling units in the population

Examples of factors influencing sample size for tests of details

The auditor's assessment of the risk of material misstatement

The use of other substantive procedures directed at the same assertion

The auditor's desired level of assurance that tolerable misstatement is not exceeded by actual misstatement in the population

The tolerable misstatement

The amount of misstatement the auditor expects to find in the population

Stratification of the population when appropriate

The number of sampling units in the population