CAATs
Definition
Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques: software-driven procedures applied to electronic data files that test the full population of transactions rather than a sample, covering procedures such as duplicate detection, gap testing, stratification, and join-and-match.
- Full name
- Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques
- Coverage
- Tests the full population of transactions, not a sample
- Common procedures
- Duplicate detection, gap testing, stratification, join-and-match
- Field
- Forensic accounting and fraud examination
Common questions
Why does testing the full population matter compared to traditional sampling?+
Fraud is often concentrated in a small number of transactions that a random sample could easily miss. Running CAATs across every transaction removes that sampling risk and can surface anomalies, such as duplicate payments or sequence gaps, that would never be flagged by a partial review.
What is join-and-match testing used for in a CAATs procedure?+
It cross-references two datasets, such as a vendor master file against an employee address list, to surface matches that suggest a conflict of interest, like a shell vendor sharing an address or bank account with an employee, which is a classic fraud indicator.
Related terms
- Duplicate Detection
- A systematic search for records that share key fields (invoice number, vendor, amount, date) that should be unique, surfacing duplicate payments, double...
- Gap Test
- A test that identifies missing numbers in a document sequence (check numbers, invoice series, purchase orders) where continuity is expected; gaps often...
- Join-and-Match
- A cross-table technique that links two or more data files on a common key, such as matching vendor bank account numbers against...
- Ratio Analysis
- Calculation of financial ratios across periods or business units to identify statistically unusual deviations that might indicate manipulation: cost ratios, gross margin...
- Sequence Analysis
- Verification that a numbered series progresses in expected order without skips, reversals, or unexpected repetitions. It is the positive counterpart to gap...
- Stratification
- The grouping of numeric values into defined ranges (strata) to reveal the distribution of a dataset. In fraud detection, large concentrations of...