Join-and-Match
Definition
A cross-table technique that links two or more data files on a common key, such as matching vendor bank account numbers against employee bank account records to detect self-dealing payroll or accounts-payable schemes.
- Category
- Computer-assisted audit technique
- Method
- Relational join on a shared key field
- Common example
- Vendor bank details against employee bank details
- Detects
- Self-dealing, ghost vendors, payroll fraud
Common questions
What kind of data does an auditor typically join to run this test?+
Vendor master records against employee master records, matching fields such as bank account number or address, looking for exact or close matches between the two files.
Does a match alone prove fraud?+
No, a match is a red flag that requires follow-up, since shared banking or address details can also arise from legitimate family relationships or coincidence.
Related terms
- CAATs
- Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques: software-driven procedures applied to electronic data files that test the full population of transactions rather than a sample, covering...
- 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...
- 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...