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Governance, Risk, Audit & Privacy · Intermediate

Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques (CAAT)

Tools and techniques using computers to automate audit procedures such as data extraction and analysis.

Definition

CAATs include generalized audit software (such as ACL/Diligent HighBond and IDEA), utility programs, SQL queries, test data, and continuous auditing tools. They enable testing of entire populations, reducing sampling risk. Auditors must ensure data integrity and avoid altering production data.

Example

An auditor uses IDEA to identify duplicate vendor payments across 2 million records.

Exam tip

Prefer read-only copies of data when using CAATs to protect production integrity.

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