Audit sampling (sampling)

Audit sampling is the application of an audit procedure to less than 100 percent of the items within an account balance or class of transactions to evaluate some characteristic of the balance or class. This section provides guidance for planning, performing, and evaluating audit samples. The auditor often is aware of account balances and transactions that may be more likely to contain misstatements. He considers this knowledge in planning his procedures, including audit sampling. The auditor usually will have no special knowledge about other account balances and transactions that, in his judgment, will need to be tested to fulfill his audit objectives. Audit sampling is beneficial in these cases[Public Company Accounting Oversight Board]
Audit sampling is the use of an audit procedure to select items within an account balance or class of transactions. The sampling method should yield an equal probability that each unit in the sample could be selected. The intent behind doing so is to evaluate some aspect of the information. Audit sampling is needed when population sizes are large since examining the entire population would be highly inefficient. There are multiple ways to engage in audit sampling, including the methods noted below[AccountingTools]

Sources:

Audit sampling definition. AccountingTools. Retrieved from: https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/audit-sampling.html

Audit Sampling. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, PCAOB. Retrieved from: https://pcaobus.org/oversight/standards/auditing-standards/details/AS2315