The use of sampling and CAATs within internal audit functions in the South African banking industry

This paper explored the use of audit evidence gathering techniques by internal audit functions in order to test the effectiveness of controls. The paper focused specifically on the use of audit sampling and computer assisted audit techniques (CAATs). The focus of the paper was the banking sector in South Africa. The increasing volumes of transactions that are processed by banks on a daily basis necessitated the internal audit function to adopt strategies in order to obtain audit evidence in a cost efficient manner in the execution of its mandate to senior management and the board of directors. The results derived from the paper indicated that audit sampling is still used more frequently compared to the use of CAATs. An anticipated decline in the use of audit sampling is however expected with an increase in the use of CAATs in the coming years. In addition, all the respondents indicated that the adoption and implementation of CAATs in their audit methodology is a priority within the next 12 months.