How Statistical Auditing Tells Us About Life, the Universe, and Everything

• Activity Number: 196 - How Statistical Auditing Tells Us About Life, the Universe, and Everything
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 : 1:30 PM to 3:20 PM
• Sponsor: Statistical Auditing Interest Group
• Author(s): Wendy Rotz* and Nick Brouwer* and John Hilton* and James Ashley*
• Companies: Grant Thornton LLP and Office of the Auditor General of Canada and Office of the Auditor General of Canada and U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Keywords: Auditing; Government; Finance; Evaluation; Data Science; Risk

Abstract

Audit uses data and statistical methods to inform us of what works and what does not. It has identified grand malfeasance on the part of corporations and it has challenged governments. In this session, we will identify and describe how statistical auditing has shaped and reshaped the business environment, the political landscape, and the services on which we all rely. We will do this in the context of real-world stories and examples. In a world dominated by competing versions of facts audit has become increasingly relevant as a means of informing business and society of important and actionable truths. We will focus on the increasing use of statistical methods particularly in performance audit, but also in financial audit and how these methods have informed us and brought about positive changes through the application of statistics and data science. Audit departments and offices are responding to these needs by focusing their growth on these new approaches. Indeed, recent hiring in audit has strongly focused on building capacities in statistics and data science and using those tools to tell us more about governments, organizations, and corporations.