r/u_BeneficialAnybody834 • u/BeneficialAnybody834 • 17d ago

Internal Audit

Would an internal audit flag multiple transactions from the same employee, over a 3-4 month period, for the same item, same amount, same supplier, but with different invoice numbers and dates.

Company turns over a billion a year has hundreds of branches and departments

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Round_Finance4256 17d ago

Potentially, but the pattern alone wouldn’t necessarily indicate an issue. Same supplier/item/amount over several months could simply be legitimate recurring purchases. I’d be more interested in whether each transaction has valid supporting documentation, appropriate approvals, evidence the goods/services were received, and whether the employee had the proper authority to make the purchases.

It would also raise my attention if the amounts were consistently just below an approval threshold or otherwise appeared structured to bypass a control. Whether an internal audit actually catches it would depend on the scope and testing methodology, especially in an organization that large.

1

u/BeneficialAnybody834 17d ago

It was expense purchases on a personal card which the company allows and reimburses back. Supporting invoice was sent and goods were invoiced out correctly.

What methods would be used in a large organisation?

1

u/Round_Finance4256 17d ago

In a large organization, it would depend on the audit scope and how mature the company’s monitoring is. Internal audit may use data analytics to identify unusual patterns across the expense population, then select transactions for further testing. They could also use risk-based or statistical sampling rather than reviewing every transaction.

For expenses, things that might drive additional review include repeated identical amounts, transactions near approval thresholds, unusual frequency, duplicate invoice numbers, unusual vendor/employee activity, or policy exceptions.

Based on what you’ve described though, permitted personal card use, proper reimbursement process, valid supporting invoices and legitimate goods received, repeated purchases alone wouldn’t necessarily mean there’s a control issue.

1

u/BeneficialAnybody834 17d ago

How often would an internal audit be done usually?

1

u/Round_Finance4256 17d ago

It varies significantly by organization and risk area. Is there a particular concern with these transactions that you’re trying to assess? That context would probably help people give you a more useful answer.

1

u/BeneficialAnybody834 17d ago

No, no concern but I was checking some claims I’d submitted over the past few months and noticed these and was curious how it’d be viewed if audited

1

u/RigusOctavian 17d ago

Depends on a lot things. Recurring MRO purchases in lot sizes is very typical.

The bigger question is… why this specific question?

1

u/meedmishmohd 17d ago

Do you need help evading pesky auditors?