Payroll Analytical Review
Build an independent expectation of basic pay from the HR file and compare it with what was paid.
- Ledger + 2 client documents
- Key analysis in Payroll
How the result is read
A substantive analytical procedure needs an expectation built from data the payroll run did not produce (ISA 520, AU-C 520). The HR file gives each employee’s approved salary and the months they were employed; together they say what basic pay should have been, by department. The register says what was paid. The difference is read against a threshold set before looking — tolerable error for the total, a share of the expectation by department — so a gap is an exception to investigate, not a fluctuation to explain away.
In the application
Payroll Analytical Review is filed under Payroll, index letter H. "Run all analyses" runs it with every other analysis the ledger and the documents loaded can answer. The worksheet states the population it tested on its face — or "Not applicable" with the reason when a column it depends on is empty — and the Excel workbook the engagement exports files it under H, beside an index of the source files with their SHA-256 fingerprints.
Read it with
Run your next audit file test without the Excel crash.
One free engagement to evaluate, valid 60 days. The ledger never leaves the machine.
- 20 minutes
- Runs on a fictional engagement
- No client data required