Date Sample is a tool for generating pseudorandom audit sampling dates.
To create a date sample:
- Select start date and end date for the sample period, via the calendar drop-downs. Both start and end dates are inclusive.
- Decide whether to exclude weekend and/or holiday dates from the potentially sampled dates by marking the checkboxes next to the exclusion choices.
- The seven date-set fields reduce in number of dates (from left to right) and each smaller amount is sampled from the previous amount. For example, all 25 dates in column 2 will have been selected from the 40 dates in column 1.
- The default sample sizes on each dropdown represent industry standard sample frequencies for high and low risk controls. These start at high risk recurring and reduce down to monthly in fields 6 and 7.
- To change the sample sizes, toggle the dates for each field via their dropdown.
- Click Generate Dates to create the date sample. Clicking again will create a new sample each time from the initial parameters. Click Clear to reset all fields.
- Click Export to CSV to output the date sample to a .CSV file format (Comma Separated Values) that can be opened in Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet application.
- If you encounter any bugs or tips for improvement, contact us at Symons Labs.