How we choose a sample of expense reporting applications
A plain explanation of how Focus Online selects claims for testing without drowning the accounting team in requests.
Sampling is where an expense reporting audit earns trust or loses it. Pull too few applications and exceptions look anecdotal. Pull too many and accounting spends the quarter answering document requests.
Start from the risk conversation
Before numbers, we ask which categories worry the controller: entertainment after a launch, overseas travel, or claims just under secondary-approval thresholds. Those answers shape stratification. A random slice across the whole population still matters, yet weighting high-risk categories keeps the work honest.
Define the population carefully
The population should be the set of expense reporting applications for the agreed period and entities — not a mix of unpaid drafts and closed reimbursements unless both are in scope. We confirm status codes with accounting so rejected drafts do not inflate the denominator.
Document every exclusion
If we exclude corporate-card auto-postings or payroll-related advances, we write that down. Silent exclusions make later readers doubt the findings. A short appendix listing excluded batches is enough.
Keep clarifications batched
Field teams should batch questions twice a week rather than pinging for every missing receipt. Controllers can schedule response time; auditors still keep momentum.
When the sample plan is shared before testing starts, both sides know what “done” looks like.