An internal auditor is reviewing employee travel expenses from the previous six months for fraud. Which of the following tests would best detect instances where personal travel has been claimed?

Question

Options

• AVerifying whether claims have been properly authorized for payment
• BVerifying whether claims are properly supported by invoices or other documents.
• CConfirming that all claims are within the limits of the organization's travel policy.
• DReconciling claims against business the requests that were approved by supervisors

• A
  6% (2)
• B
  15% (5)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  76% (26)

Explanation

Reconciling expense claims against pre-approved business travel requests (D) is the most targeted test because it directly compares what was submitted against documented business purposes - personal trips would have no matching approved business request, making them easy to spot. Options A and C catch policy violations and unauthorized payments, but a fraudster could still submit personal travel with a forged signature (A) or within dollar limits (C), so these tests would miss the fraud entirely. Option B checks for supporting documents like receipts, but fraudsters can produce legitimate-looking receipts for personal trips - having a receipt doesn't prove the trip was for business.

Memory tip: Think "purpose over paperwork" - fraud detection for personal travel requires matching claims to a reason (approved business need), not just checking that forms are filled out correctly or amounts look reasonable.

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