Alter Everything 195: Data Analytics for Internal Auditors
Oct 8, 2025
Michael Keiffer, an Alteryx training specialist and data analytics veteran, dives into the transformative impact of analytics on internal auditing. He highlights the limitations of traditional sampling and advocates for analyzing complete data populations. Michael also discusses common challenges auditors face in adopting analytics, including data access and aligning with business goals. Hear inspiring success stories of Alteryx in action, showing how automation drastically reduces time spent on audits while enhancing thoroughness.
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Full-Population Testing Amplifies Findings
- Data analytics lets auditors test entire populations instead of small samples and creates more meaningful, impactful findings.
- Presenting results from millions of transactions carries far more weight than saying five errors in a 50-item sample.
Stop Relying On Excel Samples
- Do move beyond Excel sampling and adopt tools that can analyze full datasets like IDEA or Alteryx.
- Try showing auditors how to test full populations rather than teaching them only to draw random samples.
Persistent Analytics Gap In Audit Shops
- Many audit teams want to improve analytics but feel they aren't meeting objectives despite some tool adoption.
- The effective use of data analytics remains the top challenge for internal auditors year after year.