10 Ready-to-Use Audit Test Workflows: KNIME for Audit

Traditional audits often rely on point-in-time manual fieldwork or limited sampling, which can miss hidden risks. With the rise of advanced data analytics, auditors can now test entire populations of data, uncover anomalies in real-time, and strengthen controls.

A new Audit Starter Pack equips auditors with read-to-use audit test workflows to detect risks, improve efficiency, and generate stronger insights. 

I’m Muzeebur Rahiman Shaik, Muzeebur Rahiman Shaik, Senior Manager – GRC & AI & Analytics, Crowe Oman, one of Oman’s top ten Auditing and Accounting firms. I believe that audit teams can modernize their approach by moving beyond legacy tools with visual data science and AI tools like KNIME. 

KNIME, an open-source data analytics platform, empowers auditors to build repeatable, scalable, and automated workflows. Together with Aamin Data and Conify Technology, companies that provide AI-powered software solutions, and KNIME, we’ve built this Starter Pack to equip auditors with ready-to-use solutions.

Here’s an overview of each audit test in the Audit Starter Pack.

Spot errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies before they become risks.

The challenge: Auditors often spend hours reconciling inconsistent records, tracing errors in transaction totals, or identifying duplicate entries hidden across large datasets. Manual checks or simple Excel filters can only go so far, and missed issues here can cascade into larger reporting, legal, or compliance issues.

Benefit of KNIME: With KNIME, you can automatically clean, validate, and reconcile data -making your audit testing faster and more reliable.

Audit tests included:

Audit test: Incorrect Totals

• Purpose: Detect transactions with incorrect total amounts.
• Control Objective: Ensure that all the transactions are valid and mathematically accurate.
• Example uses for this analytic: Invoices, Purchase Orders, Accounts Receivable, or any other transaction where the transaction total could deviate from the calculated total. 

Audit test: Fuzzy Name Matches

• Purpose: Detect duplicate or fraudulent records with similar-sounding names.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are authorized and accurate.  
• Example uses for this analysis: Vendor Master files, Corporate Card Master files, GL Accounts Master files, Customer Master files, Employee Master files, Contract Master files, and any other file containing text entries that could potentially be misspelled or duplicated. 

Audit test: Duplicate Transactions

• Purpose: Identify and flag potentially duplicate transactions.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are authorized and valid.
• Example uses for this analysis: Invoices, Purchase Orders, Requisitions, Corporate Card Transactions, Journal Entries, or any other transaction where the above description applies 

Shine a light on unusual transactions and potential fraud schemes

The challenge: Fraud rarely presents itself clearly. It often hides in patterns: split transactions just under approval thresholds, round-dollar entries that bypass review, or records that conveniently match across unrelated systems. Spotting these red flags manually is like finding a needle in a haystack—especially when dealing with millions of transactions.

Benefit of KNIME: KNIME workflows connect and compare data sources, helping you reveal fraud red flags with transparency and speed.

Audit tests Included:

Audit test: Split Transactions

• Purpose: Identify split transactions used to bypass approval limits.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are authorized and valid
• Example uses for this analytic: Invoices, Purchase Orders, Requisitions, Corporate Card Transactions, or any other transaction where the above description applies. 

Audit test: Even Dollars

• Purpose: Flag suspicious round-figure entries that may indicate fraudulent activity.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are valid.
• Example uses for this analysis: Corporate Card Transactions, Employee Expense Reimbursements, Journal Entry Activity, or any other transaction where the above description applies.

Audit test: Matched Data

• Purpose: Spot matching records between two data sources.
• Control Objective: Reconcile data across systems to ensure consistency and completeness.
• Example uses for this analysis: Master files, or transactional data where the one file’s data could be overridden during processing in an effort to route assets to an inappropriate place

Audit test: Suspicious Date Range

• Purpose: Identify suspicious activities based on unusual transaction timing.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are authorized and valid.
• Example uses for this analysis: Invoices paid too early, Invoices with unacceptable payment terms, Retroactive purchase orders, or any other transaction where the above description applies.

Understand the bigger picture and highlight what doesn’t fit.

The challenge: Auditors aren’t just tasked with testing controls—they’re expected to provide insights. But finding trends and spotting outliers across large datasets can be overwhelming with traditional tools. Significant deviations in transaction amounts or unusual spikes in activity may go unnoticed if testing is limited to samples.

Benefit of KNIME: KNIME makes statistical and trend analysis simple, visual, and repeatable - no advanced coding needed.

Audit tests included:

Audit test: High Std. Deviation

• Purpose: Highlight unusual outliers in transaction values.
• Control Objective: Detect abnormal patterns that may indicate errors, misuse, or fraud.
• Example uses for this analysis: Analyzing durations of time it takes for employees to process transactions, Costs per manufacturing of parts, Reviewing write-offs to the general ledger, Analyzing scrap rates in the manufacturing process, Reviewing transaction times, and most other data where the above description applies

Audit test: Transaction Volume Summary

• Purpose: Generate transaction volume summaries by period.
• Control Objective: Monitor transaction trends and detect anomalies.
• Example uses for this analysis: Analyzing durations of time it takes for employees to process transactions, Costs per manufacturing of parts, Reviewing write-offs to the general ledger, Analyzing scrap rates in the manufacturing process, Reviewing transaction times, and most other data where the above description applies 

Check whether transactions are recorded and settled when they should be.

The challenge: Timing matters. Whether it’s overdue receivables, premature invoice payments, or retroactive purchase orders, errors in timeliness directly impact working capital, compliance, and reporting accuracy. Yet many auditors still rely on static aging reports from management, which can be incomplete or manipulated.

Benefit of KNIME: KNIME recalculates aging automatically and flags suspicious timing -Ensuring your reports are complete and accurate

Audit Tests Included:

Audit test: Transaction Aging

• Purpose: Recalculate and generate transaction aging reports.
• Control Objective: Ensure timely collection, accurate reporting, and monitoring of overdue balances.
• Example uses for this analysis: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, or other transactions where age or time plays an influential part in processing

Audit test: Suspicious Date Range

• Purpose: Identify suspicious activities based on unusual transaction timing.
• Control Objective: Ensure all the transactions are authorized and valid.
• Example uses for this analysis: Invoiced paid too early, Invoices with unacceptable payment terms, Retroactive purchase orders, or any other transaction where the above description applies.

With this Audit Starter Pack, you move beyond manual or sample-based audits into a world of:

• Continuous monitoring across entire datasets.
• Exception-based testing that pinpoints anomalies.
• Data-driven assurance where every conclusion is backed by evidence.

KNIME’s visual workflows are transparent and customizable. There are no black-box algorithms, instead you can follow each step taken in during the audit test in the workflow.

The KNIME for Audit Starter Pack equips auditors with practical, high-value tests that can be adapted to different industries and datasets. Each workflow can be customized, automated, and scaled to cover entire data populations, ensuring no anomaly goes unnoticed.

With KNIME, auditors move beyond manual or sample-based audits to a world of continuous monitoring, exception-based testing, and data-driven assurance.