Meaning & use
audit
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Meanings
nouncountablefinance
An official check of a company's or person's financial records to see whether they are accurate and follow the rules.
Grammar: Countable: an annual audit; two audits a year.
Patterns
- an audit of something
- carry out an audit
- an audit by someone
The tax office ordered an audit of the firm's accounts.
An outside audit found several errors in the budget.
Small charities must pass an annual audit.
nouncountablebusiness
A careful, systematic review of how something is done, such as safety or energy use.
Grammar: Often preceded by a type of review: a safety audit.
Patterns
- an audit of something
- a safety audit
The school ran an energy audit to cut its bills.
A security audit revealed weak passwords across the company.
The hospital completed an audit of its hygiene procedures.
verbtransitivefinance
To examine financial records officially to check that they are correct.
Grammar: Takes an object: auditors audit the accounts.
Patterns
- audit something
- audit someone's accounts
Accountants audit the company's books every spring.
The agency audited three hundred small businesses last year.
She was chosen to audit the city's budget.
verbtransitive or intransitiveAmerican
To sit in on a university course without taking exams or earning credit.
Grammar: Mostly American: she audited a course in art history.
Patterns
- audit a course
- audit a class
I audited a philosophy lecture just out of curiosity.
He audited the class to see if he wanted to major in physics.
Retired residents can audit courses for a small fee.
Word forms
| plural | audits |
|---|---|
| third person singular | audits |
| past tense | audited |
| past participle | audited |
| -ing form | auditing |
Common combinations
- conduct an audit
- Inspectors will conduct an audit next month.
- financial audit
- A financial audit confirmed the accounts were accurate.
- pass an audit
- The factory passed its safety audit.
- external audit
- An external audit is required by law.
- audit trail
- The software keeps an audit trail of every change.
- be audited
- The company was audited by the tax authority.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inspection
- Inspection is broader and checks the condition of things, while an audit checks records against rules.
- review
- Review is more informal and may be a one-person opinion, whereas an audit follows a set procedure.
- examination
- Examination is a general word for careful checking that does not point to accounts.
- check
- Check is quick and informal, while an audit is thorough and formal.
Word family
- auditor noun
- a person who carries out audits
- auditing noun
- the work of checking records
- auditable adjective
- able to be audited
- auditability noun
- the quality of being open to audit
- unaudited adjective
- not yet checked by an auditor
Commonly confused: audit or audition?
audit vs audition
An audition is a short performance to try out for a role, while an audit is a formal check of records or a way of attending a class.
Practice
A university student who attends a class without taking exams or earning credit is said to ___ the class.
Choose one answer.
To audit a class means to attend it without credit. Audition means to try out for a performance, which is a tempting but different word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “audit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.