Audit

An audit is a professional, independent examination of a company's financial statements and accounting documents following generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

An IRS audit, in contrast, is an examination of a taxpayer's return, usually to question the accuracy or acceptability of the information the return reports.

a review conducted to compare the various aspects of the laboratory’s performance with a standard for that performance.

Independent review and examination of records and activities to test for compliance with established policies or standards, often with recommendations for changes in controls or procedures

Independent review and examination of records and activities to assess the adequacy of system controls, to ensure compliance with established policies and operational procedures, and to recommend necessary changes in controls, policies, or procedures

1. To conduct an independent review and examination of system records and activities in order to test the adequacy and effectiveness of data security and data integrity procedures, to ensure compliance with established policy and operational procedures, and to recommend any necessary changes. 2. Independent review and examination of records and activities to assess the adequacy of system controls, to ensure compliance with established policies and operational procedures, and to recommend necessary changes in controls, policies, or procedures. [INFOSEC-99] 3. An independent review and examination of system records and activities in order to test for the adequacy of system security measures, to identify the degree of conformance with established security policy and operational procedures and to recommend any indicated changes in measures, policy and/or procedures [CESG]. 4. Monitoring to detect and warn of events which might threaten security. Note: The term "security audit" may be used to avoid ambiguity [CESG]. 5. See Security Audit [7498-2]. 6. To generate the audit trail, read and interpret its contents, manage its storage, and control its generation [POSIX.6].