the.com/audit
The moment someone finally checks if the story and the numbers agree.
means An official examination of records or accounts to verify their accuracy.
from From Latin 'audire' (to hear) — an 'auditus' was a hearing. In Roman and medieval accounting, financial records were literally read aloud to an examiner who checked them by ear, since many reviewers couldn't rely on scanning written ledgers alone. The word kept the act of listening long after the practice itself went silent and visual.
- origin
- latin audire, to hear; once literally a spoken hearing
- irony
- big fraud cases often passed clean audits first
- scope
- checks records match reality, not whether choices were wise
- frequency
- most companies audited yearly, some continuously by software