Walk-through: following a process from start to finish

On paper the process looks smooth: an order arrives, goods are picked, a document is raised, a truck is loaded. In reality the order comes in through Telegram, the manager copies it into a notebook, the storekeeper works from the notebook, and the paperwork is written the next day. You do not need to dig through hundreds of documents to see the difference: pick one order and walk its whole path from start to finish. This technique is called a walk-through.

How it differs from sampling

In sampling you take many documents, test one control and measure the error rate. In a walk-through there is one document, but it is followed along the entire chain, and the aim is to understand how the process really works. It normally comes before sample testing: first understand the process, then decide what to test.

Which order to choose

The auditor takes the document from the 1C journal personally, not from the storekeeper or manager. Otherwise you will be shown the "best-looking" order. Three cases are usually enough:

• an ordinary order: average in size, completed recently;
• a rush order that skipped the normal queue;
• a return or partial shipment, where most exceptions hide.

Walking through the steps

Go from the point where the order came in to the point where the money arrived:

1. How the order arrived (Telegram, phone, 1C) and who recorded it.
2. Who approved the price and discount.
3. Whether the goods were reserved, and where: in the system or in a notebook.
4. Picking: who, from which document, from where.
5. Checking and packing: whether a second person is involved.
6. Leaving the warehouse: gate, driver, waybill.
7. Posting in 1C: when and by whom.
8. Payment or return.

At each step four questions are asked: who does it, in which document or system, how it is checked, and how long the order waits. It matters that the employee does not tell but shows: at their own workplace, on their own screen, in their own notebook.

Example: a paint and varnish wholesaler

A customer asked on Telegram for 20 tins of 10-litre emulsion paint. The manager wrote the order in a notebook and sent the storekeeper a voice message. The goods were picked and left with a driver at 14:30. The invoice in 1C was created only the next morning.

The walk-through revealed three things. First: for 18 hours the goods were physically gone but still in the system, and during that time the stock report was wrong. Second: the only source document for the order is the manager's notebook, which nobody checks. Third: the manager sets the price and discount alone, with no approver. No document test would have shown these three things, because the invoice itself was clean and signed. Recommendation: the manager enters the order into 1C directly, and no price or discount goes through without an approver's signature.

What to look for

• Informal steps: a notebook, a voice message, a personal Excel file.
• One person performing several links of the chain.
• A gap between the physical movement and the entry in the system.
• A document exists, but nobody reads or checks it.
• Authorisation given only verbally.
• Goods that are "in stock" on the system but physically elsewhere (for example, a pallet forgotten in the loading area).

What to do after the walk-through

When the walk is over, the auditor writes down what was seen at once: the sequence of steps, the document and system at each step, the deviations found. That record becomes the basis of the process map. Then a test is planned for each doubtful spot. For example, if it emerged that nobody approves discounts, 25 dispatch documents from the last quarter are checked for discount authorisation. Findings are shown to the process owner before they enter the report: he or she confirms the facts are right or corrects them. A walk-through for one stream normally takes 2–4 hours. The cost pays back, because later tests get a precise target and save considerably more time.

Limits

A walk-through shows only one case. It does not prove how often a control fails. For example, the missing discount approver showed up in a single order; whether that is widespread is for sample testing to establish. So a walk-through serves to understand the process, and testing serves to evaluate it.

Conclusion

The path of a single order is often a small copy of the whole process. With walk-throughs, OmborAudit finds the gap between rule and practice and points further testing at specific control links.