A walk-through refers to the auditor selecting a small sample of representative transactions or economic events and tracing (or "walking") them through the accounting information system. The walk-through may be (a) through just part of the system or (b) from the time the transactions or events were first captured and input as data to their final disposition in the financial statements. This is similar to following a transaction along the transaction cycle's audit trail.
The purpose of the walk-through may be either for the auditor to identify specific control procedures in an accounting information system or to confirm the system the auditor has previously documented in the working papers is the system that is operating at the time of the audit. In some instances, it may be more economical for the auditor to obtain/confirm this information by other means, such as through discussions with client personnel.
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