Glossary  /  Audit types

Physical audit

Also called on-site audit, field audit

A physical audit is a premium audit conducted on site, with an auditor visiting the business to examine payroll and financial records in person.

Historically the default approach, and still the right one for records that are not digital, for structurally complex risks spanning multiple entities or locations, and where the question is what the business actually does rather than what it paid.

The cost is logistical: scheduling, travel, and the rescheduling that follows when the person who holds the records is unavailable.

Related terms

  • Virtual auditA virtual audit is a premium audit conducted remotely, with the insured supplying native digital records through a secure channel and the auditor working from those source documents directly.
  • Telephone auditA telephone audit is a premium audit conducted by interviewing the insured over the phone, with figures reported verbally and documents sometimes supplied afterward.

Back to the premium audit glossary