Sampling pay cycles without drowning in payslips
How to define populations and sample sizes when a Hong Kong payroll audit cannot test every line.
A full payroll audit that promises to “check everything” usually checks nothing well. Populations must be named: monthly salaried staff, weekly warehouse crews, commission earners, leavers in the period. Each population gets its own sample logic.
Start from the risk question
If the board cares about overtime inflation, overweight the departments with overtime codes. If the concern is MPF relevant income, overweight housing and allowance-heavy grades. Sampling is not democratic; it follows the brief.
Document exclusions early
Contractors paid outside payroll, directors on separate schedules, and dormant entities should be listed as out of scope in the engagement letter. Mid-audit discoveries of “oh, and the Macau branch” blow timelines.
Practical sizes
For a 200-employee Hong Kong entity over three months, we often sample two full months plus targeted employees with high adjustment counts. The exact numbers sit in the planning memo so internal audit can challenge them before fieldwork starts.
Close the loop
Every sample item needs a tick or an exception. “Looks fine” without a reference to the register line is not audit evidence. Your findings pack should let a third reader retrace the path.