Data analytics is recognized today as being essential for making business decisions. 

Decisions are also made using data, by governments, institutions and non-profit organizations.

If we are in business, the stakeholders are the shareholders, but also the employees, that want the company to grow and succeed, rather than fall apart, due to a major fraud scandal or corrupt practice that leads the company to generate losses.

If we are a member of the public, we want the decisions to improve general wellbeing and use tax-payer money efficiently.

The role of the auditor is to serve these stakeholders, to make sure that decisions made are within their interests. Since those decisions tend to be based on data, the auditor needs to be able to: 1/ Check the data is complete and accurate. 2/ Check the data is interpreted correctly.

If the auditor cannot do these checks, then they will fail to safeguard their stakeholders.

Today, employees in finance, accounting, marketing, and other areas are all picking up data skills. However, internal audit is often lagging behind, despite recommendations from the IAASB, such as the ISA 240 that states the auditors' responsibility for detecting fraud, or the IIA Chief Executive Dr. Ian Peters MBE, who states in 2017, the following reason for using data analytics in their article: Data Analytics Is It Time To Take The First Step: "Increased effectiveness. Analytics allows for whole population testing instead of random or judgmental sampling, as well as enabling continuous auditing so that internal audit and the business can pick up on emerging trends and themes and be more nimble with their risk monitoring;".