A lei Newcomb-Benford e as notas de empenhos da Marinha do Brasil

Abstract

The Navy Internal Control Center (CCIMAR) is responsible for auditing within the Brazilian Navy (MB), working to combat fraud. With the growth in the volume of data generated, it is essential for the auditor to use new tools to support his work. Thus, the Newcomb-Benford`s law (LNB) has been gaining ground as a tool capable of assisting the auditor in his decision making. This law is considered a useful tool in the audit planning phase for selecting the audited sample. It is a phenomenon based on the number of times that a given number must appear in a specific position of a given number. Thus, this study has the general objective of assessing whether the purchases orders issued in 2019 by military organizations of the Brazilian Navy are in compliance with the Newcomb-Benford law. The research methodology is characterized by the hypothetical deductive method, with a quantitative approach, descriptive design and using non-probabilistic sampling by judgment as a criterion for sample selection. As a research instrument, 46.194 purchases orders issued in 2019 by 27 military organizations that handled a total of R$ 6.721.861.945,92 were analyzed. For this, pre-Benford analyzes, primary analyzes, advanced analyzes, associated analyzes and conformity analyzes suggested by Nigrini (2012) and Nigrini (2020) were used with the aid of the R software and statistical tests. The study found that six military organizations failed to comply with the Newcomb-Benford`s law in some form of analysis. It was concluded that, in general, the purchases orders issued by the studied military organizations follow the Newcomb-Benford`s law and this can be used as a tool in the planning stage of the audit.