Audit evidence
In one sentenceThe information the auditor gathers to base the opinion on, such as documents, confirmations, counts, inquiries and recalculation.
Simply put
The auditor does not settle for what management says: the auditor needs evidence that is sufficient in quantity and appropriate in quality.
Evidence from an outside party, such as a bank confirmation, is stronger than internal evidence, and evidence the auditor sees directly, such as attending a count, is stronger than a verbal answer.
Example
To verify a car's balance in assets, the auditor looks at the purchase invoice and the vehicle registration, recalculates its depreciation, and actually sees the car if needed: each of these is audit evidence.