Benford's Law Compliance Calculator
Screen accounting ledgers, expense reports, or election results for unusual leading digits. Paste a list of numbers and the calculator compares their first digits with the theoretical Benford distribution to estimate a compliance score.
Screening tool only; Benford analysis does not replace professional audits or investigations.
Examples
- Sales ledger sample 532, 1780, 9240, 611, 3110, 461 ⇒ 88.4% Benford compliance
- Uniform sequence 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 ⇒ 55.56% Benford compliance, indicating a non-Benford dataset
FAQ
Do negative numbers work?
Yes. The calculator ignores the sign and analyses the first significant digit of the absolute value, so losses and refunds can be included alongside positive transactions.
What if I only have a few numbers?
Small samples fluctuate widely and may swing from very low to very high scores. Try to gather at least 30–50 records so the digit distribution stabilises before you interpret the result.
Does a low score prove fraud?
No. Benford analysis is a screening tool. A low score simply highlights unusual digit patterns that deserve follow-up with full audits, supporting documentation, and professional judgement.
Additional Information
- Benford's Law predicts the probability of each leading digit d using log10(1 + 1/d) for d = 1…9, so lower digits appear more frequently.
- The calculator measures total variation distance between your dataset and the Benford distribution; 100% means a perfect match and values below 60% merit extra scrutiny.
- Use naturally occurring datasets such as sales, expenses, or tax figures. Synthetic IDs or capped ranges rarely follow Benford and will score poorly by design.
- Large samples reduce noise. Aim for at least a few dozen entries before drawing conclusions from the compliance score.