The AICPA Audit Data Standards
& XBRL GL
AIS Educators Conference
Colorado Springs, CO 2015
Clinton E. White, Jr (Skip) – U of Delaware
skipw@udel.edu
www.skipwhite.com/aisec2015
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The AICPA Audit Data Stds.
• The ADS:
– Objective: to standardize the format of
data fields and files commonly requested
for audit and related purposes (AICPA,
Assurance Services Executive Committee, 2013)
• XBRL GL (global ledger):
– Objective: to standardize the format for
representing the data fields found in ERP/
AISs and transaction reports (XBRL
International, 2015)
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ADS
• The Audit Data Standards
– To improve the communication between
auditors, accountants, and IT personnel
involved in the request for, and exchange
of, a company’s data, as well as, the
efficiency and effectiveness of the audit
process (ADS Working Group, 2013)
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The Audit Data Standards
• The challenge for both management &
auditors:
– Obtaining accurate data in a usable format
following a repeatable process
– The ADSs:
• Facilitate identifying key info needed for audit
purposes in a standard format
• Facilitate being able to assess its completeness
and integrity
• The result should be consistent, understandable
data & the opportunity for more extensive
analysis
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The ADSs
• The ADSs (April 2015):
– Data table and field names & supplemental
questions:
• The Base ADS
– User_Listing (table)
» User_ID, First_Name, & Last_Name
– Business_Unit_Listing (table)
» Business_Unit_Code, Business_Unit_Description
• The General Ledger ADS
– GL_Detail_YYYYMMDD_YYYYMMDD (table)
» Journal_ID, Effective_Date, Entry_Date, User_ID, Amount,
– Trial_Balance_YYYYMMDD (table)
– Chart_of_Accounts (table)
• Order-to-Cash & Purchase-to-Payment (draft)
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The Order-to-Cash Cycle
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The Order-to-Cash Cycle
• When you consider the Order-to-Cash
cycle of your client:
– What data would you like to have to
investigate the reliability of the processing of
orders and the accuracy of the data in their
related accounts?
• When you request the data that you need, how do
you communicate your request to your client?
• How do you document your request?
• How do you verify that you received what you
requested?
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XBRL GL
• XBRL Global Ledger:
– An XBRL specification for tagging, formatting,
and moving data from an ERP/AIS system to
another information system
– An XBRL GL instance document is embedded
within an XBRL document
• gl-cor:accountingEntries
– gl-cor:documentInfo
– gl-cor:entityInformation
– gl-cor:entryHeader
» gl-cor:entryDetail
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The Order-to-Cash ADS
• The Order-to-Cash Subledger ADS:
– Specifies a number of data fields found in
tables in an ERP/AIS’s database
– These fields are then mapped to elements
in a standard XBRL GL instance document
– The client’s data would be put into an
XBRL GL instance which can then be
validated and analyzed for audit purposes
• And, it is a documented & repeatable process
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The ADSs
• The ADSs:
– Adoption is voluntary
• Benefits will drive adoption
– A company:
• Would create routines to extract their data and
populate XBRL GL instance documents
– Major advantages:
• A standard way for internal & external auditors to
communicate data needs to the IT staff
• Data is extracted in a standard format
• A documented, reliable, & repeatable process that
will streamline audits
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Resources
• XBRL.US
– http://xbrl.us/Pages/default.aspx
• XBRL International:
– https://www.xbrl.org/
• The AICPA ADS:
– http://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/ass
uranceadvisoryservices/pages/auditdatast
andardworkinggroup.aspx
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