Big Data Rules Should Focus on Evidence Quality, Auditors Say

Auditors want more detailed instructions from their regulator as it considers imposing new rules for vetting digital records with modern data analysis tools.

Top audit firms asked the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board how they should address hundreds of outliers that can result from testing full sets of transaction data and how auditors should weigh the reliability of information like exchange rates that corporate managers pull from outside sources.

“It is unclear whether the auditor should test 100% of the items or if the auditor may select specific items or use a sampling approach,” RSM US LLP ...