Mark & Sons Future Technology Co.

(hereafter, MSFT) is a $40 billion public

company that provides high-technology

products and services.

Currently, XBRL does not require

independent assurance. However, to enhance

users’ confidence and widespread adoption of

XBRL, assurance on the XBRL-Related

Documents will be needed to reduce users’

uncertainties about the accuracy,

completeness, and consistency of the XBRL-

tagged information.

The CFO of MSFT, Gerry Thompson, wants

the recent XBRL filing of MSFT to be audited

to assure its quality.

After completing his master’s degree in

accounting at the University of Waterloo,

Mike Cullen was hired as an auditor by

Waterloo & Co., an accounting firm.

He has worked as an auditor for five years.

Mike has been requested to manage an

assurance engagement on the XBRL-Related

Documents of MSFT.

XBRL AUDIT CASE:CASE SCENARIO

Client/engagement acceptance

Audit Planning

Testing and Collecting Evidence

Internal Control (Task a-1)

Compliance (Task b-1 to Task b-2)

Suitability (Task c-1 to Task c-3)

Accuracy (Task d-1 to Task d-3)

Completeness (Task e-1)

Occurrence (Task f-1)

Consistency (Task g-1 and Task g-2)

Evaluation and Reporting

XBRL AUDIT CASE:ASSURANCE ENGAGEMENT PROCEDURES

USEFUL FUNCTIONS FOR XBRL ASSURANCE

CAAT Functions   Function Description

Clearly and easily display XBRL-related documents (i.e., instance documents, taxonomy schemas, and linkbases).

1-1 Display raw XBRL codes.1-2 Provide detailed information about standard taxonomies and extension taxonomies.1-3 Summarize the structure of linkbases.1-4 Show information about any customization applied (e.g., custom labels used in the

presentation linkbase as opposed to the standard labels).1-5 Display all detailed information about instance documents (e.g. context and unit

information).1-6 Display block-tagged data such as notes and MD&A.1-7 Display and download official and XBRL filings.1-8 Display and check reference information (e.g., FASB codification references). 

Provide a search mechanism that enables users to search for a specific element, context, label, etc.

2-1 Display official taxonomies. 2-2 Navigate standard taxonomies (e.g., XBRL US taxonomies) to obtain detailed

information about official elements.Provide generic query and report writing capability for pulling information from instance document and taxonomies.

3-1 Generate reports (e.g., review reports and summary of taxonomies).

Provide audit trails. 4-1 Track tests performed.4-2 Store checklists, documentation of tests, reviewer comments, etc.

Enable exchange of data (e.g., parsing data and test results) with other tools.

5-1 Export rendered document to Excel, Word, etc.

Validation Check whether an instance document and company extension taxonomies comply with:

5-2 Check whether an instance document and company extension taxonomies comply with relevant specifications (e.g., XML v1.1, XLINK v1.0, and XBRL Specification v2.1).

5-3 Check whether an instance document and company extension taxonomies comply with regulatory requirements (e.g., the EDGAR Filer manual).

5-4 Check whether an instance document and company extension taxonomies comply with other guidelines (e.g., XBRL US Taxonomy Preparers Guide, FRIS, and FRTA).

5-5 Display appropriate reference information, validation criteria, rules (e.g., XBRL Specification and SEC requirements).

5-6 Provide adequate messages (e.g., detailed error messages for instance and taxonomy validation tests).

Mapping/Tracing Map elements in the instance document to the business facts in the official financial statements for comparing the business facts of the official financial statements with the instance document.

6-1 Provide automated identification of matching content in source document and XBRL extension taxonomies and instance documents (best match).

6-2 Provide automated highlighting of matching content in source document or XBRL-related documents based on manual selection and ability of software users to accept and store mappings.

6-3 Provide tracking the manual mapping of content in source document with XBRL extension taxonomies and instance documents.

Rendering Render instance documents to enable visual review and detailed checking of instance documents to official financial statements.

7-1 Enable users to generate reports based on the presentation linkbase.

7-2 Display dimensioned data in a table-like view.  

7-3 Print all information from rendered view.

Element View Pane

Workbench Pane

Linkbase View Pane

Information View Pane

A COMPUTER-ASSISTED AUDIT TOOL:XBRL AUDIT ASSISTANT (XAA)

A COMPUTER-ASSISTED AUDIT TOOL:XBRL AUDIT ASSISTANT (XAA)

Graphically represent a systematic structure of the XBRL instance document such as logical ordering of contexts, segments, and elements.

Help auditors understand reporting period, units, the elements used in the instance document, etc.

Graphically represent XBRL elements to discriminate between those from official XBRL taxonomies and those from companies’ own extension taxonomies.

Help auditors understand taxonomies used to create the instance document and the sources of the XBRL elements.

Render XBRL instance documents to enable visual review and detailed checking of XBRL instance documents to original financial statements.

Help auditors assess whether the data elements in the instance document reflect the same information as the corresponding financial facts in the official financial statements.

Map the business facts in the official financial statements to the XBRL-tagged data in an instance document.

Help auditors to determine whether XBRL-tagged data are complete and accurate reflection of the business facts in the official financial statements.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:COMPLIANCE (Task 1) Objective:

The XBRL-Related Documents are created in accordance with the

XBRL specifications and regulatory requirements.

Audit task:

Evaluate whether the XBRL instance document complies with the

appropriate XBRL specification and appropriate XBRL taxonomies.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:SUITABILITY (Task 2) Objective:

Appropriate taxonomies are used to tag the underlying business facts in

the official filing and the extension taxonomies are necessary to create

the instance documents.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:SUITABILITY (Task 2) Objective:

Appropriate taxonomies are used to tag the underlying business facts

in the official filing and the extension taxonomies are necessary to

create the instance documents.

Audit tasks:

Evaluate the suitability of elements and extension taxonomies.

Assess the appropriateness of the elements used to tag the underlying data.

Determine the proper use of taxonomy extensions.

Objective:

The XBRL-tagged data in the instance document accurately reflect, in

all material respects,

all business facts presented in the official financial statements.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:ACCURACY (Task 3)

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:ACCURACY (Task 3) Objective:

The XBRL-tagged data in the instance document accurately reflect, in

all material respects,

all business facts presented in the official financial statements.

Audit tasks: Check the accuracy of elements.

Compare the rendered instance document to the corresponding business

facts in the official filing.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:COMPLETENESS (Task 4) Objective:

All business facts in the official filings are completely tagged in the

instance document.

Audit task:

Assess that all business facts in the corresponding official filing are

completely tagged.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:COMPLETENESS (Task 4) Objective:

All business facts in the official filings are completely tagged in the

instance document.

Audit tasks:

Assess that all business facts in the corresponding official filing are

completely tagged.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:OCCURRENCE (Task 5) Objective:

The instance document only contains valid information.

Audit task:

Assess that information not in the official filing is not in the instance

documents.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:OCCURRENCE (Task 5) Objective:

The instance document only contains valid information.

Audit task:

Assess that information not in the official filing is not in the instance

documents.

XBRL AUDIT EXERCISE:CONSISTENCY (Task 6) Objective:

The instance The XBRL-related documents are properly managed to

ensure consistency.

Audit tasks:

Evaluate whether the same elements are used to tag the same business facts

across reporting period and whether the same rules are applied to create

context information for the instance documents of different period.