Overview
Auditability isn't a separate feature bolted onto the Materiality Assessment, it's built into how every score is produced. Every input, every justification, and every manual change is recorded, and every materiality score can be recomputed from its raw inputs using a fixed, published formula. This article covers what gets recorded automatically, and what to check before an auditor reviews your assessment.
Key benefits / use cases
Give an auditor a fully traceable path from raw inputs to final materiality determination
Reconstruct why any IRO landed where it did on the matrix, at any point after scoring
Show that manual decisions (overrides) are recorded separately from system-computed results
What gets recorded automatically for every IRO
Each IRO's scoring form keeps three things alongside its answers:
Justification: the reasoning behind each answer, including which document was used, the relevant page, or any assumption made.
Evidence: supporting files attached to the IRO (CSV, PDF, JPG, PNG, XLSX, DOCX, PPTX, XLS, XLSM, or TXT, up to 100MB), with the option to reference specific pages.
History: an automatic log of every change made to the IRO, with the user and timestamp for each entry.
Nothing here needs to be turned on. It's captured as part of normal scoring.
Why the score itself is auditable
The Materiality Score isn't assigned by judgment, it's computed from a fixed formula: Score = 100 × Severity^0.75 × Likelihood^0.25. Given the same severity and likelihood inputs, anyone can recompute the same score by hand. The severity bands behind financial IROs are also anchored to recognized accounting materiality conventions (SEC SAB 99 and IAASB ISA 320), not set arbitrarily.
Because the formula and the label-to-value mappings behind each scale are fixed and never user-adjustable, the same inputs always produce the same score, no matter which threshold profile is active. Only the threshold (the bar a score has to clear) changes between profiles, never the score itself. See Management of Materiality Thresholds for how thresholds work.
What to prepare before an audit
Make sure every material IRO has a justification and, where relevant, attached evidence.
Review the History log for any IRO whose result looks unexpected, to confirm what changed and when.
List any overrides applied and confirm their justifications are complete.
Be ready to explain your chosen threshold profiles, since these reflect a strategic choice, not a default your auditor should assume.
FAQs
Can I see who changed a score, and when?
Yes. Every IRO keeps a History log recording each change with the user and timestamp.
Can an auditor recompute my materiality scores independently?
Yes. The scoring formula and the label-to-value mappings behind every scale are fixed and published, so any score can be recomputed from its raw severity and likelihood inputs.
Are the financial severity bands arbitrary?
No. They're anchored to recognized accounting materiality standards, SEC SAB 99 and IAASB ISA 320.
Does changing my threshold profile affect what my auditor sees in the History log?
No. The History log tracks changes to inputs and overrides, not profile selection. Changing a profile only shifts which scores clear the bar, not the recorded history.