What information do you need to address the issue? Is the information you have obtained relevant and reliable?
Professional judgment framework
Tool to track, organize and evaluate considerations
Overarching considerations
Manage any personal bias and consider the bias of others:
Avoid making preliminary judgments.
Consider all points of view and alternatives.
Understand motivations or incentives for particular outcomes.
Consider the risk of material misstatement:
Evaluate quantitative and qualitative significance relative to the issue and relative to the interests of stakeholders
Consider the involvement of others:
Consider subject-matter specialists, consultation and necessary reviews and approvals.
Maintain professional skepticism, including fraud awareness:
Maintain a questioning mindset and ask probing questions.
Objectively evaluate the facts, address inconsistencies and corroborate evidence.
Assume others are neither honest nor dishonest.
Be alert for indicators of possible misstatement due to error or fraud.
Considerations to define the issue
What is the primary issue?
Considerations to gather the facts
What is the application guidance?
What information do you need to address the issue?
Is the information you have obtained relevant and reliable?
Considerations to perform the analysis
How does the applicable guidance apply to the issue?
Have you identified and evaluated the key assumptions?
What are the reasonable outcomes and possible alternatives?
Considerations to make the judgment
What is your conclusion based on the analysis performed?
Does your conclusion make sense in light of the business purpose and underlying economics of the issue?