SIZE command

Concept Information

Calculating sample size for a record sample

Calculating sample size for a monetary unit sample

Calculates a statistically valid sample size, and sample interval, for record sampling or monetary unit sampling.

Syntax

SIZE RECORD CONFIDENCE confidence_level POPULATION population_size PRECISION tolerable_rate <ERRORLIMIT expected_rate> <TO {SCREEN|filename}>

Parameters

Note

Do not include thousands separators, or percentage signs, when you specify values.

Name Description
RECORD

Calculate sample size for a record sample.

ATTRIBUTE is a deprecated parameter that does the same thing as RECORD.
CONFIDENCE confidence_level

The desired confidence level that the resulting sample is representative of the entire population.

For example, specifying 95 means that you want to be confident that 95% of the time the sample will in fact be representative. Confidence is the complement of "sampling risk". A 95% confidence level is the same as a 5% sampling risk.
POPULATION population_size

The number of records in the table you are sampling.
PRECISION tolerable_rate

The tolerable deviation rate, which is the maximum rate of deviation from a prescribed control that can occur and you still consider the control effective.

For example, specifying 5 means that the deviation rate must be greater than 5% for you to consider the control not effective.

ERRORLIMIT expected_rate

optional

The expected population deviation rate. This is the rate of deviation from a prescribed control that you expect to find.

For example, specifying 1 means that you expect the deviation rate to be 1%.

If you omit this parameter, an expected population deviation rate of 0% is used.
TO SCREEN | filename

The location to send the results of the command to:

  • SCREEN displays the results in the Analytics display area

    Tip

    You can click any linked result value in the display area to drill down to the associated record or records in the source table.

  • filename saves the results to a file

    Specify filename as a quoted string with the appropriate file extension. For example: TO "Output.TXT"

    By default, the file is saved to the folder containing the Analytics project.

    Use either an absolute or relative file path to save the file to a different, existing folder:

    • TO "C:\Output.TXT"
    • TO "Results\Output.TXT"

Analytics output variables

Name Contains
SAMPINTn

The required sample interval calculated by the command.
SAMPSIZEn The required sample size calculated by the command.

Examples

Calculate the required size and interval for a record sample

You have decided to use record sampling to estimate the rate of deviation from a prescribed control in an account containing invoices.

Before drawing the sample, you must first calculate the statistically valid sample size and sample interval.

You want to be confident that 95% of the time the sample drawn by Analytics will be representative of the population as a whole.

Using your specified confidence level, the example below calculates a sample size of 95, and a sample interval value of 8.12, to use when drawing a record sample:

SIZE RECORD CONFIDENCE 95 POPULATION 772 PRECISION 5 ERRORLIMIT 1 TO SCREEN

Remarks

For more information about how this command works, see Calculating sample size for a record sample.

Syntax

SIZE MONETARY CONFIDENCE confidence_level POPULATION population_size MATERIALITY tolerable_misstatement <ERRORLIMIT expected_misstatement> <TO {SCREEN|filename}>

Parameters

Note

Do not include thousands separators, or percentage signs, when you specify values.

Name Description
MONETARY Calculate sample size for a monetary unit sample.
CONFIDENCE confidence_level

The desired confidence level that the resulting sample is representative of the entire population.

For example, specifying 95 means that you want to be confident that 95% of the time the sample will in fact be representative. Confidence is the complement of "sampling risk". A 95% confidence level is the same as a 5% sampling risk.
POPULATION population_size

The total absolute value of the numeric sample field.
MATERIALITY tolerable_misstatement

The tolerable misstatement, which is the maximum total amount of misstatement that can occur in the sample field without being considered a material misstatement.

For example, specifying 29000 means that the total amount of misstatement must be greater than $29,000 to be considered a material misstatement.
ERRORLIMIT expected_misstatement

optional

The expected misstatement. This is the total amount of misstatement that you expect the sample field to contain.

For example, specifying 5800 means that you expect the total amount of misstatement to be $5,800.

If you omit this parameter, an expected misstatement of $0.00 is used.
TO SCREEN | filename

The location to send the results of the command to:

  • SCREEN displays the results in the Analytics display area

    Tip

    You can click any linked result value in the display area to drill down to the associated record or records in the source table.

  • filename saves the results to a file

    Specify filename as a quoted string with the appropriate file extension. For example: TO "Output.TXT"

    By default, the file is saved to the folder containing the Analytics project.

    Use either an absolute or relative file path to save the file to a different, existing folder:

    • TO "C:\Output.TXT"
    • TO "Results\Output.TXT"

Analytics output variables

Name Contains
SAMPINTn

The required sample interval calculated by the command.
SAMPSIZEn The required sample size calculated by the command.

Examples

Calculate the required size and interval for a monetary unit sample

You have decided to use monetary unit sampling to estimate the total amount of monetary misstatement in an account containing invoices.

Before drawing the sample, you must first calculate the statistically valid sample size and sample interval.

You want to be confident that 95% of the time the sample drawn by Analytics will be representative of the population as a whole.

Using your specified confidence level, the example below calculates a sample size of 93, and a sample interval value of 6,283.33, to use when drawing a monetary unit sample:

SIZE MONETARY CONFIDENCE 95 POPULATION 585674.41 MATERIALITY 29000 ERRORLIMIT 5800 TO SCREEN

Remarks

For more information about how this command works, see Calculating sample size for a monetary unit sample.