Attributes Mode Sampling Schemes for International Material Accountancy Verification

This paper addresses the question of detecting falsifications in material balance accountancy reporting by comparing independently measured values to the declared values of a randomly selected sample of items in the material balance. A two-level strategy is considered, consisting of a relatively large number of measurements made at low accuracy, and a smaller number of measurements made at high accuracy. Sampling schemes for both types of measurements are derived, and rigorous proofs supplied that guarantee desired detection probabilities. Sample sizes derived using these methods are sometimes considerably smaller than those calculated previously.