{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp09_archetype_breadth150_20260804","research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp09_light_prior_art_20260804","cell_id":"inversion_of_control__accounting_auditing","search_lanes":{"direct_problem_and_intervention":{"queries":["\"Close-State Callbacks for Audit Evidence Requests\"","audit evidence request workflow close management trigger API webhook population locked","(\"close complete\" OR \"period lock\") triggers \"PBC\" audit request"],"source_ids":["SRC3","SRC4"],"no_result_note":"No exact implementation was located in which an entity-held close-state event automatically opens auditor-controlled sampling while freezing an immutable population identity."},"synonyms_and_historical_terms":{"queries":["(\"prepared by client\" OR PBC OR \"client assistance schedule\") audit request population final locked reconciled","audit PBC request list version control replacement files evidence requests close readiness audit","client-prepared schedules audit request tracking final trial balance reconciliation"],"source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null},"products_practices_and_standards":{"queries":["auditor portal PBC requests automated reminder status dashboard sample selection","financial close software external auditor access sign off population lock","site:pcaobus.org standards audit evidence information produced by company completeness accuracy AS 1105"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null},"component_combination":{"queries":["audit evidence request close sign-off task dependency population hash sampling","BlackLine task dependencies auditor PBC lists close audit trail","FloQast close status PBC audit requests reconciliation sign-off"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC4"],"no_result_note":"The searched components exist separately or adjacently, but retained sources did not document signed close events, immutable population hashes, and auditor-controlled sample-workflow activation as one established combination."}},"sources":[{"source_id":"SRC1","title":"AS 1105: Audit Evidence","publisher":"Public Company Accounting Oversight Board","url":"https://pcaobus.org/oversight/standards/auditing-standards/details/AS1105","source_type":"OFFICIAL_STANDARD","claims_supported":["Auditors must evaluate the accuracy, completeness, precision, and reliability of company-produced information used as audit evidence.","Evidence obtained directly by the auditor is generally more reliable than evidence obtained indirectly.","The proposed trigger and hash cannot replace the auditor's required procedures over company-produced populations."]},{"source_id":"SRC2","title":"The Chaos of Month-End Close: A Survey of Accounting and Finance Professionals","publisher":"Dimensional Research, commissioned by FloQast","url":"https://floqast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FloQast-Dimensional-Research-Full-Survey-Report.pdf","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["The survey reports that books sometimes must be reopened after close for errors or adjustments.","Respondents using close-management software reported benefits including streamlined PBC requests, fewer audit questions, a more complete close, real-time close visibility, and documented audit trails.","Close-state visibility and PBC coordination are already linked in commercial close-management practice, although the proposed control inversion is not shown."]},{"source_id":"SRC3","title":"PBC Requests","publisher":"AuditDashboard","url":"https://www.auditdashboard.com/pbc-requests","source_type":"FIRST_PARTY_PRODUCT","claims_supported":["A commercial PBC portal addresses manual follow-up, duplicate requests, email-based coordination, and uncertainty about the correct file version.","The product records file histories and automatically changes request status when a client uploads a response.","Auditors still review submissions and accept them or request more information; the page does not describe close-state-triggered sampling."]},{"source_id":"SRC4","title":"BlackLine Task Management","publisher":"BlackLine","url":"https://pages.blackline.com/rs/blacklinesystems/images/Task%20Management.pdf","source_type":"FIRST_PARTY_PRODUCT","claims_supported":["BlackLine manages month-end close tasks and auditor PBC lists on one centralized platform.","Task dependencies enforce ordering, while role-based approvals, timestamps, supporting documents, and audit trails provide workflow control and traceability.","This is the closest located product-level precedent for connecting close completion conditions to PBC work."]}],"problem_evidence":{"status":"PARTLY_SUPPORTED","finding":"The operational symptoms are visible: first-party PBC tooling explicitly addresses manual chasing, duplicate requests, multiple file versions, and difficulty identifying the authoritative version, while survey evidence links close-management visibility with streamlined PBC requests and fewer audit questions. The retained evidence does not directly measure whether requests issued before a documented population lock are the principal cause, so the proposal's specific timing mechanism remains unconfirmed.","source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"]},"closest_prior_art":[{"name":"BlackLine Task Management dependencies spanning close tasks and auditor PBC lists","source_ids":["SRC4"],"overlap":"Combines close management and auditor PBC lists in one platform, with task dependencies, role-based approvals, documents, timestamps, and audit trails.","remaining_difference":"The source does not show an entity-emitted signed population-closed event validated by an audit-controlled listener, an immutable population hash, or automatic opening of auditor-controlled sample selection under explicit prohibited parameters."},{"name":"AuditDashboard PBC request workflow","source_ids":["SRC3"],"overlap":"Centralizes requests, preserves version history, updates status when clients submit material, and leaves acceptance or follow-up with the professional.","remaining_difference":"Activation begins with an existing auditor request and client response; it is not conditioned on reconciliation completion or population lock and does not freeze a population for sampling."},{"name":"Close-management software used to streamline PBC work","source_ids":["SRC2"],"overlap":"Provides real-time close visibility, documented workflows, better close completeness, and reported PBC and audit-process improvements.","remaining_difference":"The survey establishes an adjacent practice category, not a defined inversion-of-control interface granting accounting-side readiness state a bounded right to initiate an auditor-owned procedure."}],"prior_art_disposition":"ADJACENT_PRIOR_ART","contrastive_claim_remaining":"For one predefined recurring population, an entity-held readiness state satisfying auditor-specified reconciliation, dual-sign-off, control-total, and immutable-identity conditions can be granted the bounded right to activate an audit-controlled callback that freezes that population and opens auditor-controlled sampling, without allowing the entity to select samples, alter scope, or determine conclusions.","contrastive_claim_falsifier":"The contrast would be falsified by documentation of an established product or practice that already uses a validated accounting-close event to automatically activate an auditor-controlled, population-specific evidence or sampling workflow with immutable population identity, auditor override, and exclusion of entity-controlled sampling parameters. The proposed benefit would also be falsified if a shadow pilot produces no reduction in premature requests, replacement populations, or readiness coordination relative to baseline.","gates":{"adequate_source_search":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The bounded search covered the exact proposal, PBC and older client-assistance terminology, audit standards, PBC portals, close-management products, task dependencies, sign-offs, population controls, and trigger/webhook combinations. Four opened sources from four publishers include an official standard, primary survey research, and two first-party products.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"supported_problem":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The broader version-control and coordination problem is directly visible, and close-management research supports an association between close visibility and improved PBC work. The narrower pre-lock timing cause is not yet established, hence PARTLY_SUPPORTED rather than SUPPORTED.","source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"]},"distinct_testable_claim":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Although BlackLine substantially overlaps at the workflow-component level, the signed close-state event, immutable population freeze, audit-controlled callback, and explicit authority boundary form a distinguishable and falsifiable remaining claim.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC4"]},"bounded_next_test":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A one-population, one-close-cycle shadow pilot can compare request, lock, upload, replacement, and control-total timestamps while validating triggers without changing the authoritative audit process or relying on pilot output as evidence.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"no_obvious_safety_or_authority_stop":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Shadow mode, auditor retention of sampling and judgment, rejection and override paths, and no audit reliance keep the first test within a controlled boundary. AS 1105 still requires independent evaluation of company-produced information; the trigger must not be treated as evidence of completeness or reliability by itself.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC4"]}},"screen_survival":true,"world_novelty_boundary":"This bounded four-source public-web screen found adjacent workflow prior art but no exact retained match. It cannot establish world novelty, patentability, market size, expert acceptance, realized value, or absence of undiscovered proprietary, implementation-level, patent, or non-indexed prior art."}