MS4 Audit creates a Repository during the Analysis Phase. This Repository is used to verify the date fields. Date Field Verification is a check that for each field identified as a date, all the data in that field adheres to the date format specified. In other words, it verifies that the century, year, month and day segments in each date field all contain valid values. Where this is not the case, errors are reported. An error may indicate the field is not a date, the specified format is incorrect, or the data is corrupt. Using this information, either the MS4 Field Definition or the data itself can be corrected.

During the date verification phase, MS4 Audit verifies that the data in each date field adheres to the date format specified.

To perform database date verification, a number of programs that compare the date format definition to the MS4 Audit Repository with the information held in the database files need to be created. The results of the date verification are then checked to determine whether any mismatches are caused by an error in the MS4 Audit Repository or in the data itself.

After all these steps are completed, MS4 Audit enters its reporting phase.