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Corporate Governance Certification
To get more information click here. AuditNet® Community Sponsor News!
The AuditNet® community has grown by leaps and bounds over the past ten years thanks to your continued support. Yes it is hard to imagine but it has been a decade since this community was created! Support AuditNet® by supporting our sponsors. Without sponsor and affiliate advertising and contributions from the AuditNet® community everyone would have to pay for use of this site.
This month check out Protiviti KnowledgeLeader Internal Audit Community, a web-based internal auditing tool that will help you identify risks, develop best practices and add value to your organization. They give you internal audit tools, checklists, and templates as well as news and updates on the latest business risks and controls. Remember! Clicking on sponsored ads helps support AuditNet®. Remember: visiting sponsors helps support AuditNet®.
Spreadsheet Controls Procedures and Checklist for Lack of controls over spreadsheets can present a risk to the accuracy of
financial statement information and may be identified as a deficiency
under Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. This document contains an example of This checklist was contributed by Protiviti KnowledgeLeader, an online service providing tools, templates, and other resources for internal audit and risk management. Free trials available at www.knowledgeleader.com. For a limited time KnowledgeLeader memberships are available for the reduced rate of $550 per year. Tell them you heard about it from AuditNet.org. Click here for the checklist! AuditNet® Creates A Policy & Procedure Exchange Library AuditNet® is proud to announce the AuditNet® Policy and Procedure Library Exchange (APPLE). As with other AuditNet® services, together, we will build this page to serve policy and procedure needs including links to Policy and Procedure available on the Internet and an "Ask the Policyguru" section. For details click here! Shortage of U.S. skilled workers by 2020 ? Part 6 ---- Why to Consider Manpower Planning? By Tom Crouch, CPA, CIA, CISA, and Attorney There are numerous authoritative sources that are projecting a severe shortage of US skilled workers by 2020. In fact, similar shortages are expected in nearly every major industrial country. The first installment of this story appeared in the December 2004 newsletter. The second installment appeared in the April 2005 newsletter. For the final installment click here!
Management of
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AuditNet Job Listings (& more)
Looking for an audit job? Go to the AuditNet® Audit Jobs section for the latest job opportunities. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you have the ability to not only look at available jobs, but you can also post your resume, apply for open jobs, research companies and obtain career advice. If you are in the market for a new job, make AuditNet® your first stop to check out what's available.
This is just another benefit of using AuditNet® as your one stop shop for all your audit and career resources.
Click here for more jobs!
AuditNet® Fraud Auditing Corner
Interview with
Eva Romatzeck: ACFE's European Council on
Occupational Fraud and Abuse Takes First Steps
By Dick Carozza
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Fraudsters ignore country boundaries. "Fraud is becoming an international crime," says Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, founder and Chairman of the ACFE. "Most Fortune 1000 countries have international subsidiaries, he says. Individual fraud schemes frequently involve the fraud occurring in one country and the proceeds of the crime being hidden in another. Anything that we can do to share information and make laws uniform will help." |
This article is from Fraud Magazine, the professional magazine
of the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners
For the rest of the article from the latest ACFE Fraud Magazine click here.
Audimation Services
Fighting Fraud with Data Mining Techniques
New 2005 Schedule
Learn how to create, implement, and
maintain a fraud program – start to
finish! ... Tighten controls, strengthen
your fraud program, and recover
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AuditNet® Information Security
Protect Yourself: Instant Messaging (IM) Risks
by Rey LeClerc
According to research from anti-virus company F-Secure, instant messaging (IM) security threats are growing by 50% per month and could potentially spread across the globe in seconds. F-Secure says virus writers are targeting IM due to its capacity to spread malicious code more quickly than e-mail. Experts say instant messaging worms could potentially infect all vulnerable IM computers in a little over ten seconds, and F-Secure says it has detected 200 IM worms and more than 700 trojans, backdoors, and keyloggers.
Click here for the rest of the story!
AuditNet® Resource List Updates
Please let us know of links that are not working!
Free Tools for Auditors
Sarbanes-Oxley Software
To address the mounting debate about the requirement to
document the
internal controls in order to comply with SOX, a new software is now
available
free.
The only periodical of its kind bringing useful and timely advice and insights into the prevention detection, and investigation of all forms of computer and Internet crime. For more information visit www.cybercrimefighter.net
2nd Annual Software Expo
On April 19, 2005, The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA) North Jersey Chapter hosted a software expo: Automated Solutions For Creating Sustainable Value. It was a follow-up to last year’s successful event, bringing together the leading audit and assurance software vendors from around the world. The expo was geared to external auditors, internal auditors, and fraud examiners looking to expand their understanding of software in the overall assurance market.
For more info click here!
AuditNet® Conference & Training News
Want to announce your professional association
conference to the global audit community?
Send us conference name, date and URL details or your
2005 ACFE Fraud Conferences and Training
2005 IIA Conferences and Training
* indicates events where Jim Kaplan is speaking
AuditNet® Vendor News
Check here for the latest news from our AuditNet® sponsors!
Paisley Consulting press releases
Pentana news and announcements
Preview of Coming Attractions!
In an exciting new alliance with Rose Hightower of IDEAL Consulting Solutions International, LLC; AuditNet® introduced a new exchange service for Policies and Procedures. Rose, a former IBM employee and President of IDEAL, has performed consulting engagements that improve the internal control posture and implement enterprise wide Policy and Procedure programs. Rose, an accountant with an MS from Syracuse University, will coordinate this new AuditNet® resource. AuditNet® will also introduce a new sharing exchange library for audit presentations. Similar to the popular audit program exchange library, these new sections will provide sample polices and procedures and training/briefing presentations from auditors. We will start with sample documents and PowerPoint presentations and encourage contributed material from the audit community. These resources will be of great benefit to companies undergoing S-Ox reviews especially non-accelerated filers. Watch for details!
The AuditNet Monograph Series provides useful guides for all levels of auditors from juniors right up to audit directors. New guides are under development for Sarbanes-Oxley, internal controls and Internet for auditors. If you are interested in developing a monograph on a contract basis, contact us.
Watch for new articles on Sarbanes-Oxley, Information Security, Software Auditing, CAATTs, and more from contributors. Reviews are in the works for audit books, PowerPoint Personal Trainer, and Excel Personal Trainer. Watch the newsletter for more products, services and tools for auditors. Have an idea for a column? Contact us.
AuditNet® continues adding new specialized resources for auditors. Watch the newsletter and keep checking the Library page for updates and new resources.
AuditNet® Statistics
For those who like to wade through the details on how popular AuditNet® is, click here for the current stats.
E-Books for
Subscribers to the Annual Audit Programs
Note: The SarbOx Section 404 Compliance Tips for IT Managers was updated to reflect new compliance dates.
Heard on the Net!
AuditNet® Outreach Campaign
As most of the regular visitors to this site know, I have diligently pursued adding resources and tools for the benefit of the global audit community. However, I feel like there is still a great deal of untapped opportunities to reach sections of the audit population not previously touched. My original idea for AuditNet was to create an online information resource for ALL auditors. As I speak and write about AuditNet, I realize that many auditors do not know about this community. This is where you come in. I am looking for ideas on how to reach this population. You have been great in spreading the word but now I need to take it to the next level. I would like to get the word out through all the professional associations, public accounting, colleges and universities, international audit bodies etc. If you have suggestions on ways to do this I am all ears! I will be writing more articles and searching for new venues. If I am successful in my outreach campaign, you will all benefit as the more members we can attract to this community, discussion lists and sharing forums the greater the pool of resources that will be available. AuditNet is now my primary focus and I need all of you to spread the word.
Thanks for your support and until next month!
If you have a tip on how you are using the Internet or software applications for auditing send them to editor@auditnet.org Watch for more Internet boot camp tips from the auditing Internet guru!
Audit Work Programs Corner
Auditors Sharing Audit Programs and Working Papers
The following audit programs, ICQs, checklist
or working papers were added this month. They are in
format unless noted otherwise.
Some may only be available in exchange for an audit work program
contribution not currently in the inventory.
Beginning in August 2003 all new programs contributed will include the
date the program was added to the inventory (mm/yy). This was at the
suggestion of an AuditNet® user.
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Bank Reconciliation Process (May 05)
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BSA Compliance Audit Program (May 05)
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BSA Name of Exempt Person Worksheet (May 05)
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BSA Suspicious Activity Report Compliance Worksheet (May 05)
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Business Case Review Checklist (May 05)
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Construction Industry-Award of Tender and Site Management (May 05)
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Construction Industry-Site Diary (May 05)
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Construction Industry-Tendering Procedures and Award of Tender (May 05)
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E-mail System ICQ (May 05)
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Human Resources Audit Checklist (May 05)
Documents in the Queue!
The following audit documents will be posted next month. Interested in them now? Send an audit work program, ICQ, checklist or other audit template and receive them via e-mail. Your contribution must include your name and email address.
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Action Item Matrix (June 05)
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Audit Completion Checklist - Utility (June 05)
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Microsoft Windows 2000 Risk Matrix (June 05)
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Time and Attendance Audit Program (June 05)
Contribution Required Audit Documents!
The following documents require the contribution of an audit program not currently in the inventory. They are also available to subscribers to the Audit Programs Subscription Service.
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Cell Phone ICQ (May 05)
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Collections Audit Program - Insurance (May 05)
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Disaster Recovery Audit Program (May 05)
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Ethical Investment ICQ (May 05)
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Organizational Transparency ICQ (May 05)
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Swift Alliance Control Assessment (May 05)
AuditNet® What's New This Month?
This month we added a policy and procedure exchange library for the benefit of financial professionals. Watch for new additions to the audit programs subscription service available as an alternative for those auditors that are unable to contribute material to AuditNet®. There are many new audit programs in the queue for the AuditNet® community. All this and more! The best way to find all the resources on the site is by going to the Virtual Library or use the site search.
Looking for Auditors?
If your company has any audit job vacancies that you are looking to fill, have your HR people contact AuditNet® to post the job and search for candidates. Using the jobs section helps support AuditNet® as well! For more information click here.
Sarbanes-Oxley Column
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Sarbanes-Oxley Implementation Costs: What Companies are Reporting in their SEC Filings ARC Morgan, Consultants and Advisory Services for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance recently released a comprehensive analysis that provides disclosed Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 implementation costs reported by 280 SEC registered companies. Key Findings
For a downloadable copy of this timely report, click here. |
AuditNet® CAATT Corner
A View of the Audit, Anti-Fraud, and Assurance Software Industry: Three of the Top 10 Trends To Look For in 2005 and Beyond
The article was excerpted from the 2005 Buyer’s Guide To Audit, Anti-Fraud, and Assurance Software by Dean Brooks, Mort Goldman, and Rich Lanza
The article brings together three industry trends in the marketplace:
Industry Trend #1 - The Playing Field Starts To Be Defined
Industry Trend #2 - The Dearth of Qualified Audit Staff Increases Technology Demand
Industry Trend #3 - Moving to an ERM mindset – The Catalyst of 2002 – 2004
For the details on these 3 trends click here!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rich Lanza (CPA, CFE, PMP) enables organizations in the use of technology to (1) generate cash recoveries, (2) stop profit leaks, (3) move away from control issues, and (4) work towards process improvements. To contact Rich, receive his free e-newsletter, get a free diagnostic, or to order his products/services, e-mail him at rich@auditsoftware.net, call him at 973-601-3701, or visit his website at www.infomagician.com.
AuditNet® Review
Using Microsoft Access to Audit Payables for Fraud!
Accounts payable have always been a preferred target for fraud by employees. This CD-based CPE course from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners will help you gain a clear understanding of the concepts used to audit payables for fraud with Microsoft Access® and why certain tests area more effective than others.
For the review click
AuditNet® Software Compliance Audit Corner
“Is Your IP Leaking?”
This new AuditNet® monograph focuses on the issues auditors face with intellectual property. If you are an auditor one of the tasks you need to do from time to time is audit and validate the list of intellectual property held by your organization. Never done this before? Then add it to your list of tasks to do as the issue faced in one specific area regarding Open Source software might alert you to some risks you have not known until now even existed!
For the new monograph click here!
Current Views on Governance and Compliance
Your Secret Weapon in the War on Fraud
The May 2005 issue of this fraud newsletter features articles on the fourth fraud factor, how to protect your company against phishing attacks and more. AuditNet® users qualify for special rates on this publication. For more information click here.
The AuditNet® Audit Bookstore Corner
Looking for books on auditing related topics? We suggest using the AuditNet® bookstore. The bookstore focuses on Internal Audit but includes other related subjects as well. AuditNet® uses Amazon to power the bookstore so each purchase you make through this link helps support AuditNet®.
Book Reviews
Manager’s
Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Improving Internal Controls to
Prevent Fraud
by Scott Green
Auditors and public accounting firms are well aware of Sarbanes-Oxley and its implications for their companies or clients. The Manager’s Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as evidenced by the title is geared towards managers of small to mid-sized companies that may not have the benefit of internal audit or large CPA firm advice.
For the rest of the review click here!
How to Say It When You Don't Know What to Say The Right Words for Difficult Times
By Robbie Miller Kaplan
As
auditors we constantly interact with diverse stakeholders such as
colleagues, managers, employees and others. Frequently we encounter
people dealing with challenging and difficult times that may or may
not be related to work. Our reaction to these situations is conveyed
in our behavior both nonverbal and verbal.
For the rest of the review click here.
FREE! The Auditor's Guide to Internet Resources 2nd Edition
Interested in a free copy of The Auditor's Guide to Internet
Resources, 2nd Edition? Write an article for the next newsletter on how
you are integrating the Internet in auditing. If your article is selected, I
will send you an electronic copy of the book.
AuditNet® Partner Discounts Check out all the software vendors that offer
discounts to the AuditNet® community. AuditNet® It pays to be a member! For information on partner discounts click
here.
Opportunities to Share Your Knowledge and Earn Royalties Pleier Corporation is still seeking additional authors
to publish on CD and earn royalties.
AuditNet®
Feedback I'm so happy to find a professional web site relating to
audit field like your site, I'm so interested coz I'm IT Audit manager, and
always looking for resources which can help me in my work, please keep me
updated with all your resources and news Thank you & best regards Tamer A.
Hameed IT Audit Manager Kuwait Finance House One of the ways to better mankind is to share information
--- your site has contributed to the betterment of mankind -- well done ! -
BigKell For more comments click
here!
AuditNet's last posting resulted in the publishing of "A
Practitioner's Guide to Performance Auditing" by Muhammad Akram Khan -
see
http://www.pleier.com/pacd.htm and "Auditing IT Infrastructures"
by Alan Oliphant - see
www.pleier.com/aiti.html.
Pleier Corporation is looking for additional authors who have quality
and quantity of Internal Audit-related material appropriate for an
entire CD title.
Pleier Corporation would especially like to publish a CD on
Contract/Construction Auditing by an author with practical experience
and an ability to communicate that information for distribution on CD
or DVD.
Available topics continue to grow especially with new authors from
AuditNet like Muhammad Akran Khan and Alan Oliphant.
Publish your own CD or DVD to earn royalties and receive worldwide
exposure.
Available titles currently completed include:
21st Century Audit Management
A Practitioner's Guide to Performance Auditing
Auditing Fraud
Auditing IT Infrastructures
Auditing Purchasing and Contracts
Control Self Assessment
Internal Auditor Toolkit
Modern Integrated Audit Approach
Risk Management: Best Practices
Risk Management and Risk Assessment
Systems Analysis and Design
INTERESTED IN PUBLISHING
For additional information email pleier@pleier.com or call Joe Pleier
at (949) 830-1575.
DISCOUNTS TO AUDITNET READERS
As a reminder, Pleier Corporation offers 10 % discounts to AuditNet
readers at
www.pleier.com. To take this discount order online and enter
the word AUDITNET in the coupon field at checkout.
