Jim Kaplan's
|
|
||||||
Audit
Programs
|
|||||||
|
|
Corporate Governance Certification
To get more information click here. AuditNet® Community Sponsor News!
The AuditNet® community has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to your continued support. Yes it is hard to imagine but it has been more 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 Caseware-IDEA Data Analysis Software that is the standard in ease of use for auditors, accountants and financial managers. Remember! Clicking on sponsored ads and visiting their sites helps support AuditNet®. Workpaper Quality Review Checklist This checklist provides guidance on how to prepare audit work papers to ensure quality and clarity. The checklist identifies organizational tasks, required information, and formatting that should be complete prior to submitting audit work papers for review. Using this type of checklist will facilitate the review process performed by superiors or management. Click here for the checklist! This tool 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 $595 per year. Tell them you heard about it from AuditNet.org. AuditNet® What's New This Month? This month we reviewed three new books. The free audit programs section of AuditNet now requires registration in order to access. New audit program contributions are available only to paid subscribers or on a one-for-one exchange basis. There are over 12,000 registered users. If you would like to review books please let me know as I could also use a fresh set of eyes! The AuditNet discussion forum page has over 300 registered members. There are threads for special interest groups, Sarbanes-Oxley and more. The more auditors that participate, the livelier the exchange so get connected and start posting! The AuditNet PowerPoint Presentation Library Exchange is ready and auditors have begun to share their work to help the entire community. A page is also available for Expressing an Opinion on Internal Controls. A multi-user subscription rate was added to the individual subscription program to the premium content. Organizations that need more than 2 staff members accessing the service will benefit from this new rate. There are new additions to the audit programs subscription service available as an alternative for those auditors that are unable to contribute material to AuditNet®. 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. AuditNet® Policies and Procedures Column Leadership and Excellence in Policies and Proceduresby Rose Hightower Policy Guru for APPLE A company should only have about a dozen policies basically under the categories of Human Resources and Legal. In practice, a company will identify between 80 and 150 “policies”. The difference in volume has to do with defining authority drawing lines within a company. The more the number of policies, the more it signals a company in transition or chaos. For example: from HR only one company policy is required for termination and severance; however, Legal, Accounting and Information Services will want their own “policies” to address the issue and place their own spin on the topic. Although there may be specific legal, accounting and/or information systems procedures that must be addressed within the business units; separate policies should not be required. A truly integrated Policy and Procedure program will cross those functional lines and have one policy addressing termination and severance and include within it references to specific legal documents, accounting for the policy and retaining or cleansing of data by the various Information Service areas. Rarely will you see a company so well organized that there will be no argument or overlap between the various business units. This rare find, should tell the reader of policies that there is a strong, secure and proven leadership team. Simplicity and unity is very difficult to define and maintain. The tone from the top rings with one voice and acting as a team with one strategy. That is not to say there is not discussion or dispute. A healthy leadership team will encourage discussion and different points of view. Making decisions with purpose and direction, differences are resolved before the policy is made public or implemented. Ask the policyguru to help you define leadership within your organization. To begin, examine the list of Company policies and send the table of contents to the policyguru@optonline.net for an evaluation AuditNet® Creates A PowerPoint Presentation Sharing Library AuditNet® introduces a new sharing exchange library for audit presentations. Similar to the popular audit program exchange library, this page will provide sample actual training/briefing presentations from auditors. We encourage contributed material from the audit community. In light of the Sarbanes-Oxley demand this should be of great benefit to auditor communications to Boards and management. As with other AuditNet® services, together, we will build this page to serve presentation needs to shortcut the preparation process. If you have a presentation to share please send it to me for posting in the exchange library or provide the URL link where the presentation resides. Make sure you include the subject area such as: Sarbanes-Oxley I am encouraged by the initial response and believe that this concept will offer the same opportunities offered by the audit programs library by making sure that auditors do not have to "reinvent the wheel" or by facilitating the presentation process with a template starting point. AuditNet: Auditors Sharing Knowledge for Progress For the current additions and page click here!
Management of
Construction Contracts
|
||||||
|
As well-off Baby Boomers age, the pool of elders vulnerable to fraud
is growing. Marie F. Smith, president of AARP, encourages fraud
examiners to "keep up the good fight" in protecting the elders in their
communities.
"Injustice of any kind makes my blood boil," says Marie Smith during an interview with Fraud Magazine. "... As president of AARP, I become particularly incensed when I see crooks targeting older people," Smith says. As baby boomers age, elder fraud undoubtedly will increase. Fraudsters are stealing elders' savings through telemarketing fraud, investment scams, door-to-door cons, identity theft, and charity fraud, among other schemes. And they appear to be getting better at it. |
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.
Auditing in Publics Schools
N.Y. Comptroller Audit Finds Two Former Voorheesville School District Administrators Improperly Paid Themselves $216,00
District Aggressively Taking Steps to Recover Money; Findings Referred to Albany County District Attorney’s Office
The former Voorheesville school district superintendent and assistant superintendent inappropriately paid themselves $216,000 for leave and other employment benefits, New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi said today. Voorheesville district officials announced today that they have filed a civil lawsuit based on the Comptroller’s findings to recover the funds. The Comptroller’s audit findings, as well as the results of the district’s own investigation, have been referred to District Attorney David Soares for review as a possible criminal matter.
For the complete story click here!
AuditNet Enterprise Risk Management
Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley
by Jim D'Arcangelo
Now that your organization's initial work for the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is winding down, what will you do with your team of Section 404 experts? They have worked hard, going through exercises to support the certification of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting. The next logical step would be to leverage that investment and implement a total enterprise risk management (ERM) framework.
Click here for the rest of the story!
Fraud Survey Reports Corporate Fraud Still Widespread, Difficult to Detect
PricewaterhouseCoopers Finds 50% More Companies Report Financial Losses Since 2003
(NEW YORK/LONDON) 29 November 2005 – Rising economic crime poses a growing threat to companies, with nearly half of all organizations worldwide being victims of fraud in the past two years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Economic Crime Survey 2005. The number of companies reporting fraud increased from 37 percent to 45 percent since 2003, a 22 percent increase. The cost to companies was an average US$1.7 million in losses from “tangible frauds,” those which result in an immediate and direct financial loss. These include asset misappropriation, false pretences and counterfeiting.
For the rest of the story 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. (A reciprocal link to AuditNet is required).
17th Annual SuperStrategies Audit Best-Practices Conference
2006 ACFE Fraud Conferences and Training
2006 IIA Conferences and Training
* indicates events where Jim Kaplan is speaking
Pleier Corporation is still seeking
additional authors to publish on CD and earn royalties. |
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® Free Audit Programs Registration Guide
The new registration login system is now active and there are over 12,000 auditors registered. Following are the steps for registration to ensure access to the free audit programs.
- Complete the registration form (It is important that you use a valid email address and not make any errors. If you use an incorrect or misspelled email address you will never receive the authentication email and your account will never be activated).
- Select the Free Option for access to the free audit programs or select an option for the premium content.
- You will be taken to the Registration Success Page.
- Go to the email account used for your registration and open the email with the Subject: Site Access Details and click on the URL to enable your account. (This is the authentication process and it is important that you enter a valid email address. If you use a free email account such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc YOU MUST GO TO THAT ACCOUNT AND RESPOND TO THE AUTHENTICATION EMAIL).
- Go to the AuditNet Login Page, login and you are taken directly to the Free Audit Programs (or premium if you paid the fee)
- IMPORTANT! If you have not completed all the above steps then your account is not activated and you will not have access. Accounts not activated within 24 hours are deleted from the database and you will have to re-register!
I have created a page called Frequently Asked Questions. This is the support page for auditors signing up for free access. Please refer to that page for answers to commonly asked questions regarding access and other issues relating to Login Registration.
If your company or private email account has a spamblocker
preventing you from getting the authentication email then you will
need to notify your system administrator to allow email from AuditNet.
AuditNet is not responsible for non-receipt of the authentication email.
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 contact us. Watch for more Internet boot camp tips from the auditing Internet guru!
Audit Work Programs Corner
Access to the free audit programs now requires registration. The following audit programs, ICQs, checklists or working papers were added this month. If you are not a paid subscriber then they are available on a 1 for 1 exchange for an original audit work program contribution not currently in the inventory.
-
Application Audit Program-Healthcare (Feb 06)
-
Consolidation Audit Program (Feb 06)
-
Fixed Asset Management-Healthcare (Feb 06)
-
HIPAA Security Rule Compliance Audit Program-Govt (Feb 06)
-
HIPAA Security Rule Compliance Survey-Govt (Feb 06)
-
Receipts Handling Control Questionnaire (Feb 06)
-
Investments Audit Program (Feb 06)
-
Records Management Audit Program-Govt (Feb 06)
-
Records Management Survey-Govt (Feb 06)
-
S-Ox Process Owners Representation Letter (Feb 06)
-
Sales & Accounts Receivable Transaction Walkthrough-Mfg (Feb 06)
Documents in the Queue!
Beginning in January all new documents are added to the Subscriber Section and will require a contribution exchange or subscription
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 Corner
Oversight Systems Survey Identifies Growing Benefits to SOX
Compliance
Financial executives cite higher-than-expected year-two
Sarbanes-Oxley costs
ATLANTA – January 30, 2006 – Oversight Systems Inc. today released the results of the 2006 Oversight Systems Financial Executive Report on Sarbanes-Oxley. The survey of 261 financial executives identifies growing benefits of SOX compliance and specific compliance goals for 2006.
The findings show an across-the-board increase in the benefits that respondents experienced in 2005 from SOX compliance as compared to those reported in 2004. The reported benefits of improved financial reporting accuracy almost doubled to 47 percent from 27 percent in 2004. Other reported increased benefits include the ensured accountability of individuals involved in financial reports and operations, up to 65 percent from 46 percent in 2004.
For the rest of the story click here!
Ask the Auditor Column
Q: We have one day in the field to visit a vendor managed data center and want to use our time effectively. This data center has recently received servers from some of our business units to manage. Outside of reviewing their SAS 70 and physical controls does any one have any creative thoughts on what could be covered in an audit?
For a suggest answer click here!
|
Making the Most of the Job Fair Experience By Robbie Miller Kaplan, author of “How to Say It In Your Job Search” Prentice Hall Press 2002. Job fairs offer big benefits to job seekers. You have an opportunity to network, identify what employers are seeking in applicants, participate in actual interviews, practice your interview skills, and maybe - get a job offer! If nothing else you can apply what you learn to more clearly target your resume for positions of interest. How can you prepare and maximize the job fair experience? It’s helpful to prepare as if it were a job interview; bring along professional copies of your resume, practice responding to interview questions, and dress as if you were attending a job interview. You’ll make the best impression if you research the organizations prior to the job fair. Get a sense of what is going on with the organization. Are they expanding? Merging? Did they just receive a government contract? Launching a new product? If you have a sense of what is going on, you can craft an appropriate question or, you can read up on the organization to have an idea of who they are and then ask questions to share a bit of their own information with the recruiter or interviewer. How can you ensure a successful job fair experience? It's good idea to work the entire fair. Begin with organizations of least interest and work up to your top choices. You'll gain more confidence with each experience so you'll be in top form for your top picks. Prepare and introduce yourself to each employer with a 30-second introduction; include what you have been doing, what you are looking for and the skills and experience you want to use. Always collect business cards and definitely follow up with employers that you interviewed with if you are interested in them. You can also solicit feedback on your resume to ensure it is a strong as it can be. While waiting in line, read some of the brochures you pick up or an industry publication. And don’t just network with employers; network with other applicants. Find out what they are looking for, share a lead with an organization that is not a fit but may fit the applicant, and visa versa. Follow up with individuals you met so you can expand your network. You never know where or when the perfect lead will materialize; make sure you don’t miss it. |
AuditNet® CAATT Corner
What Holds Back Implementing Audit, Anti-Fraud, and Assurance Software….and How To Fix It
Rich Lanza, CPA, CFE, PMP
Why doesn’t everyone have a comprehensive suite of audit software tools?
In researching the 2005 Buyer’s Guide for Audit, Anti-Fraud, and Assurance Software, we looked at more than one hundred software products and spent over 500 hours analyzing them. In nearly every product area we found a similar story: auditors are slow to adopt professional software created for their needs. The largest single share of work in any category was typically being done using Word, Excel, and e-mails which is memorialized in survey after survey.
In this article, we will focus on three key reasons why this situation prevails.
-
Too many new products out there, particularly SOX-related.
-
Getting data and doing analysis are too difficult.
-
Not enough time, people, or money, especially for enterprise-level solutions.
For the rest of the article click here!
AuditNet® Book Reviews
For the reviews click here!
AuditNet® Software Compliance Audit Corner
Lessons Learned - Read the Fine Print
In a recent press release in USA regarding an organization being stung with a hefty fine for allegedly using unlicensed copies of software a few words were "slipped in" at the press release stating "And, for the first time in the United States, BSA is now offering rewards of up to $50,000 for qualifying reports in the United States received via its hotline or online reporting form before midnight (PST) on Tuesday, February 28, 2006." Don't believe us? See Don't Get Stung $US 110,000 for Software Piracy and North Carolina firms Settle $US 155,000 with Piracy watchdog
Many will have skipped over the above words after their eyes glazed over the initial paragraph, as this is such a common press release that it draws a yawn from most CEOs and IT gurus. Here we go again, the software piracy bandwagon is rolling around one more time!
BUT, there are some underlying threats in that simple sentence above regarding offering a reward of $US 50,000 that we need to bring to your attention. For a short lessons learnt session, stay awake and read on!
Late breaking news!
- $US 375,000 coughed up by Medical firm!
- Phoenix firms find that costs hit “Home” to the tune of $US 250,000
For the rest of the story click here!
Your Secret Weapon in the War on Fraud
The February 2006 issue of this fraud newsletter features articles on essentials of building an information security culture, techniques to avoid hiring fraudsters, new evidence of S-Ox benefits and more. AuditNet® users qualify for special rates on this publication. For more information click here.
Fraud Awareness Free Pilot Program Available for AuditNet® users
FraudAware is a unique interactive on-line awareness course designed to help managers and line employees recognize the red flags of accounting fraud, embezzlement, theft of trade secrets or confidential customer data, vendor and payroll schemes, identity theft and more. Customizable to your specific risk management policies and procedures and code of conduct, FraudAware also directly supports compliance with the whistleblower provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley by equipping employees with the awareness and knowledge necessary to make effective use of the new law’s mandatory fraud reporting hotline.
AuditNet.org and White-Collar Crime 101 LLC, developers of FraudAware, are pleased to offer Free Pilot programs of the FraudAware course for up to 20 managers or line employees at your company.
For information on this program go to www.auditnet.org/fraudaware.htm
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®.
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. Contact us for details.
AuditNet® Vendor News
Check here for the latest news from our AuditNet® sponsors!
Paisley Consulting press releases
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.
AuditNet® Resource List Updates
Please let us know of links that are not working!
AuditNet® Statistics
For those who like to wade through the details on how popular AuditNet® is, click here for the current stats.
Amigo in Spanish means "friend" and this new audit documentation tool could help the AuditNet community. Auditors are always looking for new tools to make their jobs a little easier. I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from an auditor that developed this audit documentation tool. He advised that he was making this tool available freely to the AuditNet community. AMIGO, the Audit Management and Information Guidance Software is a simple audit documentation software for the individual auditor. It allows internal auditors to
-
Design audit programs and program templates based on requirements
-
Document work done in simple electronic audit work papers
-
Document issues in a simplified issue format
-
Print work papers, issues and report as required
-
Generate reports
AuditNet will work with this auditor to add features and improve the system. All we need is your feedback on using the system.
To get your copy of AMIGO click here!
Free Tools for Audit Program Subscribers
Sarbanes-Oxley Enterprise Risk Management Software
SOXERM is a small and user-friendly, but powerful database which documents in a convenient format the key internal controls of your company. The main purpose is to give a cost-effective answer to the new Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) requirements by providing adequate documentation to the Audit Committee and the External Auditors that the Company has identified, reviewed and addressed the main risks, is constantly monitoring them and taking appropriate action when required. The software requires Lotus Notes and is free to AuditNet Audit Programs Subscribers.
Coming Attractions!
Beginning in January all new audit programs became available only to annual subscribers. Subscribe now to lock in the subscription rate for 2006.
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. These guides will be available to subscribers. 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, Sarbanes-Oxley book series from Wiley and more. 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.
