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Corporate Governance Certification
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This month check out ACL Services Ltd. a global provider of Business Assurance Analytics to the audit and controls professions and the financial management community. Combining market-leading data analysis software and professional services expertise, ACL solutions give organizations confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the transactions underlying increasingly complex business operations and in the effectiveness of internal controls. Remember! Clicking on sponsored ads and visiting their sites helps support AuditNet®. New Tools for Assessments of SAP Controls and Security Out of the box, SAP does not come configured optimally as it relates to internal controls, and an organization may end up with control exposures after the implementation is complete. As organizations seek to transform SOX compliance into a sustainable, cost-effective process, they can take a giant leap in this direction by using automated tools to further optimize their SAP installation: automating controls, increasing monitoring capabilities, and achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in the compliance process. Click here for the rest of the story! 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. I added sections for Information Security and ISO. There is a new CD Store with training material from Pleier and Associates including discount offers for AuditNet users. The 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 25,000 registered users. 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®. Site licenses are also available for organizations with more than 15 users. AuditNet continues to receive new books for review. 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 400 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 offers another medium for auditors to share their work to help the entire community. A page is also available for Expressing an Opinion on Internal Controls. 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. Technical Consultants’ Professional Fee - Re-Designed Projectsby Gursharan Singh The Professional Fees [‘Fees’] claimable by Technical Consultants [‘Consultants] is generally based on a system as approved by the relevant Authorities. The computation of ‘Fees’ is based on three main components as follows: [a] Cost of Works, This is generally a standard practice. However there are occasions where an existing project is abandoned after some partial completion of works. In these cases the ‘Fees’ will be paid on the basis that the project is abandoned. Further there are cases where the projects may be abandoned after partial completion of design services. Here again the ‘Fees’ will be computed and paid on up to the stage the design service are rendered. Click here for the rest of the article! IIA Technology Audit Guide Series New Guide Released Guide 4: Management of IT Auditing Management of IT Auditing — the fourth guide in the Global Technology Audit Guide. There is no question that IT is changing the nature of the internal audit functions. The risks companies face, the types of audits that should be performed, how to prioritize the audit universe, and how to deliver insightful findings are all issues with which chief audit executive (CAE) must grapple. This guide is designed for CAE and internal audit management personnel who are responsible for overseeing IT audits. The purpose is to help sort through the strategic issues regarding planning, performing, and reporting on IT audits. Each Global Technology Audit Guide (GTAG) will be written in straightforward business language to address timely issues related to information technology management, control, or security. GTAG will be a ready resource series for chief audit executives to use in the education of members of the board and audit committee, management, process owners, and others regarding technology-associated risks and recommended practices. Previous Guides:
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 |
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Most of us are daunted by a complicated case's massive quantities of data. But Frank Hydoski, an internationally recognized forensics expert, says take a deep breath, formulate the basic question of the case, use technology wisely, and don't forget your intuition. |
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.
Should Auditors Be Airport
Screeners?
Or why they both miss what they’re paid to detect.
by Gary D. Zeune
To test terrorism readiness, British authorities conducted Threat Image Projection (TIP) and digitally inserted one of 250 images of guns, knives and other banned objects into luggage. Initially the screeners’ performance was mediocre. But with practice it improved dramatically. Then the images were changed, and the screeners’ performance dropped like a rock to no better than when the program started. But why?
For the rest of the story click here!
Auditing and Fraud in Publics Schools - Recent News
This column will features articles and news on the topic of auditing in public schools. If you have an article or story link you would like to contribute please contact us.
Debt from embezzlement forces school to close
(Muskegon, April 13, 2006, 5:39 p.m.) A Muskegon school will have to close due to being more than $1 million in debt.
For the complete story click here!
CBS4 Investigates Embezzlement At Charter School
(CBS4) COMMERCE CITY, Colo. Police named a former elected official as the prime suspect in the disappearance of tens of thousands of dollars from a charter school.
For the article 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).
2006 ACFE Fraud Conferences and Training
2006 IIA Conferences and Training
* indicates events where Jim Kaplan is speaking
“Exceeding Expectations” contains 1 hour and
20 minutes of PowerPoint presentation with synchronized
digital soundtrack offering thought-provoking and practical
ideas about how Internal Auditors can exceed the
expectations of audit clients. This seminar offers
state-of-the-art thinking using state-of-the-art technology.
Receive all the benefits of attending a seminar at your
convenience in a suitable format for both group and
individual self-paced training. $120 regular price. A Practitioner's Guide to Corruption Auditing Coming Soon! AuditNet users qualify for a $20 coupon CORRUPT valid for
online sales from May 15 to June 15 Opportunities to Share Your Knowledge and Earn Royalties Pleier Corporation is still seeking
additional authors to publish on CD and earn royalties. |
Coming Attractions!
AuditNet will host a career center for audit professionals that will provide articles, tips and resources for new auditors and those auditors climbing the career ladder.
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.
E-Books for
Subscribers to the Annual Audit Programs
Heard on the Net!
AuditNet® Tools for Conducting Searches on the Internet
Any task is made easier if you have the right tools. This especially holds true for finding audit-related information on the Internet. Auditors frequently focus on one tool for conducting Internet searches: a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. While these applications enjoy great popularity, they are not the only game in town. When conducting audit-related research on the Internet I believe in a multi-faceted approach. Discussion forums and mailing lists are powerful tools for searching. Auditors may post messages in the AuditNet Discussion Forum or join an audit-related mailing list and tap into a network of audit professionals to help find answers to audit questions. There are also other search engines such as Ask and Dogpile. Another option is using a desktop search facility such as WebFerret for searching and saving results. Remember that there is no single search engine that indexes the entire Internet. Varying your search engines can produce expanded results. Next month I will explain searching using Internet meta-information
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 program section now requires registration. The following audit programs, ICQs, checklists or working papers were added this month. They are available on a 1 for 1 exchange for an original audit work program not currently in the inventory. If you unable to share audit programs then consider subscribing to the premium content which provides you with access free and premium content 24/7/365.
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Business License Tax Audit-Government (May 06)
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Computer Access and Renewal-Government (May 06)
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Help Desk Audit Program (May 06)
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Intellectual Capital Questionnaire (May 06)
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Internal Audit Plan Checklist/Template-Pharmacy (May 06)
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Hiring Audit Program-Government (May 06)
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Organization Management Review ICQ (May 06)
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Sales Return Analysis Audit (May 06)
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SAP R3 Audit Program (May 06)
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Security Management Audit (May 06)
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!
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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
Is your external auditor a liability to your company?
By Richard B. Lanza, CPA/CITP, CFE, PMP & Dean Brooks
The decision of what external auditor to use comes with significant costs and risks—more now than ever before. While the selection of an external auditor is more complicated than say ordering a piece of equipment, wouldn’t you like to have more information before making that decision?
For the rest of the story click here!
AuditNet® Book Reviews
AuditNet® Software Compliance Audit Corner
An Emerging Threat You May Not Have Counted On
This news is relevant for security and audit and management professionals in USA and around the world.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) in USA announced in the last few days that it has increased its cash incentive (reward) to $US200,000 for information on software piracy that leads to an infringement settlement with software vendors. Of course there are conditions, but suffice to day many have already put their hands up to claim their cash prize!
The previous USA reward which ended on 28th February 2006 was $US50,000 (which was the highest we have known in the last 15 years) and it generated over 1,000 “reports” which means there are 1,000 organizations “under investigation”.
Will this reward scheme have any effect outside USA? It sure will, where organizations have a US parent and/or an offshore subsidiary or vice versa. It will also induce other countries anti-piracy bodies to offer rewards seeing the successes to date with reports flooding in.
The “anti-piracy net” could well widen to your country due to the
very size and nature of the reward scheme on offer. As auditors and
managers and chief executives in organizations you really need to take
notice of what is going on and make sure you are well protected!
Get the facts on the reward scheme from
BSA and
PCProfile.
If you want to know how they can knock on your door and seize your
assets (Can they do this ? Sure can!) read
this!
If you want to know more about what this “reward system” can do to both you your organization send an e-mail to pcprofile@internode.on.net and we’ll give you an inside rundown on the risks you face. They are really very substantial now that the stakes have been raised to this level! Wait until the music and the movie industry catch on to this reward scheme and see what sort of fun you will have then.
There are some very simple and pragmatic steps you can take to ease
the pain being created by this reward system. (besides taking a
headache tablet or 2 to calm your nerves).
Your Secret Weapon in the War on Fraud
The May 2006 issue of this fraud newsletter features articles on Management Override: Practical Steps for Reducing the Risk, What to do When You Suspect Internal Theft 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®.
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
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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!
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AuditNet® Resource List Updates
Please let us know of links that are not working!
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
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Design audit programs and program templates based on requirements
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Document work done in simple electronic audit work papers
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Document issues in a simplified issue format
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Print work papers, issues and report as required
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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.
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