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Latest Ways to Identify and Lower Enterprise Risks

By Mark Cory, Protiviti

Organizations often use a top-down approach to risk management. While
this approach to risk management has become a familiar term, measuring
specific risks often requires bottom-up information. In this article, Protiviti's Mark Cory discusses how organizations can benefit from an
enterprise risk management approach that relies on both a top-down structure and bottom-up information, and the synergies this powerful
combination creates.
 

Click here for the rest of the story!

This article 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^® Community

Sponsor News!

Thanks to Paisley and TeamMate for sponsoring the newsletter!

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 PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Best Practices ®,  an online resource used by auditors to benchmark business process performance, identify areas of strength, opportunity, and risk, and study best practices that support process improvement. A process classification framework, qualitative and quantitative benchmarking tools, risk and controls information, and comprehensive best practices reports are included in the knowledge base.

Remember! Clicking on sponsored ads and visiting their sites helps support AuditNet®. 

Oracle Applications Community

Sub Material Fraud Risk: The Elephant in the Room

Career Advice Q&A

How to Make Statistics Interesting
Helpful Techniques for Effective Presentations

 Interview by Robbie Miller Kaplan

author of  How to Say it When You Don't Know What to Say: The Right Words For Difficult Times

Auditors make presentations and auditing is rife with statistics, so how do you combine the two without lulling your audience to sleep? Joan Detz, master presenter on “How to Give a Speech” www.joandetz.com and author of four successful books on public speaking, including How to Write and Give a Speech, Second Revised Edition: A Practical Guide For Executives, PR People, the Military, Fund-Raisers, Politicians, Educators, and Anyone Who Has to Make Every Word Count, shares key strategies that will help you integrate statistics into your presentations while capturing your audience’s attention.

For the Q&A click here!

Overcoming resume paralysis

by Robbie Miller Kaplan

The recent economic downturn and major layoffs remind us how important it is to have a current resume. And yet most individuals procrastinate when they attempt to write one. Why is it such a hard task? Is it just tough to write about yourself or too difficult to toot your horn? It’s so important to master this skill because resumes remain the primary source for screening prospective candidates, hiring applicants, or promoting employees.

For the rest of the story click here!

Get a Free Resume Analysis!

AuditNet Adds a New Career Feature: The Resume Tune-Up.

Nationally recognized resume expert and author of  How to Say it When You Don't Know What to Say: The Right Words For Difficult Times, Robbie Miller Kaplan will select one auditor resume each month and suggest ways to transform the resume from passable to powerful.

If you would like your resume to be considered for a tune-up, please e-mail it to Ms. Kaplan. You will be notified by e-mail if your resume is selected. You will need to make yourself available via e-mail to answer a few questions with a tight deadline.  Ms. Kaplan will send a critique and suggestions to the individual selected and a summary Resume Tune-Up will appear in the monthly newsletter column.  If selected you give AuditNet the right to display your resume for the column.

AuditNet^® What's New This Month?

From the Editor!

AuditNet Breaks 100,000 Registered User Mark!

AuditNet now has over 100,000 registered users with access to the audit program inventory. New registrations continue every day which means that auditors continue to find useful information to help in their day to day tasks. We continue to add new resources each month that provide added value for registered users and subscribers. If you are not a registered user click here to register now. Better yet consider subscribing as that is where the newest resources are available!

Contest: Where in the world is Jim Kaplan? Congratulations to this month's winner for correctly identifying St. Petersburg, Russia. The picture will change periodically so check back for your chance to win free access for a year!

Send your answer to WITW.

AuditNet added a new page for compliance auditing. Compliance Central provides links to compliance resources and tools.

AuditNet is working on several initiatives to incorporate audit content into other software applications. One of these applications will offer Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to requirement management. AuditNet has always supported new solutions and has encouraged start ups and other software vendors to enhance their products for both the mainstream as well as the small internal audit functions. We will continue to seek out opportunities that offer the global audit community new ways of doing business.

In conjunction with the  Linkedin Professional Audit Information Networking (PAIN) Group established in December 2007 (and now numbering almost 2,000 professionals) we added a mapping application that demonstrates where AuditNet users live and work. The PAIN group provides an opportunity to tap into a global network of auditors. To add yourself to the map click here. To join the PAIN group click here.

AUDITNET® SURVEYS

New AuditNet Survey

At what revenue base, do public companies typically consider having an Internal Audit function?

Recently Ask the Auditor received an excellent question relating to the correlation between establishing an internal audit function and Sarbanes-Oxley.  This prompted us to prepare a survey and gather information that could help answer the question. We will publish the results in a future issue of the newsletter. (Share the following link with your professional colleagues).

Click Here to take the Internal Audit Function survey

Fraud Awareness Survey Results

Does your organization have a fraud awareness training program in place?

According to research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), U.S. organizations lose an estimated 5 percent of annual revenues to fraud. Based on the estimated U.S. Gross Domestic Product for 2006 – $13.037 trillion – this percentage indicates a staggering estimate of losses around $638 billion among organizations, despite increased emphasis on anti-fraud controls and recent legislation to combat fraud.

We conducted a survey to determine whether organizations have a program in place and key factors in how it is organized. We received 168 responses and the results are as follows:

• 63% of the respondents did not have a program in place

• Of those that had a program in place 54% required all employees and managers to participate in the training

• The program was conducted in a workshop setting 68% of the time.

• 47% of the respondents said the CAE was responsible for organizing and administering fraud awareness training

• Of those that have programs more than 58% require annual training.

Based on the survey it is clear that many organizations do not have a fraud awareness training in place. This would seem to be a good area for internal audit champion and help deter fraud within your organization.

To see the complete results (comments excluded) click here!

Previous Surveys

Audit Management Software

AuditNet User Survey

Fraud Awareness Training

Pay by Phone or FAX

AuditNet is now set up to accept credit card payments for subscriptions by phone or fax. If you are interested in this option click here!

Writing for AuditNet?

AuditNet Editorial Guidelines

Based on the number of articles being contributed to AuditNet we have developed editorial guidelines for future submissions.  If you are planning to write an article please review the guidelines before submission.  We appreciate receiving material from the global audit community in the interest of sharing knowledge. We are also in the process of guidelines for book reviews and other material submitted for inclusion on AuditNet.

Get Audit Related Books Free!

Interested in developing your writing skills with having access to the latest audit and business related books? AuditNet is looking for auditors that would like to review books for the benefit of the audit community. This is an excellent way to build your professional publication library and provide a valuable service for AuditNet users. A list of available books will be provided on request.  For the guidelines click here.

New Benefits of Registration

AuditNet receives many questions on what kind of audit related information is available on the Internet and where to find it. As a result of my research to find the answers to those questions I discover value added resources that are useful for auditors. In the past these resources would have been added to the AuditNet Links Page (aka KARL). To provide an incentive for auditors to register on AuditNet I will begin loading these links to a special page that is only available to registered users. Also expect more resources to transition to the registered users area.

AuditNet continues to forge new relationships with professional associations and audit and accounting sites to provide auditors with access to audit work programs.

Group Access to AuditNet Audit Programs.

Join the other groups such as CCH TeamMate, Protiviti KnowledgeLeader and the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors that have access to all of the AuditNetNet audit programs.

If you want your group or professional association (IIA, ISACA, ACFE, ACUA, ACUIA etc) to have transparent access to AuditNet audit programs and other content as a benefit of membership contact your professional association official or group leader and ask them to pursue this with AuditNet.

Fraud News Feed

Go to the AuditNet Fraud Resource Center and check out the fraud news feed to keep up to date with media reported fraud happenings. 

Audit Programs

The audit programs section of AuditNet requires registration in order to access.  Beginning in January 2009 there will be a fee (TBD) to access the Level 1 audit programs. There will also be an increase (TBD) in Level 2 or premium content subscriptions. The rates will be announced at a later date. New audit program contributions are available only to paid subscribers or on a one-for-one exchange basis.  There are currently over 100,000 registered users. A multi-user subscription rate is also available. Organizations that need more than 2 staff members accessing the service will benefit from this option. There are new additions to the premium audit programs each month that are available as an alternative for those auditors that are unable to or choose not to contribute material to AuditNet®. Site licenses are also available for organizations with more than 15 users.

The best way to find all the resources on the site is by going to the AuditNet Library or use the site search.

Active Directory Webinars AuditNet will be hosting a series of Webinars on Auditing Active Directory. Following are the titles, dates and times for these events.   CAN’T MAKE THE LIVE EVENT? Register anyway to receive a link to the recorded Webinar.     Understanding Active Directory Structure and How It Makes Auditing AD Different Thursday, October 1, 2008 12:00 PM -1:00 PM EDT   Assessing the Risk of Trust Relationships in Active Directory Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:00 PM -1:00 PM EST

Global Best Practice Papers

Best practices for accelerating performance improvement   In today's climate of extreme market uncertainty, companies need a highly focused measurement system to consistently track performance. A well-implemented measurement system can engineer genuine and lasting improvement --the kind executives want to see.   Now available to you through AuditNet, is PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Best Practices team's paper, "Accelerating performance improvement" presenting best practices approaches to establishing a disciplined, replicable process for performance improvement.   For more information, please contact Global Best Practices

Sarbanes-Oxley News and Views

SOX TV Research Alert New Research!

SOX Television is an Internet Television Network that covers every aspect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the related areas of governance, risk and compliance. Along with its sister network, Risk Television, it reaches more than 300,000 financial, governance, risk and compliance professionals worldwide.

Case Study: Continuous Auditing at Wells Fargo

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Auditors need to stay current on trends that affect what they do and how they do it. Nothing could be more in the forefront on the auditor's radar screen then IFRS or global standards for financial reporting. To this end, AuditNet has created a page devoted to the switch from GAAP to IFRS. AuditNet is also building a library of documents related to the new reporting standards.

Click here for the tools and resources we are developing for you.

Recovery Auditing: Reducing Profit Leaks

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.  Interested in previewing all the programs in the premium content section? Contribute an original audit work program not currently in the inventory and receive a 30 day trial subscription to the premium content. Contribute 5 programs and receive a one year trial subscription. (Offer only available for new programs submitted).

CCH TeamMate users now have access to all the AuditNet audit programs in TeamStores format. Access through the TeamStores support site.

Audit Planning Strategy

Q; I am looking for assistance in finding a Remote Deposit Capture audit work program, or at least a high-level guideline of the areas to focus on. Can you help?

A: Remote Deposit Capture or RDC, in its most simple terms, is a service which allows a user to scan checks and transmit the scanned images and / or ACH-data to a bank for posting and clearing. The risk areas include:

• Security

• Integrity (errors/omissions/fraud)

• Quality (image requirements)

• Credit (liquidity)

• Legal

• Reputation

While I have not seen an audit work program or questionnaire for this area however there is a lot of risk, compliance and audit information available on the Internet.

Here is a short list of control areas for RDC:

Information security

Regulatory factors.

Logical security (application & data).

Data in transit, such as:

Customer to bank or service provider,

Within the bank and Bank to service provider or Federal Reserve.

Document management

Image quality controls:

How & where to test quality,

Response for potential quality exceptions, and

Process for checks that cannot be adequately imaged.

Integrity controls

Change control procedures.

Segregation of duties.

Customer batch total validation,

Duplicate items identification process,

Monitor image issues or returns,

Evaluation of check data,

Trend in check issuer contested transactions, and Customer profile vs. check activity.

If you have an audit program for RDC or if you know of one then please let us know. If you have a question for Ask the Auditor click here!

AuditNet is interested in developing a series of SOx or industry related audit programs for organizations. If anyone is interested in writing audit programs, ICQs, questionnaires, or control matrices on a work for hire basis please contact me. If you may know of anyone who would be interested in this as well please pass along my contact information.

AuditNet Construction Corner News

MANAGEMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
[WORKS and SERVICES OF TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS]
INTERNAL CONTROL QUESTIONNAIRE

By Gursharan Singh

Management of construction contracts can be done by acquiring knowledge through books, articles, lectures and attendance of training seminars. There are many such opportunities that are also available on the internet. However browsing the internet to search what is required is a very time consuming method and there is not much reading material available in the market. All the reading material that is available is for common usage and is generally written in very legalistic language or for specific technical disciplines as their target audience. Similarly custom designed reading material is for use of Companies, Corporations, Government Agencies, Statutory Authorities, Educational Institutions, Organizations, etc. Further most of the contents are designed to comply with the laws of the country in which the entity is located.

For the rest of the story and the ICQ click here!

AuditNet Career Center

Auditors Looking for Jobs!

Companies Looking for Auditors!

The Matching Service for Auditors!

Go to the AuditNet^® Career Center now for the latest job opportunities and career-related information and tools. 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.

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.

This is just another benefit of using AuditNet^® as your one stop shop for all your audit and career resources.

AuditNet® Book Reviews