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ASK (Auditors Sharing Knowledge) for Progress
December 1, 2001
The AuditNet-l Newsletter is sponsored by: PricewaterhouseCoopers
TeamMate
"PricewaterhouseCoopers TeamMate is a database-driven audit management system that streamlines the audit process by providing integrated tools for documentation, report generation and file sharing."
The Auditor's Guide to Internet Resources, 2nd Edition Available!
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The
Auditor's Guide to Internet Resources, 2nd Edition is
the only book on the Internet written expressly for internal auditors.
Expanded and updated to include the latest Internet trends and
resources, the book provides all the Internet competency skills
auditors need to become digitally literate. Order
your copy now! Call 877-867-4947 (Toll free in U.S. and
Canada) or FAX 770-442-9742 or Available on CD-ROM! |
email
iiapubs@pbd.com|
AuditNet Free! AuditNet remains free to the global audit If you are trying to market to the audit community, there are many opportunities for corporations and vendors to sponsor the AuditNet site. Contact editor@auditnet.org for advertising, sponsorship or partner information. |
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Problems with Email Discussion ListMy apologies to all the loyal AuditNet users for the multiple messages generated from a mid-November mailing. According to the Web hosting service that provides the list support, the issue has been resolved. They are looking at replacing their listserve software as they have not been happy with it's performance. I am also exploring alternatives for the listserve that include using another third party provider that just handles listserves. Rest assured that the last thing that I would ever do to list subscribers is intentionally generate unnecessary email (SPAM). A number of subscribers felt that I was intentionally spamming them and either unsubscribed or sent me very strong emails expressing their displeasure. Please remember that AuditNet-l, Auditprograms-l and Audit-l are all opt-in discussion lists. This means that the way that you get the email is by subscribing. You always have the option of unsubscribing and I encourage you to do so if you feel that the respective list is not meeting your needs. The vast majority of subscribers sent supportive emails expressing understanding and a clear picture that what was happening was not intended. Those of you who fit in the latter category you have my never-ending gratitude. For the past seven years I have been providing this resource because I felt it was needed and the right thing to do. I will continue to do so with majority support. Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan. On AuditNet we all have a common purpose: Auditors Sharing Knowledge for Progress! |
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Avoiding the Pitfalls of AuditNet welcomes an article or audit tool each month from Andersen's KnowledgeSpace. KnowledgeSpace is a subscription-based web site that provides, tools, resources and best practices to help internal auditors save time, manage risk, and add value. For more information go to www.knowledgespace.com Read
the entire article in
AutoAudit takes the "paper" out of paperwork for HUD Inspector General. The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented AutoAudit software to assist its 300 auditors in transforming the OIG office into a paperless environment. The HUD audit staff conducts 160 audits each year creating an average of 3,600 pages of information per audit. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the HUD audit staff is distributed across the country, working out of more than 15 local and district offices as well as the headquarters in Washington, DC. To read how OIG HUD uses AutoAudit click here. |
Risk Based Internal Auditing Joins New Pages for Industry Links and Spreadsheets AuditNet added a page for risk based internal auditing. The page provides link to methodologies, tools and techniques as well as articles on the subject. Go the Virtual Library page for this new resource. Also visit the new pages providing links to industry resources and spreadsheets. Auditors
work in a variety of industries. AuditNet added an industry link page. The page
provides Spreadsheets have been standard tools for
auditors Data
Recovery Services:
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Auditors Sharing Audit Programs and Workpapers The following audit programs, ICQs, checklist or workpapers were added this month. Go to the AuditNet home page or the Audit Programs page for other formats
New Audit Program Requests
If you have a program that would address these areas or would just like to contribute to Auditors Sharing Knowledge for Progress, send it along to editor@auditnet.org. To see more audit programs that auditors are looking for, go to Audit Programs and scroll to the bottom of the page. Audit Programs 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. Bank Reconciliation Statements Ask the 'Net Auditor Forum Proves Popular! This new column is proving to be a great resource for auditors looking for answers to questions. Previous questions asked are organized in archives for audit programs, best practices, audit standards, how do I, and miscellaneous. Look there and if your question has not been asked before give the ATNA (Ask the 'Net Auditor) forum a try. Send your question along with a contribution of an audit work program, ICQ, checklist, or other audit resource and the audit gurus at AuditNet will try to answer the query to the best of their ability. No guarantees but with the Internet at our side we do a pretty good job! To submit a question you can go to Ask the Auditor. To review previous questions go to the Forum Index. . R.T. Edwards, Inc., the publisher of the Journal of Forensic Accounting offers AuditNet user organizations the opportunity to subscribe at the institutional rate. A sample article Black Tech Forensics: Collection and Control of Electronic Evidence is available for your review. For more information on the publication go to the discounts page.
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Productivity Tip Virtual
Internet Search Tips for Auditors (VISTA) Most major search engines allow you to search within the HTML title of a web page. The "title" appears within the title tag of a document. The Title tag does not show up on your monitor but will be listed when you print a page. For example, this page has an HTML title like this: <title>AuditNet Monthly Newsletter</title> If someone were to do a title search for "AuditNet Monthly Newsletter," then this page would show up, because those words appear in the HTML title. Search engines that support title searching such as Altavista, use the following command: title:terms where "terms" are the words you wish to search for in the title. Make sure you look at the help section of your favorite search engine to see if it supports title searching. Using the Title command can be a powerful addition to searching for elusive audit resources on the Internet.
We'll Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends! Tell a friend about the AuditNet Web site and how to subscribe to the monthly newsletter update or have them send an e-mail to editor@auditnet.org and I will add them to the list. |
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AUDITNET JOB LISTINGS
(& MORE)
Looking for an audit job? Go to AuditNet's 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. |
Help Keep AuditNet Current! AuditNet is a tool used by auditors from around the world. It is therefore very important that the links are current. If you find a link that is outdated, broken, or going to the wrong site, be a helpful user and let us know. Send an email to editor@auditnet.org and provide the details including the date, URL of the bad address and the name of the site. We will do our best to either correct the link or remove it so that all AuditNet users benefit. Thanks! The Editor |
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No
Budget for Audit Software An AuditNet exclusive from PCProfile discusses the issue of overcoming management resistance to investing in software audit tools. The article provides very convincing arguments on why management should be taking this risk seriously! Click here for the complete AuditNet exclusive! Declaring War on Software Pirates
Save
$$ on the Be prepared when the software police come knocking on your door! AuditNet Users Save $200 - Save $$ and get legal! Check it out! Online Workpaper Tips for AuditorsAuditors are always looking at operating more efficiently and effectively. This means not only looking at entities external to the audit function but also looking within. Automating working papers has been an endeavor that audit functions have implemented or considered. This subject also appears in online discussion forums periodically. Recently the following question was raised in the Audit-L discussion list. Our department is considering moving to online work papers. We
have examined several software packages, but we have not found
anything that we like enough to spend that kind of money. We are a
small office (director, one staff auditor, three student auditors),
and we are thinking of developing our own system. Our plan is to have
a main document in Excel and use hyperlinks to supporting documents
which would be stored in appropriate subdirectories. The following response was provided by Dez (DNyitray@Victaulic.com) We have started putting the supporting documents into the actual
audit program as inserted files using the procedure below. It works in
both Word and Excel. Click here for an example of how this works. If you have an automated workpaper tip to share send it to editor@auditnet.org and I will post it in next month's newsletter! For automated workpaper solutions for your audit office check out the following AuditNet sponsors:
Archives of Posted Messages Many times auditors want to see what messages were posted to the list to see if their question can be answered there. Also new subscribers have an opportunity to review the archives as another research resource. AuditNet uses a public archive service for both Audit-l and AuditPrograms-l. The URL's to reach these archives is as follows. Archives for Audit-L www.mail-archive.com/audit-l@list.auditnet.org/ Archives for Auditprograms-l www.mail-archive.com/auditprograms-l@list.auditnet.org/
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CAREER TIPS FOR AUDITORS Will Your Resume Make the Cut? by Robbie Miller Kaplan A colleague had an opening to fill and received 20 resumes from human resources. He asked me to take a look and help him select five qualified candidates. The resumes surprised me. They were so poorly prepared I found it difficult to select any applicants that had the desired qualifications. What was wrong? There is an old saying that "actions speak louder than words." Here is a list of real-life resume errors and what they tell a prospective employer: 1. Resumes typed on an electric typewriter. This resume sends a red flag that the applicant does not know how to use a computer. 2. Resumes that use different fonts for several jobs. Details are important and this resume appears as if the applicant updated only part of the resume. It demonstrates a lack of professionalism in how the applicant will approach their responsibilities. |
3. Redundant use of words. Indicates limited vocabulary and a lack of
imagination.
4. Resumes produced with just one font. Suggests the applicant is unsure which qualifications are important and of interest to the employer. 5. Crowded documents that are impossible to read. Signals the applicant does not have familiarity in word processing and document production. 6. Credentials that have no relevance to the potential position. Indicates the applicant either has no understanding of the position they are seeking or is sending resumes to open positions, regardless of the requirements. 7. Inclusion of activities and experiences that clearly indicate the applicant's religion, origin, or ethnicity. Gives an employer personal information they can not legally query and allows them to discriminate against the applicant. It is imperative that job seekers use resumes to market their qualifications to prospective employers. Produce a good one and you will be head and shoulders ahead of the pack. Good luck! Each month the AuditNet Resource Newsletter includes a career-related tip from Robbie Miller Kaplan, author of How to Say It in Your Job Search. If you like these tips, check out her books! For more career tips go the Job-Resources Web site at www.job-resources.com. |
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by Mark J. Nigrini Benford's Law, first identified by Simon Newcomb in 1881, states that if you randomly select a number from a table of physical constants or statistical data, the probability that the first digit will be a "1" is about 30%, rather than 10% as we might expect if all digits were equally likely. According to Mark Nigrini, the author of Digital Analysis Using Benford's Law, the audit technology known as Digital Analysis (DA), tests for abnormalities in the digit patterns and abnormal number duplication in corporate data. Mr. Nigrini does a formidable job of explaining how to use digital analysis in performing audit tests of data. For the full book review click here!
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Security Consulting - www.afentis.com
This section represents only the additions and changes to Kaplan's AuditNet Resource List (KARL) for last month. Regular users of KARL should check this section for updates to previous postings and new additions.
New Sites Added to the AuditNet Resource List:
Atlanta Public Schools Internal Audit Web site provides information about the office, audit reports, self assessment guides and more.
Audit Practice Aids from the Iowa State Auditor provides comprehensive step-by step guidelines for audits of specific governmental subdivisions.
Audit of Developing Systems training material from INTOSAI includes a case study, student notes and leaders guide.
Benchmarking in Australia is the most comprehensive Australian site devoted to benchmarking.
Business Continuity Planning training material from INTOSAI includes student notes and leaders guide.
Business Index Database provides links to business resources on the Internet.
Business Process Improvement Online in an online repository of information including methods, tools, and more.
Can-Plan free small project management software capable of producing reports suitable for project status meetings or executive reporting.
Community College Audit Program Guide is a comprehensive audit guide from the State of Iowa.
Computer Assisted Audit Techniques training material from INTOSAI includes student notes and leaders guide.
County Audit Program Guide is a comprehensive audit guide from the State of Iowa.
Data Downloading and Conversion training material from INTOSAI includes student notes and leaders guide.
Information Technology Investment Management Guide from the U.S. General Accounting Office provides a framework for evaluating investments in IT.
PeopleSoft Reporting List (PSREPORT) - Reporting is an essential part of any PeopleSoft implementation, a Higher Education Product Advisory Group on Reporting and Analysis was created this year to provide user feedback that will guide the development of PeopleSoft products. The PeopleSoft reporting listserv lets users in all functional areas share their reporting problems, questions, and solutions. To subscribe send an e-mail to: listserv@listserv.it.northwestern.edu and Leave the subject header blank. In the body of the message, write: subscribe PSREPORT yourfirstname yourlastname
Spreadsheet xlNavigator is a Excel add-on that lets you see the relationship of formula cells in your complex workbooks. Free demo offered as well as links to other spreadsheet resources.
Value for Money Audit training material from INTOSAI includes student notes and leaders guide.
Modifications:
Business Research on the Internet
Resources
No Longer Available:
Please let us know of links that are not working!
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For a free subscription to AuditNet-L, which includes the monthly update to Internet Resources for auditors, send an e-mail to imailsrv@list.auditnet.org; Subject: (leave blank); Body: Subscribe AuditNet-L (yourname).
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For a free subscription to AuditPrograms-L send an e-mail to imailsrv@list.auditnet.org Subject Leave Blank Body: Subscribe AuditPrograms-L To post a message to the list send an e-mail to: AuditPrograms-L@list.auditnet.org |
