Finding Audit Resources on the Internet

IIA Raleigh-Durham Chapter

January 9, 2001

Presenter: Jim Kaplan (jmkaplan@ix.netcom.com)

DIGITAL LITERACY RESOURCES FOR AUDITORS

Criteria for evaluation of Internet Information Resources

www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/index.htm

A "toolbox" of criteria that enable Internet information sources to be evaluated for use in libraries, e.g. for inclusion in resource guides, and helping users evaluate information found.

Evaluating Web Resources

www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webeval.htm

A strategy for teaching critical evaluation skills for World Wide Web Resources.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AUDIT RESOURCES

General Accounting Office

http://www.gao.gov/

- GAO WWW homepage. The site includes decisions of the Comptroller General of the U.S.

IGNet

www.ignet.gov

Internet based electronic communications network dedicated to improving the effectiveness of the Inspector General community and to provide public access to IG reports. Site includes links to IG Home Pages, Internet resources via a virtual library, the IGNet Internet Search list, related organizations and more.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUDIT RESOURCES

State Auditors

www.auditnet.org/stateaud.htm

Page that provides links to state auditors on the Internet

North Carolina Department of Transportation Internal Audit 

www.dot.state.nc.us/administration/internalaudit/

Web site provides links to a history of the office, audit reports, charter and more.

North Carolina Office of the State Auditor 

www.osa.state.nc.us/

provides information about the State Auditor's Office, online access to selected audit reports, e-mail request for other reports, and links to other sites.

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

FinanceNet

www.financenet.gov

Network of professional governmental financial management organizations, agencies, and departments. Share information and ideas for improving financial management throughout all levels of government. Accountants, auditors, and financial managers participate and share financial management information, ideas, news, experiences, software, comments on financial documents, best practices, resources, etc.

PROFESSIONAL AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATIONS

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

www.aicpa.org/

The AICPA homepage includes general information, member matters, catalogs, conference notices, research links, a Newsflash of professional happenings and more.

Institute of Internal Auditors Inc.

www.theiia.org

The IIA Homepage provides information about the Institute, its mission, programs and services. The site includes the Statement of Responsibilities of Internal Auditing, Standards for the Practice of Internal Auditing, Chapter information, membership options, products, seminars and conferences and periodicals and more. The periodicals area includes writers guidelines for submitting manuscripts and the editorial calendar for The Internal Auditor.

ISACA Foundation

www.isaca.org

home page of the organization provides information about membership, certification, education, chapters and more.

National Association of Local Government Auditors

www.nalga.org/

The NALGA Web site provides information about the organization, links to state and local government audit organizations, access to Local Government Auditing Quarterly and more.

AUDIT MANUALS, GUIDES, ETC.

The Audit Report Writing Guide

audit_report_writing_guide.htm

from the Public Service Commission of Canada provides guidelines for the design, style and content of the reports they publish. This document is an excellent resource for audit organizations developing their own guide.

Audit Methodology Manual

www.sao.state.tx.us/Resources/Manuals/Method/

Audit methodology manual from the Texas State Auditor's Office represents their comprehensive guide on audit-related topics, techniques and methods. The Manual is an excellent resource for state and local government audit offices looking for guidance on a broad range of audit issues. The Manual is in Adobe Acrobat pdf format and auditors may download individual sections or the entire manual.

FDIC Bank Examination Manual

www.fdic.gov/regulations/compliance/manual/index.html

The table of contents of this Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Compliance manual links the auditor with files in Adobe Acrobat format. This could be a useful resource for bank auditors.

AUDITNET RESOURCES

Kaplan's AuditNet Resource List

www.auditnet.org/karl.htm

ASAP Audit Programs

www.auditnet.org/asapind.htm

ACCOUNTING RESOURCES AND THE BIG FIVE ON THE NET

Arthur Andersen

www.arthurandersen.com/

web site providing information about the firm and its history as well as sections for global best practices, interactive tools and business links.

Deloitte & Touche

www.dttus.com

site provides information about D&T as well as an excellent Hot Topics section (www.dttus.com/dttus/hot/hotlist.htm) with timely info on software products, surveys, and breaking news items of interest to accountants and auditors.

Ernst & Young

www.ey.com/

US site provides financial reporting briefs, a financial reporting and accounting 1995 Update, gateways to other E&Y sites and career opportunity information.

KPMG

www.us.kpmg.com

is set up as a Virtual Office with updates on KPMG, services, employment, and a library that contains links to accounting and tax related sites.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

www.pwcglobal.com

Home page of the merged Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. Includes links to offices, library of publications, and hot topics.

CATT SOFTWARE RESOURCES

ACL

www.acl.com

ACL is an integrated system of software providing complete control over data access, management, analysis, and presentation. The site offers information about their products, trade shows, seminars and training schedules, as well as online support and the Audit Central page; A Guide to Web Audit Sites.

IDEA

www.ideaontheweb.com

home page for IDEA (Interactive Data Extraction & Analysis), an audit autormation package. Provides information about the product, a downloadable demo, Guidelines for Requesting Computer Data and an article dealing with the Year 2000 issue. What's New provides updates about the product, training opportunities, and links to IDEA related topics.

CPE RESOURCES

CPENet

www.cpenet.net/

a non-profit, on-line continuing education service designed by a group of certified financial professionals, all of whom have been active as practitioners and trainers for many years. CPENet originates from our concern that outsourcing, downsizing and slashed training budgets are making high quality CPE more and more difficult for CPA's, CIA's, CISA's, CMA's, CFE's and CGFM's to obtain. The purpose of CPENet is to reduce the cost to the individual professional of high quality, continuing professional education. CPENet is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)continuing education sponsor (#95-000739-97).

MIS Training Institute

www.misti.com/

MISTI Web site contains information on seminar offerings and links to other Internet sites. The MISTI curriculum includes courses in modern internal audit, and information systems audit and security. They also offer a variety of products and services including topical conferences, video training, publications, and more.

CONTROL-SELF ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

Control Self-Assessment Center

www3.theiia.org/ecm/specialties.cfm?doc_id=329

at the IIA provides comprehensive information and material on CSA including qualification, certification, conferences, seminars and educational products.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT RESOURCES

Performance Measurement Info

www.financenet.gov/financenet/start/topic/perf.htm

FinanceNet has a number of files and reports available on performance measurement.

Performance Measurement in Government

www.city.grande-prairie.ab.ca/perform.htm

Guide to performance measurement from the city of Grande Prarie Alberta, Canada.

Performance Pathways

www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mkm/pathways/pathways.htm

Web site from the Office of Governmentwide Policy provides a central resource for information related to the development and use of performance measurement.

FRAUD RESOURCES

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

www.cfenet.com/

The ACFE home page provides information about the Association, the certification program, the Code of Professional Ethics and more.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AUDIT RESOURCES

Arthur Andersen KnowledgeSpace® for Internal Auditors

www.knowledgespace.com

is a customized source of internal audit resources, tools, methodologies, checklists and self-assessment surveys. The site provides access to Arthur Andersen's Global Best Practices knowledge base for business process improvement. Sign up on-line for a free 30-day trial of this subscription-based Web site.

ITAudit.org

www.itaudit.org

INTERNAL AUDIT RESOURCES

Auditmall Web

www.vfauditmall.com/

site for VF Internal Audit: The internal audit department of VF Corporation, a Fortune 500 apparel company. Topics include our internal audit philosophy, internal controls, control self-assessment, employment opportunities, links to related sites and much more.

Internal Auditing World Wide Web (IAWWW)

www.bitwise.net/iawww

Developed as a prototype demonstration project, the site functions as a warehouse of information and knowledge pertaining to the Internal Auditing profession and functions across associations, industries and countries. This is a premier source of information on the Internal Auditing profession.

SECURITY RESOURCES

Computer Security Resource Clearinghouse (CSRC)

http://csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/

The NIST Computer Security Division maintains an electronic clearinghouse to encourage the sharing of information on computer security. The CSRC contains computer security awareness and training information, publications, conferences, software tools, as well as, security alerts and prevention measures. The CSRC system, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NIST does not charge a usage fee for this service.

SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT RESOURCES

Software & Information Industry Association

www.siia.net/

Business Software Alliance

http://www.bsa.org

NET SEARCH RESOURCES

Looking for audit related information? My favorite search engines are Google, Fast Web, AltaVista, Webcrawler, Magellan and Excite. Rather than going to their pages you can use the search engines to conduct a search for audit related information by entering your query below. Select one of the search engines, enter your query and review the results. Good luck in your search of the Auditbahn!

Search the Web through...