What You Will Learn
1. Aligning the Audit Function with the Business
- analyzing the roles of Audit in relationship to the business
- setting the tone for a data-centric audit process: physically mapping the enterprise
- defining the key audit disciplines used in a logically driven audit process
- the audit spectrum: today to the future
- traditional vs. continuous audit process
- virtual audit process
2. Defining Data Mining and Its Uses
- what data-mining is
- software alternatives you can use
- what are data mining’s uses and why are they key
- the impact on the audit process as we know it
- defining the advantages to the business: what is the ROI?
- understanding the up-front costs and the long-term benefits
- defining the advantages to audit/consulting group
- the 10 commandments of data mining
3. Maximizing the Use of Data
- the language of management
- defining data inventory in relation to the business structure
- closing the expectation gap
- performing more effective and efficient audits
- multi-purpose audit tools
4. Data Analysis Methodologies: Logically Focusing the Audits on Critical Business Concerns
- trend analysis
- pivotal points of change analysis
- mean dispersion analysis
- ratio analysis
- period-to-period comparisons
- data stratification
- profiling: the key to focused auditing
- data patterns: fraud factors a critical part of audit responsibilities
5. Defining a Continuous Audit Process for Maximum Effectiveness
- establishing the key tools: auditing real yime (ART)
- embedded audit routines (EARs)
- triggers
- metric oversight monitoring systems (MOMS)
- the Global Technology Audit Guide on continuous risk assessment auditing
- auditing near time (ANT)
- GAS
6. Changes Brought About by Data-Centric Auditing
- rethinking the audit norm
- asking some key questions about current audit process
- proposing alternatives to current methodologies
- movement toward a solution-based audit format
- solution optimization audit process (SOAP)
- key components of the SOAP approach
- maximizing the audit outcome; minimizing the input
7. Focusing Reporting on Outcomes Not Outputs
- redefining the audit report to a business-focused format
- example of a visual-centric audit report
- advantages of a visual-centric audit report
- maximizing your provable value to the organization
- building in follow-up tools: a byproduct of this methodology
- laying the baseline for future improvements
8. Data-Centric Exercises
- mining data to determine global risk
- mining data to recognize significant financial issues
- mining data for operational effectiveness and efficiency
- mining data for regulatory compliance
|
