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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Contribution by Internal Audit to IT Compliance

  Thomas Lohre

  …61 Contribution by Internal Audit to IT Compliance By Thomas Lohre, MBA29 The constant increase in laws, ordinances, norms, standards… …objective of corporate compliance and in IT specifically, IT compliance. Internal audit can make a valuable contribution to this, as it can ob- jectively… …assess the IT compliance efforts in companies through its specialist knowledge, methodical knowledge and independence, thereby assisting in the pre-… …vention of rule violations. Furthermore, it can assist in IT compliance adding value to the company by providing valuable information. 1 Introduction… …academic litera- ture and are on everyone’s lips.30 Perhaps even enriched with the concept of IT? In fact, in recent times, IT has increasingly developed… …into a competitive factor, which makes a crucial contribution to the implementation of corporate strategies. Furthermore, it ac- counts for a… …considerable portion of the costs and investments and the legal and regula- tory requirements for IT have also grown significantly.31 Corporate Governance is… …. ___________________ 29 Thomas Lohre, MBA, Graduate in Business Administration/Graduate in Business Informa- tion Technology, CISA, CISM, IT Auditor at DATEV eG… …. This article reflects the author’s personal opinion. 30 In order to no longer debate the relationships between IT, governance and compliance in such… …, see IDW PS 345. 35 The term can be translated with “compliance, adherence to rules”. Schneider accurately de- termines that it is a “truism” that…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Continuous Auditing: Myth and Reality

  Adrian Garrido

  …high- lighted the benefits of using technology to monitor financial transactions on a con- tinuous basis. It appears that this idea has been the future of… …our function for over twenty years, though it is not clear when it will form part of the present. Summary 1: Although Continuous Auditing is a… …powerful concept, it is key to understand its limits and difficulties. Let’s be realistic, simple and flexible. Summary 2: Continuous Audit projects… …auditor. 1 Great Promises Continuous Auditing is, without any doubt, one of the most fashionable terms in our profession. As a proof, it is enough to… …problem of defin- ing samples disappears. Why select a group of transactions when it is possible to perform tests on the whole universe? 2 …Not Always… …, quick and efficient au- dit function. Nevertheless and once we have reviewed all these positive aspects, it is necessary to come back to reality and to… …using technology to perform a continuous supervision of fi- nancial transactions. It would therefore appear that the concept of Continuous Auditing has… …represented the future of our function for over twenty years though it is not clear when it will form part of the present. – Secondly, there is much… …real time a control task that should be performed by the line or could this be an Audit function? – Should it not rather be the Audit’s task to… …important, despite all that has been written and the many theo- retical advantages, it appears that, according to a recent statement of Richard Chambers…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Audit Marketing

  Dr. Hannes Schuh

  …targeted marketing measures. It is worth considering audit marketing beyond the numerous, mainly process-oriented measures available in the literature and… …organization? On the one hand audit marketing focuses on the position of Internal Audit Unit in the company, while on the other it is also associated with… …the marketing-oriented focus of the overall organization based on the claim that it adds value. This means that the message at the heart of its… …relevant publications and attendance at internal and external events, it is particularly important to present possible development paths, the education con-… …cept, the systematic preparation for management tasks transparently and where pos- sible to support these with examples. It also makes sense to show… …, the following appears to be relevant: – Internal Audit Unit acts independently. – It knows the administrative culture precisely. – It can address… …litera- ture and opens up new methods. It seems important to be aware that, although IA offers only a few products, these are diverse, that these have…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Company Culture is Worth the Cost

  Sergey Martynov

  …if it is not included in financial reports, and helps to generate value for a company: it should therefore be audited, just like all other company… …than those caused by unfair competition or mass- media hostility. First of all, it is important to understand that company culture is a distinctive… …guaranteeing success and in the effi- ciency of a business, for various reasons. Firstly, it results in increased employee loyalty towards the company. A… …salary increase. 2 Development of Company Culture While in some organisations company culture is created and grows spontaneously, in others it is… …beliefs, come from various different entities. In these situations it is extremely im- portant for the management to make an effort to rapidly develop a new… …can be positive, but the process of establishing a com- pany culture by example may take a long time. It is extremely important, however, for the… …in order for this to happen it must know how to satisfy the individual needs of its employees. The management must also know how to value its workers… …employees, who will cer- tainly not share or defend its values as a result. It is also extremely important to en- sure that there is a relationship between… …, and it is es- sential that each member of the team feels that he is sharing in the recognition for his work. The development of company culture is… …it: it is therefore a factor that should be taken into consideration by the internal audit, just like all other signifi- cant company processes…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Internal Audit Standards: Everything for Everybody

  Inta Ozolina

  …they should do it. We all know that the Standards are extensive, cover most key areas of internal audit profession and work. Even more – the… …the management and owners? I do not think so. Does it make the compliance for smaller audit teams very hard if not impossible to obtain? Yes, it does… …assessment because the requirements are just unrealistic, the Standards really lose their meaning. I think it is a high time to raise this discussion and…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  International Professional Practices Framework – Overview of the current guidance of the Institute of Internal Auditors

  T. Flemming Ruud, Philipp Friebe, Daniela Schmitz, Shqiponja Isufi

  …Framework which came into effect on January 1, 2009. Although the new framework is consistent with the previous framework, it contains some significant… …established itself as the struc- tural basis for the activities of the Internal Audit. It is a self-contained framework which is recognized internationally by… …summer 2007. In order to emphasize the international focus of the framework, it was renamed as the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF)… …consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a… …perform audit engagements. In order to effectively help the board and the management, it is necessary that the Internal Auditors behave in a professional… …IT audits and other IT-related issues. ___________________ 9 Cf. The IIA (2009a), p. iii. 10 Cf. The IIA (2009a), p. v. 11 Cf… …. Significance The relative importance of a matter within the context in which it is being con- sidered, including quantitative and qualitative factors, such as… …reasons of independence. Standard 2110.A2 specifies that the Internal Audit activ- ity must assess whether the IT Governance of the organization supports… …2430 makes it clear that Internal Auditors may report that their engagements are conducted in conformance with the Standards only if the results of the… …and transparent processes. These processes make it possible for the IIA to issue guidelines faster. They also provide Internal Auditors with the…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Doing More with Less

  Neil Baker

  …does, and why it is important. He’s been making real progress. So how does he feel now that his budget is being cut? “If I was a newly minted auditor… …organisations. If I know in advance that I’m going to be somewhat resource constrained, then I can deal with it.” Despite the stoicism, Storms says he argued… …losing controls; it might even be a time to strengthen them,” he says. Storms is not alone. Other internal auditors have been waging the same battle, try-… …piece of a shrinking budget pie. So does internal audit really deserve special protection? And if it does have to take a share of the pain – which seems… …. He told the audit committee that performing fewer audits was better than cutting quality. How did the committee respond? “I’ll put it this way: It… …. The head of internal audit should ask the committee what areas it wants to priori- tise, he says. “It’s easy for chief audit executives to start by… …department wants to cut the budget? “If the chief financial officer has decided that the audit function should be reduced, it is vital for the audit com-… …mittee to be aware of that,” Chambers says. And if the committee members don’t know about it, internal audit should tell them, he adds. “I would never… …work on procurement fraud; for example, trying to spot fraudsters who submit fictional invoices in the hope they’ll be paid. It is also checking the… …way contracts are awarded, looking at background checks on suppli- ers, and auditing payroll. “Believe it or not, I even added petty cash audit to the…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  The Financial Sector: Risks, Controls and Assurance after the Financial Crisis

  Daniel Nelson

  …the US, Euro-area, Japan, and the UK – grew up to USD 4.1 trillion or 7 percent on a total stock of USD 57.7 trillion. How was it possible to fall… …countries being represented by their respec- tive heads of state or government. It had never done that before the financial crisis, when only ministers and… …capital for its operations as would have been the case with a lower credit rating. On September 16, 2008 AIG lost its AA- rating (it had already lost… …internal audit. 4 Lessons for Internal Auditors First of all it has been reported that internal audit did not have sufficient or adequate access to… …area in an entity. Nelson 96 It has also been reported that enterprise risk management (ERM) and the finance complex did not have adequate… …funds we can all assume that those resources will be closely scrutinized, particularly in the public media. I submit as discussed earlier that it is… …of the factors contributing to this financial cri- sis. It would be interesting for internal audit to review whether the organization’s compensation… …policies and model are indeed appropriately tailored to its business model or whether it is a risk in itself.…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Governance Works, in Principle

  Neil Baker

  …Washington in November to discuss the impact of the credit crunch, they made it clear that financial firms will face much tougher regulation in future. “We… …practice of it… The focus should be on whether the existing standards have been observed in practice.” The Code, for example, says that a company’s board… …aged.” It goes on to say that non-executive directors “should satisfy themselves on Baker 54 the integrity of financial information and that… …that doesn’t mean the principles are wrong, Boyle argued. If it is the practice, rather than the code, of corporate governance that is at fault… …training. And they suggested some quick fixes, such as holding informal meetings outside the confines of the traditional boardroom – to make it easier for… …responsibility burden of the typi- cal non-executive. No wonder companies say it is becoming more difficult to find good candidates – a problem that the current… …senior managers and directors.” It argued that over the last decade, the proportion of the board composed of hands-on, executive directors had declined… …commitment to open such dialogue,” it said. The financial firms that had the best control over their balance sheet growth and liquidity needs were those that… …: crowding out personal responsibility. “It is not help- ing us, it makes things worse,” he argued. “What compliance is doing is making sure people follow… …rules. We forget about our own responsibility for our behaviour and replace it with responsibility for compliance.” What are the implications for…

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• eBook-Kapitel aus dem Buch Global Management Challenges for Internal Auditors

  Internal Auditor – Generalist or Specialist

  Dr. Heinrich Schmelter

  …. ___________________ 73 Dr. Heinrich Schmelter has been working in management functions for 30 years (audit, con- trolling and IT), in the automobile industry. 74… …assigned to it. IT audit usually has employees working in it with very good IT knowledge (mainly computer scien- tists), in purchasing/logistics audit… …. business auditor 2. technical auditor 3. IT auditor 4. special investigator 2 Twelve General and Specific Requirements for Internal Auditors The… …audit methodology 3. Internal control and risk management knowledge 4. Internal audit experience 5. Financial knowledge 6. Technology knowledge 7. IT… …decentralised audits, e.g. in a foreign company or factory, it is also expected that every auditor can report adequately to the local top managers (e.g. factory… …agement specialist knowledge, it also relates to company and process knowledge that is as extensive as possible. While an internal audit beginner… …, thereby formulating best practice process improvement recommendations. It is expected from chief auditors and from internal audit managers that, as… …purchasing, logistics or sales, are also initially sub-optimal. 2.12 Specific IT Knowledge As virtually all of the processes in the companies can now only… …be handled with IT support and personal computers are a matter of course as personal tools, an auditor without good IT knowledge is no longer… …. EXCEL, WORD and POWERPOINT). IT knowledge beyond this, also regarding mainframe computer software, is particularly essential for IT auditors, because…

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