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This month check out IDEA - Data Analysis Software, that is the standard in ease of use for auditors, accountants and financial managers. Visit the site to download the new whitepaper: Data Analysis The Cornerstone of Effective Internal Auditing!

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

Getting Started with GAIT

By Jack Bess, KnowledgeLeader contributing writer

Marks is part of a core team at The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) who have helped develop a methodology and set of principles to help organizations define their scope of control assessments as mandated by Section 404 of SOX. That methodology, the Guide to the Assessment of IT General Controls Scope (GAIT), aims to provide a structured reasoning process companies can use in scoping the controls that ensure the accuracy of their financial statements.

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.

Sage strategies to help every worker succeed

Today’s work environment offers none of the stability and long-term tenure of prior decades. Penelope Trunk, author of “Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success” delivers a fresh approach to help everyone survive and flourish in today’s dynamic workplace.

Click here for the Q&A!

Resume Tune-Ups

Dressing it up!

by Robbie Miller Kaplan

Overall, Dele has done a good job writing his resume. But qualifications alone won’t capture an employer’s interest. With some key changes to the format, Dele will increase his chances of attracting attention.

For starters, set the margins at one-inch all around and use a single line space. This will free up space to allow a 10-point font; anything under 10-point is too small. Balance the text with a 12-point font for name and all section headings; centering the headings and using all uppercase, bold, and a different font (such as Book Antiqua or Century Schoolbook) to guide the reader’s eye.

Consistency is important so Dele should choose one bullet to use throughout the resume. Round and square bullets have more punch and can be customized under “Bullets and Numbering.” Save additional space by setting the bullets flush with the left margin. Format the second position on page two identical to position one. And follow the rules for numbers; spell out numbers one through ten and use figures for 11 and over.

Dele should avoid pronouns and craft a stronger qualifications summary. Try: “Technical and business savvy professional with an expertise in leadership, networking and hands-on IS. Solid achievements in delivering quality client services, consistently meeting diverse needs. Excellent record of deploying simultaneous, mission-critical equipment and projects, on time and under budget. Recognized for a team-based management style with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.”

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 In Your Job Search, 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?

New Column on Recovery Auditing

Rich Lanza, a longtime AuditNet contributor and writer has launched a new Website and has agreed to sharing articles on recovery auditing. Read his column and check out his Web site to see how you can save your company $$.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Best Practices shared an excellent paper of Building Blocks for Effective Corporate Boards. Make sure you share this with your audit committee!

Auditor's Dozen Renewal Offer

Have you let your subscription to AuditNet expire? If so then have I got a deal for you! Renew your AuditNet subscription by the end of the month and I will throw in an extra month on your subscription renewal. In other words you will get 13 months for the price of 12 or as I like to call it; the Auditor's Dozen. Process your renewal payment today as this is a limited time offer!

AuditNet Server Upgrade

AuditNet is moving the Web site to a dedicated server. Please be patient and be sure to report broken links that you encounter.

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.

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

Professional Association Access to AuditNet Audit Programs.

If you want your 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 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.  New audit program contributions are available only to paid subscribers or on a one-for-one exchange basis. However 181 standard management audit programs were added this month to the free content thanks to Professor Andrew Chambers of the UK. There are over 65,000 registered users. A multi-user subscription rate was added to the individual subscription program to the premium content. Organizations that need more than 2 staff members accessing the service will benefit from this new rate. There are new additions to the premium audit programs available as an alternative for those auditors that are unable 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 Virtual Library or use the site search.

Internal Auditor Recognized by Global Organization
for Innovative Advancement of the Profession

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (July 11, 2007)  — In honor of his outstanding contributions to the internal audit profession, James Kaplan, CIA, was awarded by The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) with the prestigious Bradford Cadmus Memorial Award during The IIA’s 2007 International Conference, held in Amsterdam this week. Initiated in 1965, the award is named after The IIA’s first managing director and recognizes internal audit practitioners for research, academic involvement, article and book publication, and other thought-leading pursuits.

For the complete press release click here!

AuditNet^® CAATTs and Data Analysis

Data Analysis: The Cornerstone of Effective Internal Auditing

Audit results gleaned from competent data analysis activities by internal audit can shine a light on the issues lying within the organization's data. Therefore, audit leaders must focus on making certain every staff member understands the client systems, and knows how to acquire and analyze the data produced by these systems in order to corroborate or detect failures in the reliability and integrity of the system information.

When properly used by trained staff, data analysis software can be incorporated into audit plans to provide assurance and consulting services related to the organization's information systems and thus becomes the true cornerstone of an effective audit foundation.

Does your audit organization embrace the use of data analysis?

This research report provides an implementation framework for audit leaders interested in taking their function to the next level.

Visit the site to download the new whitepaper: Data Analysis The Cornerstone of Effective Internal Auditing!

The process of auditing fixed asset records in an enterprise that can be daunting, especially when the number of supporting detail records is in the thousands or tens of thousands, which is not an unusual situation. Two general audit approaches can be used: sampling, or 100% testing of the records using automated procedures. This article describes the latter approach, using three different software tools. For each tool, the steps needed to accomplish each of the audit objectives are described. These tools were selected for the article as they are the most familiar to the author. However, a similar approach can be used with almost any other audit software tool.

For the complete article including the link to the sample data click here!

About the author: Mike Blakley is currently an IT auditor with the State of North Carolina, Department of Health and Human Services. Mike maintains a blog devoted to audit software topics at http://blog.ezrstats.com and his e-mail address is Mike.Blakley@ezrstats.org.

*Data Analysis Tools and Techniques for Auditors

Recovery Auditing: Reducing Profit Leaks

It's no wonder that the audit recovery business is thriving and evolving. Many companies are currently benefiting from the services of a recovery audit firm.

Here are some of the reasons why:

People in companies are always fighting a six-headed hydra, constantly focusing on the dragon head that is currently snapping at them. Therefore, there is little time for improvement, best practices, and the tedium involved in reviewing transactions for recovery.

Companies are constantly downsizing and outsourcing. This creates additional issues due to a "lack of touch" by the people working the process with those who developed the process. This is coupled with the fact that accounts payable departments are constantly understaffed, overworked, and receive a relatively small portion of the budget for technology improvement purchases.

Most accounting systems were built to process transactions and not to provide users access to the data for reporting purposes. Data analysis is critical in obtaining recoveries. Further, recovery auditors are skilled in data analysis and the types of reports that are the most fruitful. Therefore, it is best to learn from them by watching them on a few engagements.

With all of the reasons, see the articles below on how companies can save money.

Richard B. Lanza, CPA/CITP, CFE, PMP
President - Cash Recovery Partners, LLC
Phone: 973-601-3701
Email: rich@richlanza.com

Overcoming Challenges to Moving Cost Recovery Projects Forward

There are a number of reasons many firms remain resistant to recovery auditing, but they can generally be grouped into three main categories:

Morale/Motivation Issues
Business & Procedural Obstacles
Financial Impact

To read the rest of this article click here!

Upcoming Webinars and Events

September 18, 2007	Claim recovery "Yachtmanship" - Presented by Health Decisions, Inc.
October 23, 2007	The "Rx" for Rx Claims - Presented by Health Decisions, Inc.
November 13, 2007	Declaring WARR - Presented by Health Decisions, Inc.

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.  For a limited time AuditNet is offering free access to the premium content section. Contribute an original audit work program not currently in the inventory and receive 2 months free access to the premium content. Contribute 5 programs and receive a subscription for one year. (Offer only available for new programs submitted).

Offer Expires September 30, 2007

When Sarbanes-Oxley passed in 2002, it forced many companies to take an in-depth look at internal
Accounts Payable controls. Implementing internal controls takes time, but may prove to be a very cost- effective measure if any fraud or leakages are found. The following approaches, requiring some degree of
data mining and programming capability, are fairly straightforward and should tighten up your A/P audit.

For Part Two of this article click here!

If you missed Part One of this article click here!

A: For best practices on inventory counts such as fixed assets I suggest using the following document:

Best Practices in Achieving Consistent, Accurate Physical Counts of Inventory and Related Property which can be found at this link.

Here is an excerpt that mentions when and what to count. In order to count an appropriate amount of the total inventory, management must decide which inventory items to count and how frequently those items should be counted. The most desirable goal would be to count all of the inventory items at least once a year. However, maintaining accurate inventory records by counting items takes time and costs money. Since there are typically limits on these resources, the best way to balance control of the inventory and cost of the count is to focus on the items determined to be more important or of higher risk to the organization. Accordingly, it is not always practical to give the same treatment to each item; it may be desirable to segment the inventory into identifiable classes and assess the risk for each segment or class to determine the frequency of counts.

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 AND AUDIT OF ACQUISITION OF LANDED PROPERTY
[Vacant Land or Buildings]

by Gursharan Singh

Acquisition of landed property either as vacant land or completed building compatible with the needs of the buyer can also be transacted by the private and public sector entities. This article will give emphasis to audit of acquisition of landed property but not to disposal of any existing landed property. However the aspects that are listed and explained are also substantially applicable to disposal of landed property as the owner would have initially gone through the process of acquisition before it can be disposed off. These aspects may not be taken into account by Government and their agencies that generally have their own procedures that may take into account other ‘considerations’ in acquisitions or disposal of landed properties.

For the rest of the story click here!

Shortage of U.S. skilled workers by 2020?

Hiring non-traditional employees is still an option

By Tom Crouch, CPA, CIA, CISA, and Attorney

The first wave of baby boomers were born in 1946 and began entering the job market in about 1965. They were followed by subsequent waves born through 1964. Their numbers were so great that employers were able to become increasingly selective in their hiring. The employers were also able to hire folks who were more qualified than those hired for the same type positions during the 1950s. The employers were able to hire people who were generally better educated, taller, leaner, more articulate, and better looking. As the baby boomers start retiring, the job market for current skilled employees and new skilled worker hires might resemble the 1950s, except there will be far more women and minorities.

For the rest of the story click here!

(Note: this is part 10 of a series of articles written by the author. For links to the previous articles click here)

Watch for more articles on this topic in the coming months!

AuditNet Sarbanes-Oxley News

Low Cost SOX Compliance Readiness Tool
Exclusively for AuditNet

Looking for a low cost ($100) solution for SOX compliance? The Compliance Readiness Tool™ allows organization’s to evaluate the effectiveness of their information technology environment and controls in relation to section 404 of SOX and the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) internal control framework.

For more information click here!

There are plenty of articles in the news on the topic of Sarbanes Oxley. Here is a link to a site that does the research and provides you with links to all the relevant stories.

Sox-Online

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