The 2011 Transformation Audit presents a collection of articles by South African thought leaders, which asks how the country can set goals and achieve them in a hostile global climate that threatens developmental gains that have been painstakingly achieved. For nearly two decades, South Africans have conducted exhaustive analyses of the country's challenges, embarked on bold scenario exercises and, more recently, produced forward looking strategies aimed at addressing these challenges. The most eminent of these in recent years were the Department of Economic Development's New Growth Path, and the National Planning Commission's Draft National Development Plan. We know now what the problems are and, by and large, what needs to change to address them. Courage is required now to forge consensus, to take decisions on strategies, and to start implementing them. As in previous years, this publication, with its slightly different format and appearance, seeks to provide analysis and provoke debate on how this might be achieved.
John Taylor has been hired to transform the underperforming internal audit unit at InSports. The auditors are not reviewing what the audit committee and executive leadership consider essential for the organization’s success, their methodology is subpar, and their relationships with their clients are strained. The audit committee has been patient, but not anymore. Their mandate is clear: make clear improvements in one year or the function will be outsourced. This is the story of a visionary leader who needs a strategy to transform processes and deliver better results for stakeholders at all levels within the organization. The audit committee, all levels of management, and employees expect more from internal audit. Now, John must lead the group through 12 challenging months as they focus on what matters most when performing audit and advisory services. They must communicate results faster and better, leverage existing quality control and data analytics techniques, and, with every encounter, help the organization address strategic, operational, compliance, and financial risks. With similarities to "The Goal" and "The Phoenix Project" and leveraging Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change, follow John and the internal audit team from Boston to New York, San Francisco, London, and Buenos Aires, as they address almost insurmountable challenges in their transformation journey.
The 2011 Transformation Audit presents a collection of articles by South African thought leaders, which asks how the country can set goals and achieve them in a hostile global climate that threatens developmental gains that have been painstakingly achieved. For nearly two decades, South Africans have conducted exhaustive analyses of the countrys challenges, embarked on bold scenario exercises and, more recently, produced forward looking strategies aimed at addressing these challenges. The most eminent of these in recent years were the Department of Economic Developments New Growth Path, and the National Planning Commissions Draft National Development Plan. We know now what the problems are and, by and large, what needs to change to address them. Courage is required now to forge consensus, to take decisions on strategies, and to start implementing them. As in previous years, this publication, with its slightly different format and appearance, seeks to provide analysis and provoke debate on how this might be achieved.
Internal Audit Practice from A to Z addresses the practice of internal auditing using GAAS (Generally Accepted Auditing Standards), GAGAS (Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards) and International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards)-IPPF, International Standards Organization (ISO), International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI), International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as enunciated by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), International Organization of Standardizations (ISO), International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Government Accountability Office (GAO) & International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Unique in that it is primarily written to guide internal auditors in the process and procedures necessary to carry out professionally accepted internal audit functions, the book includes everything necessary to start, complete, and evaluate an internal audit practice, simplifying the task for even non-professionals. Internal Audit Practice from A to Z features A rich array of forms, figures, tables, and reports, making it a practical, hands-on book Provides comprehensive content that contains all the practical guidance necessary to start, complete, and evaluate an internal audit practice Details on how to ensure quality on internal audit function through peer review Current international standards for the professional practice of internal auditing and other relevant standards for reference Checklists for all practice procedures as well as a checklist of the internal control of virtually all aspects of business function A blend of professional practice with theory. Internal Audit Practice from A to Z is comprehensively rich, global reference is a must for public, private, NGOs, institutions—every organization.
Auditing at the speed of risk requires internal auditors to rethink the way we work. Agile auditing provides a path forward that blends the best elements from agile project management and internal audit best practices. Leaders in internal audit are ready to incorporate an agile audit mindset in their departments, but most of the available resources provide theoretical ideas. Even when outside consultants lead an agile transition, the consultants primarily focus on adding agile ceremonies without addressing the fundamental mindset change required for an agile audit transformation. This book provides a practical guide for audit leaders to follow as a playbook for implementing agile across their department, impacting every facet of the audit lifecycle, and addressing the mental shift required for making a lasting change. Every chapter includes discussion questions to facilitate discourse or just to help you analyze your own department. Next, we look at a typical internal audit department as they attempt the transition from a traditional audit methodology to agile auditing so we can learn from their missteps and successes. The guidance in Agile Audit Transformation and Beyond includes the basics of agile auditing, practical directions for shifting each phase of the audit life cycle, common hurdles faced during the transition, and forward-looking thought leadership on expanding beyond internal audit into agile assurance.
"This book identifies drivers of transformation of auditing, including regulation, digitalisation, sustainability, and individual auditor characteristics, and discusses how the drivers affect auditing. It provides a holistic perspective, discussing these current and highly relevant themes in depth and 'one by one' and also stresses the importance of the temporal dimension, i.e., offering a historical and a present-day perspective. The book covers several different theoretical perspectives when analysing and discussing how the various drivers affect auditors, the audit process, accounting firms, stakeholders and so on. Sweden is used as a setting to study the effects of these drivers of transition. The Swedish experience is generalisable to other European countries, with a Germanic origin currently influenced by Anglo-American ideas of auditing. In addition, Sweden provides a research setting with unique access to empirical data. The monograph is unique in its broad coverage of drivers of transformation, combined with its clear focus on financial auditing. It is informed by a wide range of research approaches, from qualitative interview studies to recently developed machine learning methods. Readers, therefore, benefit from a comprehensive understanding of current changes in the audit industry. This will be a useful reference work for students of accounting and auditing, as well as for audit practitioners, including both auditors and regulators, and for researchers"--
Strategic Audits: A Necessity for Transforming Businesses ISBN 978-1-453-804681 Rated: Five Stars (out of Five) by Foreword Clarion Review As companies slowly emerge from what undoubtedly has been a very challenging business climate, they may be rethinking their products or services, their market, and even the way they operate. In fact, according to Parbatee Chang, many companies "are being compelled to go through a period of structural adjustment." Such fundamental change, writes the author of Strategic Audits: A Necessity for Transforming Businesses, means a company may need to "remove non-value adding activities, re-organize others, and include value-added activities, all in an effort to improve the services and products which are being offered." The strategic audit, says Chang, is a "mechanism for identifying the root causes of problems, so that solutions and, more importantly, preventive actions can be taken to ensure that situations do not arise that will cause harm to employees or the organization as a whole." In a carefully structured, pragmatic way, Chang offers an introduction to strategic audits, details methodologies for conducting the strategic audit, lays out the vision mission and objectives, and addresses a company's existing strategies. The author provides an overview of how to review a company's general management system and other key processes, including employee training, performance appraisal, design and production of products and services, centralization or decentralization, new technology, marketing and promotions, and financial analysis. Chang also talks about organizational culture, customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and financial management, all in the context of the strategic audit. In the final section of the book, the author provides a "menu for organizational transformation," which includes several strategic audit worksheets, keyed to the chapters in the book. Each worksheet is divided into four useful sections: Process Point, Summarized Result, Life Cycle Phase, and Recommendation for Transformation. Life Cycle Phase is further broken down into four stages: Embryonic, Growth, Mature, and Declining. Chang concludes with the recommendation that businesses compile and analyze the results of the strategic audit from the worksheets and then establish an "improvement team" tasked with the role of leading the transformation. The author is careful to point out several times throughout her book that, while she is providing a general process designed to facilitate implementation of a strategic audit, each business is different, so each strategic audit will, of necessity, be unique to that business. Still, Chang provides a comprehensive plan for implementing strategic audits that can be adapted and put to good use. Strategic Audits is a clearly written road map for implementing the strategic audit process. The worksheets provided by the author will be particularly valuable to any organization that undertakes a strategic audit. Managers of any size company should benefit from Chang's no-nonsense approach. Foreword Clarion Review
Continuous Auditing provides academics and practitioners with a compilation of select continuous auditing design science research, and it provides readers with an understanding of the underlying theoretical concepts of a continuous audit, ideas on how continuous audit can be applied in practice, and what has and has not worked in research.
This book identifies drivers of transformation of auditing, including regulation, digitalisation, sustainability, and individual auditor characteristics, and discusses how the drivers affect auditing. It provides a holistic perspective, discussing these current and highly relevant themes in depth and ‘one by one’ and also stresses the importance of the temporal dimension, i.e., offering a historical and a present-day perspective. The book covers several different theoretical perspectives when analysing and discussing how the various drivers affect auditors, the audit process, accounting firms, stakeholders and so on. Sweden is used as a setting to study the effects of these drivers of transition. The Swedish experience is generalisable to other European countries, with a Germanic origin currently influenced by Anglo-American ideas of auditing. In addition, Sweden provides a research setting with unique access to empirical data. The monograph is unique in its broad coverage of drivers of transformation, combined with its clear focus on financial auditing. It is informed by a wide range of research approaches, from qualitative interview studies to recently developed machine learning methods. Readers, therefore, benefit from a comprehensive understanding of current changes in the audit industry. This will be a useful reference work for students of accounting and auditing, as well as for audit practitioners, including both auditors and regulators, and for researchers.
