TeamMate

1

• Electronic Audit Management Systems
• Automated Working Papers
• Project Resource Scheduling
• Risk Assessment
• Electronic Work papers
• Knowledge Management
• Reporting
• Project and Issue Tracking

Pamela McCoy, CPA, CIA, CISA Senior Product
Manager TeamMate Product Development Team October
9, 2003
2
Agenda

• Paperless Audits What, Why?
• A few questions for you
• Paper-based Audits A unique study
• Paper-based pains
• Standards?
• What should you expect from your system?
• Other Considerations
• What should you do?
• Challenges and Questions

3
Paperless Audits What?

• Any audit that is electronically planned,
  documented, indexed, referenced, reviewed,
  reported, and stored.

4
Paperless Audits Why?

• Enhance and improve auditor efficiency
  effectiveness
• Manage and leverage knowledge
• Reduce, or even eliminate, non value-added
  activities
• Improve business decisions
• Manage and share information
• Standardize the usual
• Promote consistency in approach
• Promote timeliness in reporting

5
A Few Questions for You

• What is your E-mail package?
• How do you share audit information?
• What is your Operating System platform?
• What are your typical audit dynamics?
• Time weeks and/or hours
• Do you work in teams?
• Work from the office or from the field?
• Levels of review?
• When do you want to implement?
• Why do you want to implement?
• Have you seen other systems?

6
Paper-Based Pain 1 Preparation

• Write, print, and manually annotate
  (cross-reference, tickmark, signoff)
• If edits, re-write, re-print, re-annotate
• Repagination and/or incorrect cross-referencing
• How to locate and re-use prior workingpapers
• Lack of standardization in set up and audit
  approach

7
Paper-Based Pain 2 Review

• Reviewer must be where the working papers are
• Working papers must be complete
• Reviewer must search to find items ready for
  review
• Review comments or post-review edits mean the
  process must be restarted
• Interruption of audit workflow

8
Paper-Based Pain 3 Access Storage

• Archival requirements how long must you keep
  them?
• Where do you keep them?
• How can you find them?
• Storage costs
• Security
• Multiple files are heavy
• No easy way to back up paper

9
Paperless Audit Standards

• AICPA, IIA, and GAO standards are vague
• Permit use of media other than paper
• Courts accept electronic evidence and signatures
• Electronic signature must be under the signers
  sole control and verifiable
• We must assume the evidence and documentation
  requirements are the same as paper working papers

10
What Features Should You Expect?

• MUST incorporate your process
• Flexible operating model
• Drives consistency in audit process
• Real-time preparation and review
• Minimal workflow interruption
• Electronic signature integrity and control
• File security encryption technology
• Intuitive look feel
• Automatic indexing and referencing
• Imaging technology
• Report generation in YOUR format
• Understandability and reliability
• DBMS

11
Other Considerations

• Your IT Infrastructure How will you share
  information?
• Microsoft vs Lotus Notes platforms
• Supportability and maintenance
• Time to build and incorporate into current plan
• Help desk yours or the vendors?
• Training who, how, where? How often?
• Other costs PC or NW upgrades, scanners,
  turnover

12
So What Should YOU Do?

• Understand, agree on, and document your current
  process
• Establish your protocols
• Identify and understand your requirements
• Hardware
• Network
• Documentation
• Talk to the vendors can you test the product?
• Talk to the users yours and theirs
• Allow for and accept a learning curve

13
Challenges and Questions

• Agreement on basics
• Acceptance
• Learning curve
• Support from the top use is not an option
• Fear of change If it aint broke, dont fix
  it
• How about If it aint broke, break it?