Have you heard that crazy rumor that the GAO certifies auditors to conduct Yellow Book audits? Well, they don’t! I think the GAO has plenty to do without adding that to their to-do list! But before you take a Yellow Book audit on, I recommend that you do five things: 1.Make sure your team is […]
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Vague Words + Mean Words = Insulted Auditee
Have you ever said anything akin to “supervision is lacking” in your audit report? Need you use such mean and vague words? In most audit reports that I review, I see unnecessary cruelty; flat-out, unhelpful, ornery statements that are not supported by evidence. Am I exaggerating a little here? I really don’t think so. I […]
Jello is Firmer Than the Internal Audit Capability Maturity Model
This year I had the opportunity to apply the Internal Audit Capability Maturity Model (that is a mouth full!) to an audit organization of over 60 auditors. It was fascinating, but it goes against everything I teach in an auditing seminar. In an auditing seminar, I teach that the audit objective has to have a […]
How to perform root cause analysis using the elements of a finding
Root cause analysis is a very fancy term for something most three-year-olds do naturally. Three-year-olds ask “Why?” about all kinds of random stuff such as, “Why do I have to wear sunscreen?” or “Why are your feet so big, Mommy?” Lean Six Sigma literature calls this natural curiosity, ‘the five whys.’ You guessed it, they […]
Are you ready for audit leadership?
I love a good super-hero movie; Thor Ragnarock is my fave. Loki, Kate Blanchett, kick-ass female warriors, Jeff Goldblum, and a killer soundtrack that includes Led Zepplin’s, the Immigrant Song! Fun stuff. And I love how Thor grows as a leader throughout the movie in order to save his people. He is forced to embrace […]
A Pretty Facade Won’t Cover an Audit Failure – Steps of an Audit, concluded
No amount of editing or formatting will cover a failed audit The most common reason that audit reports are so painful to create is that the audit itself failed. The Worst Audit Ever! When I worked for a legislative auditor in the early 90’s, audit management was chomping at the bit to try a […]
Audit Documentation: The Steps of Conducting an Audit Continued
We are almost done with the steps of performing an audit. This week, audit documentation! The 14 Steps of Performing an Audit Receive vague audit assignment Gather information about audit subject Determine audit criteria Break the universe into pieces Identify inherent risks Refine audit objective and sub-objectives Identify controls and assess control risk Choose methodologies […]
Why you should tell your new audit staff everything
I didn’t know what I was doing – or why I was doing it – early in my audit career. I had taken one (one!) college course on auditing that looked nothing like what I encountered on my first audit. Regardless, I was now on the payroll and the firm expected me to earn my […]
A Custom Audit Program? More on the Steps of Performing an Audit
An audit program is a simple but powerful document. A custom audit program is even better! Audit programs can: link the audit objective to the methodologies to the underlying evidence gathered summarize the evidence gathered and results of methodologies performed set forth a systematic plan for each phase of the audit work document when methodologies […]