tailieunhanh - INTERNAL AUDIT’S ROLE IN CONTINUOUS MONITORING

From a broader structural perspective, the Commission notes that the past two decades have seen the consolidation of large firms into even larger firms. After the demise of Arthur Andersen there are now a handful of such large, global firms, with an even lower number of firms being able to perform audits of large, complex institutions. The potential collapse of one of these firms could not only disrupt the availability of audited financial information on major companies, it would also be likely to damage investor trust and confidence and could impact the stability of the financial system as a whole | EDPACS THE EDP AUDIT CONTROL AND SECURITY NEWSLETTER APRIL 2010 VOL. 41 NO. 4 INTERNAL AUDIT S ROLE IN CONTINUOUS MONITORING MICHAEL P. CANGEMI Continuous Monitoring CM is an evolving use of technology to improve operations integrity and information and transaction quality. This article pleads for internal auditors to promote the expanded use of continuous monitoring by operations as well as internal audit. Continuous Monitoring CM is a business operational issue swirling around in auditing and accounting practices Monitoring what you may ask I believe there is an ever expanding Orwellian 1 interest in monitoring in general. Think cameras looking for terrorists however in financial areas we tend to focus on continuous controls monitoring CCM and or continuous controls monitoring of transaction CCM-T . Most financially focused articles or guidance on Continuous Monitoring are written for auditors and or accountants and have an internal control focus. COSO an organization of accounting and auditing organizations 2 recently released comprehensive guidance on monitoring called Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems. While important I think we are overly focused on internal controls and should be more focused on business operational issues CM is on the move but unfortunately CM is only very gradually gaining ground. One reason CM is moving slowly is that CM is predominantly a business operations issue. It can also add to the internal control system and therefore most times affects audit coverage through audit scope reductions. However this is the tail not the dog First you have to have a business function and then you need internal control IC . For example many companies now use CM to ensure the accuracy of their procure to pay system. This can be structured to IN THIS ISSUE Internal Audit s Role in Continuous Monitoring Log Analysis Across System Boundaries Editor DAN SWANSON Editor Emeritus bElden MENkus cisa Taylor Francis Taylor Francis Group CELEBRATING .