Friday, February 17, 2006

The North Jersey IIA Software Expo Set for May 1 and 2, 2006

If you have never been to the Institute of Internal Auditor software expos, held in New Jersey (close to the Newark airport) you truly should go to the next one being held in Fairfield, New Jersey on May 1st and 2nd, 2006.

It is free to attend and browse the expo as it is a great way to learn about all of the audit software available in ther marketplace. You can meet the vendors, talk to other auditors, and listen to educational sessions focused solely on audit software.

To learn more, click here and see the listings for the May 1st and 2nd sessions (as the expo spans two days). If nothing else, it is a great way to earn 13 CPE credits.

Feel free to post comments.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Staff Retention - A Growing Issue

Staff retention in the audit field (and the CPA market in the U.S.) is in major shambles these days. Business Week notes that it is one of the top priorities for 2005.

I believe one reason that people leave companies is bad technology. I just visited a company yesterday that continues to have over 100 bodies in a department (not auditing) solely due to the fact that technology is poorly implemented.

Translating that to the audit world and also noting that more younger people are entering the workforce, I believe that the quality workers will gravitate to companies that implement technology. Smart people don't want to waste their brain cells working on administrative tasks that clearly could be automated (i.e., various audit tests).

I see this as a growing problem unless companies start to truly adopt technology better both in their transaction processing and audit departments.

Feel free to comment to me at rich@auditsoftware.net

The Buyer's Guide Is Now Available For Audit Software

I did want to let everyone know that over 500 hours from 3 researchers (me included) went into the release of the 2005 Buyer's Guide to Audit, Anti-Fraud, and Assurance Software which is available for sale at my website.

Please see the following link if interested:
See the Buyer's Guide

Anyone looking to implement audit software should take a look at the book as for the price of the lowest audit software on the market, you can get a rundown of all of the products along with the key best practices to employ when using the tools.

technology on audits

I start to wonder if a new audit standard or regulation came out requiring technology on audits, would that change the mindset. That mindset is one that focuses on the "fires" of now and not building for the future. I remember the great line from the personal development coach Tony Robbins, "I am too busy paying the bills to design a new and better life for myself".

I still see everyone sample testing 30-50 items in 1,000,000 populations when the tools exist to do more precise and higher quality tests.

Will common sense reign......or do we really need another law to force what we know should be done?

Feel free to comment to me at rich@auditsoftware.net