There are simply not enough audit software users

At our recent software expo, a panel of vendors agreed hands down that the most common reason customers don't buy isn't because they already have someone else's product — it's because they tend not to use audit software at all.

The main clients of the software vendors at the recent NJ tech expo were the Big 4 and the Fortune 500 companies. However, it is rare even for these large organizations to have more than a small cadre of power users. We estimate that in general, no more than five percent of auditors do 50 percent of the computer-assisted auditing work. What this means is that "it is a numbers game". Departments with 20 or more auditors will find it relatively easy to implement new software and to ensure that it gets used. Keep in mind though that a department with 2,000 auditors may have only 20 to 100 power users. Meanwhile, small CPA firms and departments with five or fewer people will generally not have a 'power user' on staff. Usage is therefore much more haphazard.

So if you want to learn a competency to make you "stand out", learning audit software is a definite bonus....given so few people know it well. If you are just getting started do so with some simple small steps. The time is ripe now that audit processes have become clearer, staff is harder than ever to find and the tools are being made easier to use. Good Luck and please use all of the tools in auditsoftware.net which are at your disposal.