Comprehensive Market Research Completed in Sarbanes-Oxley and Audit Software

Over 850 hours over the past two years was invested to identify, analyze, and map over 145 technology vendors supporting Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, fraud detection, and financial statement audits. Given the niche market for these technologies, there have been limited studies to date, especially to this extent.

From this research, the three co-authors identified numerous best practices, industry trends, and a clear definition of how the various technologies can be integrated for maximum organizational benefit. Aside from these holistic findings, more specific vendor selection criteria and detailed vendor analysis was completed for each of the over 145 vendors.

“Anyone looking to use technology in improving the efficiency of their Sarbanes-Oxley engagements or simply to do more with less given the lack of affordable financial professionals can learn something from this research. I have learned more in the past two years writing this research than in the last 14 years I have spent working in this technology space”, notes Rich Lanza, President of Audit Software Professionals and one of the co-authors.

Mort Goldman, CEO of 408 West and the second co-author, states, “The audit and control industry has left it’s mark on the CIO office more than ever before in the last two years. The extensive time spent to date needs to be automated in order for CIOs to attend to the business”.

“In the past two years, we have seen more interest and associated product releases in audit, anti-fraud, and assurance technology than in the past 10 years combined. This will continue into 2006 and beyond as companies see the value of integrating audit technology into their business”, notes Dean Brooks, President of Ekaros Analytical Inc. and the final co-author of the 2005 Buyer’s Guide to Audit, Anyti-Fraud, and Assurance Software.

To learn more on the research, please click here.

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.