5 Things to Look for in Audit Management Software

Auditing is performed to improve business operations and processes, and audit management software simplifies tasks that are associated with the activity.

While businesses that operate in a variety of industries rely on audits, the practice is more commonly applied to accounting functions.

Internal and external audits are the two types of accounting audit activities that companies undergo. Many public companies are required to have external audits performed to provide financial transparency to government regulators and investors. Nearly all corporations conduct internal audits as a form of self-regulation; these audits help to improve management controls, governance, risk management and compliance.

Today’s business professionals can perform internal audits more efficiently and in more depth through the use of audit management software. Here are five characteristics of effective auditing tools for the modern business environment.

#1 Incorporate Data Analytics Processes and Tools

Auditing software that incorporates data analytics allows accountants to identify trends in areas such as regulatory compliance and management controls. Before these powerful auditing tools became widely available to auditing consultancy firms and other organizations, accountants had to identify limited samples of data and apply formulas to test the data using spreadsheets. Today’s audit management software tools allow accountants to test all available general ledger-based data continuously to provide a more complete and accurate picture of the effectiveness of organizations’ financial activities.

#2 Integrated Risk Assessment Function

The functions of enterprise risk management and internal auditing practices are highly interrelated. The use of the right audit software can bring the operations even closer. For example, the trends and discrepancies that accountants uncover during continuous financial data monitoring activities can be fed into organizations’ risk watch lists. Sophisticated auditing management software help accountants to rank risks by impact and likelihood of occurrence. Subsequently, these business professionals can focus on monitoring and mitigating the highest priority risks first.

#3 Centralized Collaborative Audit Environment

The basis for internal audits is to provide a structured, systematic approach to investigating organizations’ processes. Effective auditing software allows accountants to apply elements of audit plans, internal standards and appropriate governmental regulation requirements to the audits that they conduct. Automated tools help to ensure that no steps are missed, and most software products facilitate more efficient collaboration among stakeholders. In many cases, notes and supporting documents can be uploaded to help audit teams perform their tasks. Some auditing tools allow accountants to make requests for more information from their client organizations within the tools. Clients can respond appropriately when they see the work history and context for the requests within the software platform.

#4 Mobile-Enabled Platforms

Modern business environments include workers who are not tethered to their desks; these business professionals are usually meeting with clients and performing a variety of work-related tasks while in transit. Audit management software tools that allow accountants to perform their work from mobile devices support many organizations’ flexible work culture. Minimally, business professionals should be able to access required forms while offline, perform work and automatically sync up data to centralized software platforms when internet connections become available.

#5 Support Remote Team Audits

Many internal audit consulting firms utilize remote teams to conduct evaluations of their clients’ financial practices. Audit management software should accommodate the participation of a number of users who many be working in different time zones. These tools are usually web-based and include effective document version control features.

Conclusion

External financial statement auditing practices are rooted in highly regulated auditing standards. However, internal auditing accommodates greater flexibility in audit plans and processes, and the trend is for accountants to conduct continuous monitoring and assessment of corporate processes. Subsequently, the best returns on investment for audit management software tools are currently realized when the tools are used for internal audits.