auditing

Auditing the Performing Rights Society - investigating a new European Union Collective Management Organization member audit method

The European Union Rights Management Directive 2014/26/EU, provides regulatory oversight of European Union (EU) Collective Management Organizations (CMOs). However, the Directive has no provision indicating how members of EU CMOs may conduct non-financial audits of their CMO income and reporting. This paper addresses the problem of a lack of an audit method through a case study of the five writer members of the music group Duran Duran, who have been members of the UK's CMO for performing rights - the Performing Rights Society (PRS) for over 35 years. The paper argues a new audit CMO member method that can address the lacunae regarding the absence of CMO member right to audit a CMO and an applicable CMO audit method.




auditing

Computer Network Simulation and Network Security Auditing in a Spatial Context of an Organization




auditing

OIG auditing 3 OSHA programs to gauge impact, effectiveness

Washington – The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General is currently conducting audits of three OSHA programs, with two other audits planned, OIG stated in its semiannual report to Congress.




auditing

Marquis Who's Who Honors Sheila Correa Brown, CPA, CFE, for Expertise in Accounting and Auditing in the Nonprofit Sector

Sheila Correa Brown, CPA, CFE, is lauded as a special reviews branch chief at the National Institutes of Health




auditing

Accounting & Auditing Forum - Complimentary for Members

Organizer: Government Finance Officers Association of British Columbia
Location: Online




auditing

Auditing 101: Understanding Audits and Tips to Prepare — Part 1

What exactly is an audit? An audit is essentially a health check for your business processes. Picture a doctor’s visit, but for your company




auditing

How Technology and Data Analytics are Revolutionizing Auditing — Part 2

As manufacturing and quality control becomes increasingly digital, auditing is increasingly enmeshed with technology and data analytics.




auditing

Cloud Security and Auditing

The expert panel at OTN Architect Day in Los Angeles responds to an audience question about cloud security and auditing.




auditing

CA Intermediate Auditing and Ethics Question Paper New Course September 2024

Download CA Intermediate Auditing and Ethics Question Papers New Course Sep 2024 in PDF. For other question papers of CA IPC May 2024, Nov 2023, May 2023, Nov 2022, May 2022, Dec 2021, Nov 2020, Nov 18, May 18, Nov 2017, May 2017, May 2016, CA IPC Nov 2015, CA IPC may 2015, CA IPC Nov 2014 check similar section. Previous years Auditing and Ethics CA Intermediate IPC question papers can also be downloaded using Search. You can also search and download may 2015 Final question papers here. We are providing ca final question papers of may 2016 for Financial Reporting FR, Advanced Financial Management AFM, Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics, Direct Tax Laws DT, Indirect Tax Laws IDT and Inter/IPC May 2024 question papers for Advanced Accounting, Corporate and Other Laws, Taxation, Advanced Accounting , Auditing & Assurance, Information Technology & Strategic Management ITSM.




auditing

CA Final Advanced Auditing, Assurance And Professional Ethics Question Paper New Course Nov 2024

Download CA Final Advanced Auditing, Assurance And Professional Ethics Question Papers Nov 2024 in PDF. For older question papers of CA final May 2024, Nov 2024, May 2023, Nov 2022, May 2022, Dec 2021, July 2021, Jan 2021, Dec 2020, Nov 2020, Nov 19, May 2019, Nov 2018, May 18, Nov 2017, May 2017, May 16, Nov 2015, CA final may 2014, CA final Nov 2014 check similar section. Previous years CA final Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics question papers can also be downloaded using Search. You can also search and download may 2015 IPCC & IPC question papers here. We are providing ca final question papers of may 2016 for Financial Reporting FR, Advanced Financial Management AFM, Advanced Auditing, Assurance And Professional Ethics, Direct Tax Laws DT, Indirect Tax Laws IDT, Integrated Business Solutions (Multidisciplinary Case Study with Strategic Management) and IPCC/IPC Nov 2023 question papers for Accounting , Business, Law, Ethics & Communications , Cost Accounting & Financial Management CAFM, Taxation, Advanced Accounting , Auditing & Assurance, Information Technology & Strategic Management ITSM.




auditing

NFRA Board approves revamp proposals on 40 auditing standards

Also approves revised SA600 despite ICAI concerns; NFRA also okays revised auditing standard on ‘Joint Audits’




auditing

WarVOX Telephony Auditing Tool

WarVOX is a suite of tools for exploring, classifying, and auditing telephone systems. Unlike normal wardialing tools, WarVOX works with the actual audio from each call and does not use a modem directly. This model allows WarVOX to find and classify a wide range of interesting lines, including modems, faxes, voice mail boxes, PBXs, loops, dial tones, IVRs, and forwarders. WarVOX provides the unique ability to classify all telephone lines in a given range, not just those connected to modems, allowing for a comprehensive audit of a telephone system.




auditing

Limit increase form 1 cr to 5 cr for auditing of msme.

Recently hour Hon.FM have increased limit from 1 cr to 5 cr for auditing of MSME. Can some give official notification or circular @ arpangoenka @ gmail.com




auditing

Limit increase form 1 cr to 5 cr for auditing of msme.

Our Hon. FM have announced of increasing threshold limit for auditing for msme from 1cr to 5 cr. We are unable to get official notification. Pls give link. arpangoenka @ gmail.com




auditing

A simple and effective energy-auditing method for SMEs

Researchers have developed a straightforward approach to help small to medium enterprises (SMEs) analyse their energy use and increase efficiency. They tested the methodology on 280 businesses in Europe, which, as a result, invested more than €10m in energy-saving measures. The measures reduced energy use by 6 500 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) per year and avoided 13 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.




auditing

SuperGreen Solutions® Implements MINT Mobile Energy Efficiency Auditing Tool

New Mobile Application Provided by Hancock Software




auditing

Artificial Intelligence: The Next Frontier in Auditing

Technology is transforming accounting. Are you ready?




auditing

Denver risking tax dollars by “ineffectively” auditing marijuana businesses, city auditor alleges

Denver’s process for auditing marijuana businesses is inadequate and has potentially cost the city countless tax dollars allocated for public service programs, the city auditor alleged Thursday.




auditing

Supervisor Controlling Officer - Static Data, Auditing and Reporting

Application deadline: 17 May 2020 | Banking Settlements Centre | Location: Basel, Switzerland




auditing

Lynis Auditing Tool 2.7.5

Lynis is an auditing tool for Unix (specialists). It scans the system and available software to detect security issues. Beside security related information it will also scan for general system information, installed packages and configuration mistakes. This software aims in assisting automated auditing, software patch management, vulnerability and malware scanning of Unix based systems.




auditing

HWK Wireless Auditing Tool 0.4

hwk is an easy-to-use wireless authentication and de-authentication tool. Furthermore, it also supports probe response fuzzing, beacon injection flooding, antenna alignment and various injection testing modes. Information gathering is selected by default and shows the incoming traffic indicating the packet types.




auditing

Everyday Information Architecture: Auditing for Structure

Just as we need to understand our content before we can recategorize it, we need to understand the system before we try to rebuild it.

Enter the structural audit: a review of the site focused solely on its menus, links, flows, and hierarchies. I know you thought we were done with audits back in Chapter 2, but hear me out! Structural audits have an important and singular purpose: to help us build a new sitemap.

This isn’t about recreating the intended sitemap—no, this is about experiencing the site the way users experience it. This audit is meant to track and record the structure of the site as it really works.

Setting up the template

First, we’re gonna need another spreadsheet. (Look, it is not my fault that spreadsheets are the perfect system for recording audit data. I don’t make the rules.)

Because this involves building a spreadsheet from scratch, I keep a “template” at the top of my audit files—rows that I can copy and paste into each new audit (Fig 4.1). It’s a color-coded outline key that helps me track my page hierarchy and my place in the auditing process. When auditing thousands of pages, it’s easy to get dizzyingly lost, particularly when coming back into the sheet after a break; the key helps me stay oriented, no matter how deep the rabbit hole.

Fig 4.1: I use a color-coded outline key to record page hierarchy as I move through the audit. Wait, how many circles did Dante write about?

Color-coding

Color is the easiest, quickest way to convey page depth at a glance. The repetition of black text, white cells, and gray lines can have a numbing effect—too many rows of sameness, and your eyes glaze over. My coloring may result in a spreadsheet that looks like a twee box of macarons, but at least I know, instantly, where I am.

The exact colors don’t really matter, but I find that the familiar mental model of a rainbow helps with recognition—the cooler the row color, the deeper into the site I know I must be.

The nested rainbow of pages is great when you’re auditing neatly nested pages—but most websites color outside the lines (pun extremely intended) with their structure. I leave my orderly rainbow behind to capture duplicate pages, circular links, external navigation, and other inconsistencies like:

  • On-page navigation. A bright text color denotes pages that are accessible via links within page content—not through the navigation. These pages are critical to site structure but are easily overlooked. Not every page needs to be displayed in the navigation menus, of course—news articles are a perfect example—but sometimes this indicates publishing errors.
  • External links. These are navigation links that go to pages outside the domain. They might be social media pages, or even sites held by the same company—but if the domain isn’t the one I’m auditing, I don’t need to follow it. I do need to note its existence in my spreadsheet, so I color the text as the red flag that it is. (As a general rule, I steer clients away from placing external links in navigation, in order to maintain a consistent experience. If there’s a need to send users offsite, I’ll suggest using a contextual, on-page link.)
  • Files. This mostly refers to PDFs, but can include Word files, slide decks, or anything else that requires downloading. As with external links, I want to capture anything that might disrupt the in-site browsing experience. (My audits usually filter out PDFs, but for organizations that overuse them, I’ll audit them separately to show how much “website” content is locked inside.)
  • Unknown hierarchy. Every once in a while, there’s a page that doesn’t seem to belong anywhere—maybe it’s missing from the menu, while its URL suggests it belongs in one section and its navigation scheme suggests another. These pages need to be discussed with their owners to determine whether the content needs to be considered in the new site.
  • Crosslinks. These are navigation links for pages that canonically live in a different section of the site—in other words, they’re duplicates. This often happens in footer navigation, which may repeat the main navigation or surface links to deeper-but-important pages (like a Contact page or a privacy policy). I don’t want to record the same information about the page twice, but I do need to know where the crosslink is, so I can track different paths to the content. I color these cells gray so they don’t draw my attention.

Note that coloring every row (and indenting, as you’ll see in a moment) can be a tedious process—unless you rely on Excel’s formatting brush. That tool applies all the right styles in just two quick clicks.

Outlines and page IDs

Color-coding is half of my template; the other half is the outline, which is how I keep track of the structure itself. (No big deal, just the entire point of the spreadsheet.)

Every page in the site gets assigned an ID. You are assigning this number; it doesn’t correspond to anything but your own perception of the navigation. This number does three things for you:

  1. It associates pages with their place in the site hierarchy. Decimals indicate levels, so the page ID can be decoded as the page’s place in the system.
  2. It gives each page a unique identifier, so you can easily refer to a particular page—saying “2.4.1” is much clearer than “you know that one page in the fourth product category?”
  3. You can keep using the ID in other contexts, like your sitemap. Then, later, when your team decides to wireframe pages 1.1.1 and 7.0, you’ll all be working from the same understanding.

Let me be completely honest: things might get goofy sometimes with the decimal outline. There will come a day when you’ll find yourself casually typing out “1.2.1.2.1.1.1,” and at that moment, a fellow auditor somewhere in the universe will ring a tiny gong for you.

In addition to the IDs, I indent each level, which reinforces both the numbers and the colors. Each level down—each digit in the ID, each change in color—gets one indentation.

I identify top-level pages with a single number: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc. The next page level in the first section would be 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and so on. I mark the homepage as 0.0, which is mildly controversial—the homepage is technically a level above—but, look: I’ve got a lot of numbers to write, and I don’t need those numbers to tell me they’re under the homepage, so this is my system. Feel free to use the numbering system that work best for you.

Criteria and columns

So we’ve got some secret codes for tracking hierarchy and depth, but what about other structural criteria? What are our spreadsheet columns (Fig 4.2)? In addition to a column for Page ID, here’s what I cover:

  • URL. I don’t consistently fill out this column, because I already collected this data back in my automated audit. I include it every twenty entries or so (and on crosslinks or pages with unknown hierarchy) as another way of tracking progress, and as a direct link into the site itself.
  • Menu label/link. I include this column only if I notice a lot of mismatches between links, labels, and page names. Perfect agreement isn’t required; but frequent, significant differences between the language that leads to a page and the language on the page itself may indicate inconsistencies in editorial approach or backend structures.
  • Name/headline. Think of this as “what does the page owner call it?” It may be the H1, or an H2; it may match the link that brought you here, or the page title in the browser, or it may not.
  • Page title. This is for the name of the page in the metadata. Again, I don’t use this in every audit—particularly if the site uses the same long, branded metadata title for every single page—but frequent mismatches can be useful to track.
  • Section. While the template can indicate your level, it can’t tell you which area of the site you’re in—unless you write it down. (This may differ from the section data you applied to your automated audit, taken from the URL structure; here, you’re noting the section where the page appears.)
  • Notes. Finally, I keep a column to note specific challenges, and to track patterns I’m seeing across multiple pages—things like “Different template, missing subnav” or “Only visible from previous page.” My only caution here is that if you’re planning to share this audit with another person, make sure your notes are—ahem—professional. Unless you enjoy anxiously combing through hundreds of entries to revise comments like “Wow haha nope” (not that I would know anything about that).
Fig 4.2: A semi-complete structural audit. This view shows a lot of second- and third-level pages, as well as pages accessed through on-page navigation.

Depending on your project needs, there may be other columns, too. If, in addition to using this spreadsheet for your new sitemap, you want to use it in migration planning or template mapping, you may want columns for new URLs, or template types. 

You can get your own copy of my template as a downloadable Excel file. Feel free to tweak it to suit your style and needs; I know I always do. As long as your spreadsheet helps you understand the hierarchy and structure of your website, you’re good to go.

Gathering data

Setting up the template is one thing—actually filling it out is, admittedly, another. So how do we go from a shiny, new, naive spreadsheet to a complete, jaded, seen-some-stuff spreadsheet? I always liked Erin Kissane’s description of the process, from The Elements of Content Strategy:

Big inventories involve a lot of black coffee, a few late nights, and a playlist of questionable but cheering music prominently featuring the soundtrack of object-collecting video game Katamari Damacy. It takes quite a while to exhaustively inventory a large site, but it’s the only way to really understand what you have to work with.

We’re not talking about the same kind of exhaustive inventory she was describing (though I am recommending Katamari music). But even our less intensive approach is going to require your butt in a seat, your eyes on a screen, and a certain amount of patience and focus. You’re about to walk, with your fingers, through most of a website.

Start on the homepage. (We know that not all users start there, but we’ve got to have some kind of order to this process or we’ll never get through it.) Explore the main navigation before moving on to secondary navigation structures. Move left to right, top to bottom (assuming that is your language direction) over each page, looking for the links. You want to record every page you can reasonably access on the site, noting navigational and structural considerations as you go.

My advice as you work:

  • Use two monitors. I struggle immensely without two screens in this process, which involves constantly switching between spreadsheet and browser in rapid, tennis-match-like succession. If you don’t have access to multiple monitors, find whatever way is easiest for you to quickly flip between applications.
  • Record what you see. I generally note all visible menu links at the same level, then exhaust one section at a time. Sometimes this means I have to adjust what I initially observed, or backtrack to pages I missed earlier. You might prefer to record all data across a level before going deeper, and that would work, too. Just be consistent to minimize missed links.
  • Be alert to inconsistencies. On-page links, external links, and crosslinks can tell you a lot about the structure of the site, but they’re easy to overlook. Missed on-page links mean missed content; missed crosslinks mean duplicate work. (Note: the further you get into the site, the more you’ll start seeing crosslinks, given all the pages you’ve already recorded.)
  • Stick to what’s structurally relevant. A single file that’s not part of a larger pattern of file use is not going to change your understanding of the structure. Neither is recording every single blog post, quarterly newsletter, or news story in the archive. For content that’s dynamic, repeatable, and plentiful, I use an x in the page ID to denote more of the same. For example, a news archive with a page ID of 2.8 might show just one entry beneath it as 2.8.x; I don’t need to record every page up to 2.8.791 to understand that there are 791 articles on the site (assuming I noted that fact in an earlier content review).
  • Save. Save frequently. I cannot even begin to speak of the unfathomable heartbreak that is Microsoft Excel burning an unsaved audit to the ground.  

Knowing which links to follow, which to record, and how best to untangle structural confusion—that improves with time and experience. Performing structural audits will not only teach you about your current site, but will help you develop fluency in systems thinking—a boon when it comes time to document the new site.




auditing

Auditing and Accounting Guide [electronic resource]: Not-for-Profit Entities March 1, 2019

AICPA




auditing

Wiley Practitioner's Guide to GAAS 2019 [electronic resource]: Covering All SASs, SSAEs, SSARSs, PCAOB Auditing Standards, and Interpretations

Flood, Joanne M




auditing

Audit Guide [electronic resource]: Government Auditing Standards and Single Audits

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants




auditing

Accounting & auditing research [electronic resource] : tools & strategies / Thomas R. Weirich, Thomas R. Pearson, Natalie T. Churyk

Weirich, Thomas R




auditing

Auditing, assurance services and ethics in Australia : an integrated approach / Arens, Best, Shailer, Fiedler, Elder, Beasley

Arens, Alvin A, author




auditing

External Auditing and Quality [electronic resource] / by Iffet Kesimli

Kesimli, Iffet, author




auditing

Wiley CPAexcel exam review 2014. Study guide. Auditing and attestation [electronic resource] / O. Ray Whittington

Whittington, Ray, 1948- author




auditing

Water auditing and assessment models to promote sustainable water management in goldmines (Australia and New Zealand) / Robert J Cocks

Cocks, Robert J., author




auditing

Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review July 2020 Study Guide: Auditing and Attestation


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auditing

Auditor's Risk Management Guide: Integrating Auditing and ERM (2013) (U.S.)

Comprehensive how-to book that guides the reader on performing risk management-based audits. The book covers the Enterprise Risk Management Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO).

Following the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley and its strict corporate governance and accountability provisions, developing better risk management techniques is becoming more important in meeting higher audit committee expectations.

The first part of the Auditor's Risk Management Guide provides a broad understanding of corporate governance, ERM principles, and different auditing approaches. It also provides step-by-step instructions on how to execute the risk management-based audit, including frequently asked questions.

The second part of the book is devoted to detailed case studies that illustrate the risk management-based audit methodology and tools in different scenarios, beginning with a business risk assessment and working through common audit areas such as closing the books, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Practice Pointers and Observations throughout provide additional commentary to assist the reader in understanding the methodology.

A free CD-ROM is included with the book provides electronic versions of the various work programs, checklists, and other tools in the book.

PART I: Risk Management-Based Auditing
1.      Overview of Enterprise Risk Management
2.      The Enterprise Risk Management Funnel
3.      Evolution of Auditing Approaches
4.      Strategy: The Beginning of the Journey
5.      Risk Assessment: Business Level
6.      Risk Assessment Qualification Techniques
7.      Entity-Level Control
8.      Risk Assessment: Process Level
9.      Process Design Phase
10.      Testing Phase
11.      Risk Infrastructure Assessment
12.      Action Planning Phase: The Real Value
13.      Monitoring and Follow-Up
14.      Auditing the ERM Process
15.      The Future of Risk Management-Based Auditing
16.     Frequently Asked Questions

PART II: Case Studies
17.  Case Study: Business Risk Assessment
18.  Case Study: Risk Management Infrastructure
19.  Case Study: Close the Books
20.  Case Study: Inventory
21.  Case Study: Procurement
22.  Case Study: Accounts Payable and Disbursements
23.  Case Study: Accounts Receivable and Collections
24.  Case Study: Quality Assurance
25.  Case Study: Payroll and Relat

If you would like more details about this product, or would like to order a copy online, please click here.