Conduct research on various generalized audit software programs that are current
ID: 431406 • Letter: C
Question
Conduct research on various generalized audit software programs that are currently available. Select one and provide a detailed review of how it can be used to assist with the audit process from planning to completion of the audit. Please cover different software options by ensuring you are not repeating the posts of your classmates. Therefore, review prior posts before selecting software for review.
Be sure to support your statements with logic and argument, citing any sources referenced. Post your initial response early, and check back often to continue the discussion. Be sure to respond to your peers’ and instructor’s posts, as well.
Explanation / Answer
IDEA software, which stands for Interactive Data Extraction and Analysis, offers internal and external assurance, fraud investigation and detection, tax assurance, data mining, business process review and continuous monitoring (CaseWare Analytics, 2018). The first product of IDEA is data analysis. The data analysis is conducted using the smart analyzer, which is a collection of queries and task that can be used to improve audit quality and consistency. The analyzer has a pre-programmed test for general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable and other areas that can be used to improve data analytics and consistency. With the test being pre-programmed, the company saves time and effort trying to set standards for a test as well as create reports from scratch. The next product is collaborative analytics, which is centred on team performance and the sharing of data. The platform that operates this product is IDEA server, which is a separate server system and requires all users to sign in with a separate user ID and password (CaseWare Analytics, 2018). This adds an extra layer of protection of data and the permissions can be set up by the project that is being done at the time. Since the server will be a separate single point of access, data redundancy and duplicated audits are eliminated reducing cost and time. Information will then be accurate and better decisions can be made by the audit teams. The last product of IDEA is continuous monitoring. IDEA uses CaseWare monitor for its continuous monitoring software. Continuous monitoring allows for multiple areas audit, finance and IT to be monitored for security, reliability and early detection to prevent fraud, enhance efficiency and improve compliance (Audimation Services, 2018). With continuous monitoring data feeds and analysis can be automated and repeated as needed to give more time to analyze bigger risk. Having more up-to-date information increases the realization of greater profit potential as well as reducing the cost that is related to audits because of inaccurate reporting.
IDEA is easy to implement and has online help and easy to follow dialogue boxes for fast and easy answers. Moreover, this software offers minimal training and does not require any special data translation and doesn’t have file size limitations. In addition, IDEA’s strengths are its great degree of compatibility with Windows standards and MS Office, especially with MS Excel, and user-friendliness. IDEA's clarity is a big contribution to its overall user-friendliness. IDEA’s functions resemble those of Excel. IDEA’s scripting language, IDEA Script, is compatible with Visual Basic, just as MS Excel’s (CaseWare Analytics, 2018).
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