Data Analysis and Data Integrity – part #1

A common refrain that I hear is, “We can’t rely on the data because it does not have integrity.” This raises a couple of questions in my mind and should in yours as well.  First, what is management using to produce its reports and make decisions?  Second, how accurate does your data have to be to allow you to perform analytics and arrive at valid recommendations/conclusions.  The obvious answer to…

August 10, 2022
Read More >>

Duplicates Invoices – Root Cause Analysis

Cost recovery firms make millions of dollars identifying and recovering duplicate payments.  They often have well developed analytics that can identify duplicate payments while reducing the number of false positives.  You will pay 25-50% but you are getting money back, so it feels like a win-win.  However, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) they go after the low hanging fruit and the largest possible duplicates; and 2)…

June 10, 2022
Read More >>

Better Audit Reports

Here are my top eight best practices for creating better internal audit reports that hit the mark: Audit Objective: ensure that the audit objective addresses the risks to the goals and objectives of the organization.  It should drive the risk identification and assessment; and be a foundation for the audit workplan and the conduct of the audit.  And ultimately, is it the statement upon which the audit concludes. Audit Workplan:…

April 24, 2022
Read More >>

Data Analytics and Internal Audit

This is the next post in a series that discusses the importance of having a proper audit objective, defining the business goals and objectives, and the risks to the achievement of those objectives.  This article will discuss the identification and assessment of risk.  The next series of articles will look at the audit finding statement: Criteria, Condition, Cause, Impact and Recommendation.  The focus will be on the use of data…

February 16, 2022
Read More >>

Analytics – Pet Peeves

As a promoter of data analysis for fraud, internal controls, and audit for more than 30 years, I am often asked, “Which software tools or application should I use?”  While I have packages that I have used for 30+ years, and am a co-founder of an data analytics service provider (WWW.CTRLmatters.Com) , I hesitate to answer the question.  The capabilities and robustness of data analytics are changing very quickly, and…

January 29, 2022
Read More >>

Better Audit Recommendations

Setting the proper objective is critical to delivering on a quality, value-add audit.  It must be strongly linked to the goals and objectives of the entity being audited; drive the risk identification and assessment; and be a foundation for the audit workplan and conduct of the audit.  And ultimately, is it the statement upon which the audit concludes. Yet too many audits have poor objectives. I have performed analysis in…

January 20, 2022
Read More >>

My Analytics Journey

Dave Coderre, Co-Founder CTRLmatters It occurred to me today that I have been performing internal audits and reviews for more than half my life.  Throughout the years I had had many failures and successes.  I have learned from both by identifying lessons-learned when things worked and even more importantly when they didn’t.  I also took responsibility for my failures and shared my successes with the auditors on my teams. In…

November 4, 2021
Read More >>

Building a Sustainable Analytics Function

Study after study has shown that data analytics is effective and efficient at detecting risk and identifying control weaknesses, non-compliance, and inefficient business processes.  Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) have repeatedly stated that data analysis expertise is a much-needed skill, and surveys by the ACFE and CPA firms over the past 10 to 15 years have rated data extraction, data analysis, and analytical software as critical…

September 8, 2021
Read More >>

SOX Cost Reductions through Data Analytics

According to the Protiviti report, ‘SOX Compliance and the Promise of Technology and Automation1’ SOX compliance costs have shown year-over-year increases but are starting to level off.  It also states that organizations are beginning to make greater use of technology and automation to support the compliance process.  However, implementing automation in the SOX compliance process is difficult for many organizations.  Understanding and defining requirements, getting stakeholder buy-in, and the investment…

July 5, 2021
Read More >>

Unicorns and the Case for Analytics

It feels odd to have to continue to justify the need for and use of analytics.  What can I add that has not already been stated many times over the past 20-30 years?  Studies since the early 1990’s have pointed to the need for businesses and auditors to embrace the use of analytics.  More recently, Deloitte’s 2021 Global Risk Management Study1 recognizes the potential for digital risk management technology to…

April 27, 2021
Read More >>