The Key Points To Note Regarding IT Auditing

By Daniel Roberts


Auditing is basically a thorough review and evaluation of books of accounts. All companies either private or public keep some sorts of financial records. The records are supposed to be prepared by the company accountant. It is not the work of the auditor to maintain proper books of accounts but the company accountant. IT auditing is basically an audit of a company IT systems, operations, management and related processes.

IT audit is simply defined or known as examination that encompasses or comprises of review and also evaluation of all automated information systems. The audit also reviews non-automated processes and also the interfaces among them. Before any audit is done planning should be done. Planning for IT audit usually involves the following two major steps.

There are two types of auditors, internal auditor and external auditor. Internal auditors are hired by the management of a company. Their main purpose is to conduct internal audits with the aim of strengthening internal control systems. They are put on salary just like any other employee. Their reports are not presented to the shareholders but rather the management.

On the other hand, external auditors are very independent in their work. They are contracted to work for the company shareholders for period not exceeding one year unless repointed again for another term. External auditors do not report to the company management but instead report to shareholders of that company.

The risk assessment decisions made here by auditors will assist companies make cost benefit analysis basically of control to all the known risks. When gathering the information to use for your auditing process, auditors will be required to identify the following five items. Identify and understand knowledge of business and also industry.

Due to the massive subscription to IT systems by organizations, there has been an increasing demand of information technology audits. Many organizations are basically spending a lot in terms of money on IT because of the benefit associated with such a system. As much as the system is beneficial, an organization should always ensure that their systems are secure, reliable and cannot be vulnerable to any kind of computer attacks.

Inherent risk can be defined as that risk of having an error in audit or in the financial books. The errors can be material or at times significant when they are put together with other errors. These errors are assessed with the assumption that compensating controls do not exist. For instance complex database updates are actually more often faced with miswritten as compared to simple ones.

It has been proven that many users are using IT without basically understanding how to operate a computer. A computer may in some instances repeat the same error over and over again causing a lot of damage to the end results. The audits can also be used to assist organizations reduce or minimize risk of tampering with data and loss of data

To avoid and also prevent any future financial fiascos like the Enron and WorldCom it is necessary to conduct IT audits every financial year. There are quite a number of benefits associated with IT audits. But the most important one is the detection of errors.




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