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Today, information technology plays a pivotal role in financial control and audit: most financial data is now digitally recorded and dispersed among servers, clouds and networks over which the audited firm has no control. Additionally, a firm's data-particularly in the case of finance, software, insurance and biotech firms- comprises most of the audited value of the firm. Financial audits are critical mechanisms for ensuring the integrity of information systems and the reporting of organizational finances. They help avoid the abuses that led to passage of legislation such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977), and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002).
Audit effectiveness has declined over the past two decades as auditor skillsets have failed to keep up with advances in information technology. Information and communication technology lie at the core of commerce today and are integrated in business processes around the world. This book is designed to meet the increasing need ofaudit professionals to understand information technology and the controls required to manage it. The material included focuses on the requirements for annual Securities and Exchange Commission audits (10-K) for listed corporations. These represent the benchmark auditing procedures for specialized audits, such as internal, governmental, and attestation audits.
Using R and RStudio, the book demonstrates how to render an audit opinion that is legally and statistically defensible; analyze, extract, and manipulate accounting data; build a risk assessment matrix to inform the conduct of a cost-effective audit program; and more.
List of contents
1. Fundamentals of Auditing Financial Statements.- 2. Foundations of Audit Analytics.- 3. Analysis of Accounting Transactions.- 4. Risk Assessment and Planning.- 5. Analytical Review: Technical Analysis.- 6. Analytical Review: Intelligence Scanning.- 7. Design of Audit Programs.- 8. Interim Compliance Tests.- 9. Substantive Tests.- 10. Sarbanes-Oxley Engagements.- 11. Blockchains, Cybercrime and Forensics.- 12. Special Engagements: Forecasts and Valuation.- 13. Simulated Transactions for Auditing Service Organizations.
About the author
J. Christopher Westland is a professor in the Department of Information & Decision Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He has professional experience in the US as a certified public accountant and in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia as a consultant in technology law. He is the editor in chief of
Electronic Commerce Research (Springer). Dr. Westland's recent publications include
Global Innovation Management, 2nd Edition (Palgrave Macmillan 2017),
Structural Equation Modeling (Springer 2015), and
Red Wired: China's Internet Revolution (2010).
