Although the use of audit technology in the analysis and preparation of audits has become more widespread, there remains specialized knowledge and skills that reside with certain members of the audit team. This knowledge could be an in-depth understanding of the organization's business processes or technical aptitude to create standardized tests or, perhaps, ability to manage automated audit systems.

Challenges
Reliance on these "specialists" leaves audit teams vulnerable if these key members of the team leave the organization or get redeployed. A key challenge is to find a mechanism to extend specialists' knowledge and skill to other members of the audit team in an efficient and sustainable way.

ACL Solutions
Deploying ACL empowers your team to take a much more collaborative approach to conducting audits. ACL software allows the knowledge and information typically generated by your specialists to be shared with the rest of the team. Projects, data, data definition and dictionaries, standard test libraries, and test results can all be stored in a centralized, secure server-based environment. Scripts capturing repetitive tasks can be made available to all team members. The automated logging of audit procedures makes it easy for managers and specialists to review the work of their teams.

This collaborative approach also extends beyond the internal audit department. Because ACL technology allows direct secure access to data, the burden of creating and updating data extracts for the audit teams is removed from the IT department. Additionally, as the data remains in the secure server environment, adherence to security and data administration standards – a key IT objective – is maintained.

By employing this collaborative approach, audit departments are in a better position to validate the reliability of their internal procedures and findings. Demonstrating this reliability may reduce the need for external auditors to validate procedures, which in turn, leads to faster and more effective external audits.

Team Collaboration in Action
Learn more about how BNP Paribas deployed ACL to create a collaborative environment for its 950 auditor spread across 30 countries. By building a global database of policies and rules that can be applied to any investigation based on the specific requirement of the particular business, the company has been able to share its audit best practices with its auditors worldwide. Download the BNP Paribas success story to learn more!

Thanks to ACL solutions, Siemens Corporate Finance has employed automation and standardized data formats shared among audit team members to cut costs by 70% while achieving total audit coverage on payment transactions. Download the Siemens Corporate Finance success story to learn more!