The KnowledgeLeader Blog

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Mon, Oct 02, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Sample Requests for Proposals Available on KnowledgeLeader

We offer over 10 sample requests for proposals that offer a wide range of support. Some of KnowledgeLeader's most popular RFPs are listed below. For a full list o...

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Tue, Oct 03, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Premium Tools of the Week: August-September 2023

Check out KnowledgeLeader’s premium tools of the week in August and September.1. Internal Audit Project Administration MemoThe purpose of this memo is to document...

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Wed, Sep 27, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 9/25/2023

ToolsThe following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week:Close-the-Books Audit ReportThe best-practice steps included in this audit report sample can ...

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Mon, Sep 18, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Sample Guides Available on KnowledgeLeader

KnowledgeLeader's guides can be used as development tools for managing risk, conducting internal audits and leading an internal audit department. They provide inn...

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Wed, Sep 20, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 9/18/2023

ToolsThe following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week:Financial Close Review Audit ReportThis audit report sample can be used by auditors looking t...

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Mon, Sep 18, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Section 302 - Executive Certifications

Assess the state of your company’s IT internal control environment with the SOX compliance checklist samples linked in this blog post.1. Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance...

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Wed, Sep 13, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 9/11/2023

ToolsThe following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week:Password Security PolicyUse the four sample policies included in this tool to establish your ...

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Mon, Sep 11, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Inventory and Materials Management

Optimize your organization’s inventory turnover rates with the tools and best practices included in this blog post. Non-Routine Transactions PolicyThis tool inclu...

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Mon, Sep 04, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: August 2023

Check out the 10 most frequently viewed audit tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in August. 1. Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Setting the Tone ...

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Wed, Sep 06, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 9/4/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Request for Proposal: Internal Audit Co-Sourcing/Outsourcing This tool contains three sa...

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Thu, Aug 31, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Sample Audit Reports Available on KnowledgeLeader

KnowledgeLeader's sample audit reports provide you with an outline of how to conduct and report on a variety of audits. Our audit report templates contain sample ...

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Mon, Aug 28, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Audit Reporting

Enhance the communicative value and relevance of your organization’s audit reporting process with these tools. Bank Branch Internal Audit Work Program This docu...

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Wed, Aug 30, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 8/28/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Human Resources Review Audit Work Program Organizations can use the samples included in ...

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Wed, Aug 23, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 8/21/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Finance Code of Conduct Policy This sample policy serves as a code of conduct specific t...

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Thu, Aug 24, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Inventory Management CPE Courses

Inventory planners and managers today find themselves engaged in a delicate balancing act. The process of managing inventories involves delivering the right inve...

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Mon, Aug 21, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Internal Controls

Download these internal controls tools and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. Record Retention Policy This tool contains seven sample policies ...

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Tue, Aug 15, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Greatest Hits: June-July 2023

Download our most popular content accessed on KnowledgeLeader in June and July.  1. Scope of Application Security Memo This memo outlines the assumptions and de...

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Wed, Aug 16, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 8/14/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Risk Culture Guide For risk management and internal controls to function when a crucial ...

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Thu, Aug 17, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Strategic Risk CPE Courses

​Reporting insights to decision-makers is what it’s all about. Business leaders establish relevance with the board of directors by understanding the organization...

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Mon, Aug 14, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: July 2023

Explore the 10 most frequently viewed audit tools on KnowledgeLeader in July. 1. Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Setting the Tone This blog post explai...

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Sun, Aug 06, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: June 2023

Download the top 10 most frequently accessed tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in June. Management Response to Internal Audit Reports Memo This memo out...

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Thu, Aug 10, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Premium Tools of the Week: June-July 2023

Check out KnowledgeLeader’s premium tools of the week in June and July.  External Access Risk Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) This tool outlines the business ...

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Wed, Aug 09, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 8/7/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Audit Committee Report - Internal Audit Plan This tool contains seven sample audit repor...

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Thu, Aug 03, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Talent Optimization CPE Courses

Integrating Talent Strategy and Business Strategy Is Key With the shortage of available qualified job seekers to meet demand, companies are scrambling to find an...

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Wed, Aug 02, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 7/31/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Treasury Risk Management Capability Maturity Model (CMM) This capability maturity model ...

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Mon, Jul 31, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Enterprise Risk Management

Download these enterprise risk management tools and publications and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. Internal Auditing Around the World: Volu...

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Thu, Jul 27, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: COSO CPE Courses

The 2013 COSO Internal Control Framework supports organizations as they adapt to the increasing complexity and pace of a changing business environment. The 2013 ...

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Wed, Jul 26, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 7/24/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Payroll Audit Work Program The two sample work programs included in this document were d...

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Mon, Jul 24, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Audit Planning

Download these audit planning tools and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. Payroll/Human Resources Audit Work Program The two sample work progr...

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Tue, Jul 18, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Vendor Management

Download these vendor management tools and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. IT Third-Party Management Policy  Organizations can use the requi...

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Wed, Jul 19, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 7/17/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Close-the-Books Policy The purpose of this policy is to establish procedures for providi...

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Thu, Jul 13, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Next-Generation Internal Audit CPE Courses

Audit Departments Make Progress With Transformation Internal audit departments have faced unprecedented levels of disruption over the past couple of years. Chang...

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Wed, Jul 12, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 7/10/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Treasury Review Audit Report This tool contains five sample audit reports that focus on ...

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Tue, Jul 11, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: COSO

Download these COSO tools and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. Monitoring Entity-Level Controls Audit Work Program In this document, we provi...

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Fri, Jul 07, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 7/3/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Asset Management Policy This tool contains two sample policies that focus on maintaining...

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Mon, Jul 03, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Topic Spotlight: Internal Audit

Download these internal audit tools and keep them handy to assist with your audit projects. Payroll/Human Resources Audit Work Program The two sample work progr...

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Mon, Jul 03, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: Q2 2023

Download the top 10 most frequently accessed tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in the second quarter of 2023. Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Se...

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Mon, Jun 26, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Greatest Hits: April-May 2023

Download our most popular content accessed on KnowledgeLeader between April and May of 2023.  Risk Culture Assessment Questionnaire Organizations can use the qu...

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Mon, Jun 26, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Sarbanes-Oxley CPE Courses

Sarbanes-Oxley continues to be a demanding journey and is ripe for transformation. For many organizations, most notably large accelerated and accelerated filers,...

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Fri, Jun 30, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 6/26/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: IT Disaster Recovery Policy This sample policy is designed to help companies define proc...

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Mon, Jun 19, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Fraud CPE Courses

Nobody wants to believe that their company is losing significant revenue to fraud. Understandably, organizations don’t want to spend scarce resources managing ris...

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Mon, Jun 19, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Premium Tools of the Week: April-May 2023

Check out KnowledgeLeader’s premium tools of the week between April and May 2023.  Data Breach Notification Memo This memo notifies an individual regarding the ...

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Fri, Jun 23, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 6/19/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Risk Assessment Facilitation Guide Today’s economy requires companies to identify and re...

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Thu, Jun 15, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Strategies to Prepare for an Intellectual Property Audit

Intellectual property (IP) audits help companies identify and organize their intellectual assets. There are several reasons for conducting an intellectual proper...

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Fri, Jun 09, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Cost Management CPE Courses

As senior executives face more pressure to respond to rising costs and eroding profit margins, CFOs can remind their colleagues that they have more cost-optimizat...

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Fri, Jun 16, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 6/12/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: IT Change Management Policy This document contains multiple sample policies that provide...

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Thu, Jun 08, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Expense Reporting: Best Practices for Corporations

Generating revenue is typically the number one goal of any business. However, as the famous adage goes, “It costs money to make money.” To that end, any business ...

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Mon, Jun 05, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: May 2023

Download the top 10 most frequently accessed tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in May. Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Setting the Tone This bl...

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Fri, Jun 09, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 6/5/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Project Risk Management Audit Work Program This sample audit program provides the intern...

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Thu, Jun 01, 2023 @ 12:00 am

How a Quality Assessment Review Can Improve Your Internal Audit Process

According to standards set forth by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), quality assessment review best practices should include an independent and external ...

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Mon, May 29, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Culture CPE Courses

If culture eats strategy for breakfast, why do some organizations continue to respond to labor shortages and economic contractions with salary increases, staff re...

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Fri, Jun 02, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 5/29/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Privacy Audit Work Program This tool contains two sample work programs that highlight ri...

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Thu, May 25, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Develop a Credit Card Information Policy to Mitigate Financial and Credit Risk

What Are Financial and Credit Risks? Financial risk and credit risk are related risks that should often be (and are) considered together but are not wholly inter...

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Mon, May 22, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Data Analytics CPE Courses

The explosion in the use of digital channels and the data they produce have caused a corresponding rise in the use of data analytics across organizations. Despite...

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Fri, May 26, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 5/22/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Accounts Payable Audit Work Program Organizations can use the general best-practice step...

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Thu, May 18, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Strategic Risk: Management and Reporting

Business can't be done, and money can't be made without taking on risks. Risk is an inevitable fact of business life. Big things, like expanding internationally o...

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Mon, May 15, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Agile CPE Courses

As businesses focus on digital transformation for speed and service, they tend to put more emphasis on individuals and interactions than processes and tools. In t...

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Fri, May 19, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 5/15/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: IT Organization Audit Work Program This tool contains two work program samples that high...

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Thu, May 11, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Document Retention Policy Basics

We live and do business in a highly regulated, litigious society. It’s an inevitable but beneficial consequence of our pluralistic, capitalist system. In such a s...

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Fri, May 05, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 5/8/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: ​IT and Business Risk Alignment Guide This sample tool can be used as a guide for unders...

New Content on Knowledgeleader-432023
Fri, May 05, 2023 @ 12:00 am

The Art of Balancing Costs and Profits: A Guide to Cost Management

Effective cost management is an essential factor for the success of any organization. For risk management and audit professionals, it is crucial to manage costs e...

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Mon, May 08, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader's Top 10 Pages: April 2023

Download the top 10 most frequently accessed tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in April. Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Setting the Tone This ...

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Fri, May 05, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 5/1/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Accounts Receivable Policy: Cash Receipts This sample policy is designed to help compani...

New Content on Knowledgeleader -5-1-2023
Thu, Apr 27, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Risk Management Strategies: Using an RCM and Other Tools for Reporting and Disclosure

Maintaining transparency and accuracy in financial and operational reporting is critical to any company's compliance efforts. Two essential components of any comp...

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Mon, May 01, 2023 @ 12:00 am

KnowledgeLeader Tool Pack: Digital Transformation CPE Courses

Digital transformation is not only about embracing the latest software tools and apps; it also raises the bar in the war for talent. Organizations that want to th...

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Fri, Apr 28, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 4/24/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Social Media Risks Guide Organizational social media use is rising and growing increasin...

New Content on Knowledgeleader-4-24-2023
Fri, Apr 21, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 4/17/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Debt Management Policy The purpose of this policy is to outline the proper method of acq...

New Content on Knowledgeleader-4172023
Thu, Apr 13, 2023 @ 12:00 am

How to Approach Governance, Risk and Compliance

When viewed as a single corporate project or objective, governance, risk and compliance, often referred to by risk audit and accounting professionals as “GRC” for...

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Fri, Apr 14, 2023 @ 12:00 am

New Content on KnowledgeLeader - 4/10/2023

Tools The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week: Shipping and Receiving Audit Work Program This document provides three sample audit work...

New Content on Knowledgeleader 4102023
Thu, Apr 06, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Sarbanes-Oxley Section 302 Executive Certifications: The Importance of Maintaining Compliance

The beginning of the 21st century ushered in a new financial, commercial and industrial era. It was the beginning of the internet age. Powerful computer processor...

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Thu, Mar 30, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Safeguarding Sensitive Data: Proactive Measures Against Cyber Threats

Data Security and Internal Controls In today’s digital age, breaches in data security from cyberattacks have become more prevalent and sophisticated, causing sig...

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Thu, Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Maximizing Efficiency: Best Practices for Effective Audit Project Management

Audit Testing Needs Project Management For finance and audit professionals, project management is a core requirement for achieving effective results in audit tes...

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Thu, Mar 16, 2023 @ 8:00 am

Internal Audit Administration: Get a Tune-Up

Internal audit administration can help organizations better understand and manage risks, make better decisions, and achieve their goals more effectively. Internal...

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Wed, Mar 08, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Integrating SOX Compliance Efforts for Optimal Results

Maintaining Control Corporate governance has become increasingly critical over the years, with organizations being assigned a growing responsibility to ensure th...

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Wed, Mar 02, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Achieving High Customer Satisfaction: Processes and Procedures for Businesses

A question that companies regularly ponder: Why is customer satisfaction so important? Simply put, customers are the lifeblood of any business. Without customers,...

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Thu, Feb 23, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Updating Your Company’s Investments and Foreign Exchange Risk Management Strategy: Implement, Monitor, Review, Rinse and Repeat

As risk management and audit professionals are well aware, investments and foreign exchanges can present significant challenges for companies. In the wake of the ...

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Thu, Feb 16, 2023 @ 12:00 am

How to Transition to Continuous Auditing

If auditing critical business processes is a good thing, more auditing must be a better thing. That, at least, is the admittedly oversimplified thinking behind th...

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Thu, Feb 09, 2023 @ 12:00 am

How and Why to Audit Your Business Continuity Management Program

Any number of disasters can adversely affect an organization. There are natural disasters like floods or tornados; technology disasters, including computer crashe...

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Fri, Feb 03, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Vendor Management Best Practices

At its core, vendor management is relationship management. It’s all about the relationships an organization maintains (and benefits from) between itself and exter...

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Thu, Jan 26, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Self-Assessment Best Practices

Self-assessment is an organized means of using the knowledge of those who are most familiar with a topic, such as processes and controls. The self-assessment proc...

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Thu, Jan 19, 2023 @ 12:00 am

The Essentials of Project Management

Project management is the act of applying expert knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities within an organization or business to meet or excee...

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Thu, Jan 12, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Performance Measurement Is More Important Than Ever

In today’s modern digital age, competition in business and industry is relentless. High-level organizational performance and consistent improvement are critical t...

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Thu, Jan 05, 2023 @ 12:00 am

Change Is Inevitable; Change Management Is Critical

There can be no continuing success in modern business without rapid organizational evolution. Technology, communication, regulation and the economy all move too f...

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Thu, Dec 15, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Ethics Program Best Practices

Well-written, well-disseminated ethics policies are essential aspects of modern business. Ethics are, in fact, the foundation of all policymaking decisions. This ...

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Thu, Dec 08, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Best Practices in Corporate Governance

Corporate governance has traditionally been viewed as that which the board of directors does when providing oversight on strategy, policy, performance and transpa...

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Thu, Dec 01, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Inventory and Materials Management Best Practices

Defining Inventory When one thinks of inventory, the physical items in storage or warehouse facilities may come to mind. Yet the term is much broader. Inventory...

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Thu, Nov 17, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Enterprise Resilience — the Delicate Balance of Growth and Risk

Risk at the Speed of Light There has never been a time when succeeding in business didn’t involve facing monumental challenges and taking great risks. It’s silly...

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Wed, Nov 09, 2022 @ 12:00 am

How to Produce a High-Quality Audit Report

Responsible companies need to maintain the critical attributes of accountability, consistency and transparency to uphold the confidence of investors, regulators, ...

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Thu, Nov 03, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Building a Robust Disaster Recovery Policy

Disaster recovery is the process of rapidly recovering business operations in the event of a business interruption. The disaster recovery team of an organization ...

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Wed, Oct 26, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Mastering the Credit and Collections Process

Credit and Collections Defined When defining credit and collections, it's best to begin with an understanding of accounts receivables, which is money owed to an ...

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Thu, Oct 20, 2022 @ 12:00 am

How Quality IT Audit Controls Can Protect Your IT Investments

A Substantial Investment The modern business enterprise can’t exist without the benefit of up-to-date information technology (IT), at least not as a competitive ...

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Thu, Oct 13, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Making the Most of Your Internal Audit Practice

IntroductionIf you are reading this article, you are likely in the internal audit (IA) profession or looking to refine your internal audit practice. Or perhaps yo...

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Thu, Oct 06, 2022 @ 12:00 am

How IT Controls Enhance the Value of IT Assets

It is impossible to overstate the value of information technology (IT) to the world of businesses and industries today. IT facilitates and enhances communication ...

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Thu, Sep 29, 2022 @ 12:00 am

The Benefits of Agile Auditing

Agile Defined Agile is a methodology that focuses on maintaining flexibility and staying in touch with clients. It recognizes that the linear approach taken in t...

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Thu, Sep 22, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Entity-Level Controls: The Importance of Setting the Tone

An effective organization of consequence, whether public or private, attempts to strike a balance between its mission (usually but not always profit) and its resp...

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Thu, Sep 15, 2022 @ 12:00 am

What Is IT Risk and How Should You Manage It?

What Is IT Risk? Information technology (IT) risk is any potential threat to business data, critical systems and business processes. It is the risk associated wi...

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Thu, Sep 08, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Segregation of Duties Is a Best Practice That Can’t Be Ignored

Checks and BalancesThe judicious segregation of key duties within a business is a fundamental principle of risk mitigation that should never be ignored or taken l...

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Thu, Sep 01, 2022 @ 8:00 am

How to Ensure a Robust Compliance Policy

Introduction“Compliance” is defined as adherence to policies, plans, procedures, laws, regulations, contracts or other requirements within a company or organizati...

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Thu, Aug 25, 2022 @ 8:00 am

A Guide to Reviewing Your Organization’s Data Mining and Data Analytics Practices

In the realm of computer science, the term data mining is interchangeable with the term knowledge discovery in data (KDD), and for good reason. There’s a tremendo...

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Thu, Aug 18, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Organizational Risk Assessment — Performed the Right Way

Risk Assessment DefinedRisk assessment is the identification and analysis of relevant risks to achieving objectives and forming a basis for determining how the ri...

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Thu, Aug 11, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Internal Controls: Why You Need a Vigorous Policy

A Working Definition of Internal Controls For accounting, risk and audit, internal controls are a set of accounting best practices activities designed and implem...

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Thu, Aug 04, 2022 @ 8:00 am

The Importance of Best Practices in Goodwill Accounting

Goodwill: An Elusive but Valuable Asset Goodwill might be the most valuable asset on your company’s balance sheet. It might also be the most difficult to place a...

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Thu, Jul 28, 2022 @ 8:00 am

COSO: Step Up Your ERM, Integrated and Internal Controls

COSO is a framework used by businesses to establish a set of internal controls for integration into their business processes. This set of controls assures that an...

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Thu, Jul 21, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Successful Audit Planning Is a Critical First Step in the Audit Process

While it’s true that no internal audit will ever go exactly according to plan, it is also true that audit planning is a necessary and important part of the overal...

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Thu, Jul 14, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Building and Maintaining a Robust Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Platform

The many ongoing risks that businesses face daily extend well beyond organizational risk and market risk to include a much longer set of risks that can be derived...

man standing in front of a building
Thu, Jul 07, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Human Resources Best Practices: Tools to Help Meet the Challenge

The Challenge Human resources (HR) professionals have a real and ongoing responsibility to the employees of the companies they serve. To the utmost extent possib...

lights hanging from the ceiling
Thu, Jun 30, 2022 @ 8:00 am

Must-Have Tools for Accounts Receivable Risk Management

Getting to the Core of Accounts Receivable Accounts receivable (AR) refers to the proceeds or payments that a company will receive from its customers who have pu...

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Thu, Jun 08, 2017 @ 8:57 pm

What Is Internal Audit’s Role in Cybersecurity?

Corporations are always thinking about how to protect assets. A few of the white-collar crimes companies must consider include hacking/intrusions (cyber vulnerabi...

What Is Internal Audit’s Role In Cybersecurity
Wed, Mar 11, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Five Components of the COSO Framework You Need to Know

WHAT DOES COSO STAND FOR? In 1992, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) developed a COSO Framework for evaluating inter...

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Thu, Oct 25, 2018 @ 12:27 am

What Is Internal Auditing?

What Is Internal Auditing?About Internal AuditThe internal audit profession, through The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), has continued to redefine itself as...

What Is Internal Auditing
Thu, May 02, 2019 @ 4:19 am

Second Line of Defense: What Needs to Be Present

What is the Second Line of Defense? Essential to effective risk management, the lines-of-defense model is implicit in COSO’s internal control framework through t...

Second Line of Defense What Needs to Be Present
Thu, Mar 19, 2020 @ 4:45 am

Segregation of Duties: Key Facts You Need to Know

Segregation of duties (SoDs) is an important concept to internal control frameworks, financial reporting and regulatory compliance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley A...

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Thu, Oct 04, 2018 @ 4:37 am

The Art of Internal Audit Reporting: Direct Impact and Clarity

Internal audit (IA) reporting may be the biggest challenge in the audit process next to scheduling the audit itself and implementing recommendations in today’s co...

The Art of Internal Audit Reporting Direct Impact and Clarity
Thu, Nov 16, 2017 @ 8:39 pm

Risk Assessment Maps and Prioritizing Business Processes

Risk assessment helps identify and document critical business processes and the internal controls within each process. Combined with facilitated management meetin...

Risk Assessment Maps And Prioritizing Business Processes
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:30 pm

Audit Committee Reporting: Important Practices and Examples You Need to Know

Chief audit executives may be comfortable that their approach to audit committee reporting has followed the same unwavering path for the past decade. But are th...

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Thu, Nov 30, 2017 @ 7:40 pm

Fraud Detection Red Flags

Corporate fraud, employee theft, insurance scams/workers compensation fraud, employer fraud, forgery/falsified documents and even money laundering are all example...

Fraud Detection Red Flags
Thu, Sep 12, 2019 @ 8:46 pm

Internal Audit: Auditing Standards You Need to Be Aware Of

Auditing Standards for Internal Audit The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) promulgates the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) which includ...

Internal Audit Auditing Standards You Need to Be Aware Of
Thu, Apr 02, 2020 @ 2:15 am

Risk Oversight: How to Be Aware of Emerging Business Risks

Given the dynamic environment, the audit committee should take a close look at the company’s risk profile at least annually. Ideally, this review should be suppor...

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Thu, Dec 12, 2019 @ 8:55 pm

How Are You Monitoring Your Project Management Risk?

Project management risk is significant because of its lasting implications. By definition, a project is a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique produc...

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Thu, Feb 27, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Change Management Audits: Key Factors You Need to Know

Information technology is critical to the long-term success of most organizations. It is a key driver for the cost of operations, which tends to be a vital compo...

image of street
Thu, Jul 27, 2017 @ 8:23 pm

Inventory Management Sample Process Interview Questions

This extensive list of questions can be asked during an interview for an inventory audit. Purchasing Can I have a copy of your policies and procedures? Can I ...

Inventory Management Sample Process Interview Questions
Tue, Nov 20, 2018 @ 12:04 am

What is IT Audit?

It is common to find organizations investing more and more resources – money, time, staff, etc. – these days in technology. Consider a relatively small retail com...

What is IT Audit
Thu, Sep 26, 2019 @ 9:12 pm

Audit Committee: Importance to the Board of Directors

What should the audit committee’s relationship be with an organization’s board of directors, compensation committee, disclosure committee, and nominating and gove...

Audit Committee Importance to the Board of Directors
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Enterprise Risk Management: How to Effectively Raise the Bar

Everyone talks about the need for good risk management programs, but nobody seems to know how to audit them to ensure that they work. The people that bear respons...

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Wed, Mar 07, 2018 @ 10:47 pm

What is Process Accounts Receivable, Credit and Collections?

In recent blog posts, we’ve discussed KPIs for various processes and even gave a concise description of what they are (see Guide to Managing Mergers and Acquisiti...

What is Process Accounts Receivable, Credit and Collections
Sun, Feb 19, 2017 @ 9:00 pm

COSO ERM Framework: Key Facts You Need to Know

When initiating the project to update its enterprise risk management (ERM) framework, COSO saw opportunities to achieve clarity on several fronts. The updated fra...

Coso ERM Framework Key Facts You Need To Know
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:30 pm

How to Identify Remarkable Value in Data Analytics for Internal Audit

Internal auditors have weighed the benefits of data analytics software since the earliest versions of the technology began to surface nearly two decades ago. The...

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Mon, Jan 27, 2020 @ 10:00 pm

How to Identify Important Components of SOC Report Evaluation

There are distinct differences between SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports, but these reports also certainly overlap. For example, the security principle in a SOC 2 report r...

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Thu, May 23, 2019 @ 4:15 am

What is the Internet of Things?

The internet of things (IoT) is an environment in which “things” – objects, animals or people – are given unique identifiers on the internet and are able to trans...

What is the Internet of Things
Fri, Aug 16, 2019 @ 5:11 am

A Compliance Perspective to Risk Assessment

Making Your Risk Assessments Count: A Compliance Perspective to Risk Assessment The traditional approach for assessing compliance risks focuses on the severity o...

A Compliance Perspective to Risk Assessment
Fri, Nov 22, 2019 @ 4:28 am

How to Effectively Audit Fixed Assets

Auditing fixed assets is extremely important to ensure that accounting for capital assets and depreciation is in compliance with management’s objectives. Knowled...

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Sun, Feb 12, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

How to Define Risk Management Goals and Objectives in Your Organization

Risk oversight and risk management are high priorities on the agenda of most organizations. Here are popular KnowledgeLeader tools that focus on risk management:...

How to Define Risk Management Goals and Objectives in Your Organization
Fri, Jan 31, 2020 @ 1:15 am

Customer Service: Business Risks You Need to Know

The focus on customer relationship management (CRM), also known as customer care or customer service, has been growing steadily for the last few years. Companies...

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Thu, Oct 26, 2017 @ 7:07 pm

Do You Have Adequate Documentation for Your Business Processes?

Good process documentation doesn’t just describe how things work—it tells a story of an organization’s modus operandi (MO). As with any storytelling, you might si...

Do You Have Adequate Documentation For Your Business Processes
Mon, Oct 29, 2012 @ 12:00 am

Risks Associated with Data Integrity and Management Best Practices

Failure to manage data integrity risk can have the following impact: Authorization, completeness, and accuracy of transactions may be incorrect as they are ent...

Risks Associated With Data Integrity And Management Best Practices
Tue, Jan 14, 2020 @ 12:00 am

Project Management: Business Risks and Best Practices You Need to Know

Project management is generally associated with the ability to apply expert knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exce...

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Fri, Dec 20, 2019 @ 12:40 am

How to Optimize Effective Audit Planning

Audit planning sets the tone for the audit. If audit planning hasn't been done well, it can make the entire audit much more difficult. You should be answering fou...

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Thu, Oct 10, 2019 @ 4:45 am

When Was the Last Time You Reviewed Your Purchasing Process?

The process of purchasing materials and supplies comprises procedures and activities to acquire goods in the correct quantity and in a timely manner. The process ...

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Mon, Mar 16, 2020 @ 11:00 pm

How to Monitor Transaction Governance for Anti-Money Laundering

Expectations for transaction monitoring (TM) governance are quickly evolving due to the complexity of detection systems, the demand for additional operational ove...

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Thu, Oct 17, 2019 @ 4:32 am

The Best Way to Formulate and Execute Audit Procedures

Once a company forms an internal audit function, completes the risk assessment process and develops an internal audit plan that is responsive to the risk assessme...

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Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Internal Audit: How to Guarantee an Increase in Performance

The internal audit function’s position within a company is unique. It provides its principal stakeholders (audit committee members and management) valuable and ob...

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Wed, Jan 02, 2019 @ 10:21 pm

Key Performance Measures for Improving the Internal Audit Process

An effective business process is built on a set of well-defined and clearly stated business objectives. These key objectives articulate the ideal performance resu...

Key Performance Measures for Improving the Internal Audit Process
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

COSO Integrated Control Framework: Important Changes You Need to Know

In January 2013, the updated version of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission Integrated Internal Control Framework went into effe...

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Thu, Aug 31, 2017 @ 8:22 pm

Guide to Risk and Risk Reporting

Business risk is the level of exposure to uncertainties that the enterprise must understand and effectively manage as it achieves its objectives and creates value...

Guide To Risk And Risk Reporting
Thu, Sep 05, 2019 @ 2:54 am

Ten Important Roles of the Audit Committee in Internal Audit

Ten Important Roles of the Audit Committee in Internal Audit Although the exact nature, charter, scope and reporting lines of internal audit may vary between com...

Ten Important Roles of the Audit Committee in Internal Audit
Thu, Feb 27, 2020 @ 3:37 am

Disclosure Controls and Procedures: Key Facts You Need to Know

The SEC introduced “disclosure controls and procedures” as a new term in its initial August 29, 2002, release following the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley. Disclosur...

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Sun, Sep 10, 2017 @ 7:50 pm

Comparing U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley with C-SOX (Bill 198) and J-SOX (FIE)

As a result of the infamous Enron and WorldCom scandals, the U.S. reacted with strict guidelines to re-establish confidence in the financial market. Commonly refe...

Comparing U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley with C-SOX (BILL 198) and J-SOX (FIE)
Fri, May 31, 2019 @ 5:14 am

How to Develop an Effective Code of Conduct

Executives often cite an ability to adapt to change as the most important factor for success in today’s dynamic business environment; however, there is another eq...

How to Develop an Effective Code of Conduct
Thu, Mar 12, 2020 @ 3:45 am

Important Roles You Need to Be Aware of During Enterprise Risk Management

The chief audit executive (CAE) and internal audit can play one or more of the following roles in conjunction with the implementation of enterprise risk managemen...

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Thu, Nov 21, 2019 @ 10:00 pm

Six Tips on How to Implement a Strong Ethics Program

Do your customers trust and believe in your company? Do you trust and believe your employees? Do your employees trust and believe in you? Trust and transparenc...

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Thu, Feb 27, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Business Continuity Programs: Important Information on How to Perform Audits You Need to Know

Ensuring that an organization can recover from disaster is a basic business requirement the board should explore regularly with management. Nowadays, leading org...

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Fri, Feb 07, 2020 @ 4:15 am

How to Determine the Most Effective Budgeting Process

A budget is a systematic method of allocating financial, physical and human resources to achieve strategic goals. Companies develop budgets in order to monitor pr...

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Thu, Aug 08, 2019 @ 9:37 pm

An Operational Perspective to Risk Assessment

Making Your Risk Assessments Count: An Operational Perspective to Risk Assessment Operational assessment is often directed to assessing performance against quali...

An Operational Perspective to Risk Assessment
Thu, Oct 05, 2017 @ 8:58 pm

Guide to the State of Data Analytics

What is Data Analytics? Data analytics is the practice of embedding insight into operations to drive business strategy and performance. What Does this Mean? W...

Guide to the State of Data Analytics
Wed, Jan 31, 2018 @ 11:27 pm

What is Strategic Forecasting?

Budgeting is a systematic process for: Expressing future plans in formal quantitative terms Allocating resources to achieve strategic goals Monitoring progress...

What Is Strategic Forecasting
Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 5:03 pm

Guide to Managing Mergers and Acquisitions KPIs

Few things can be as fraught with stress and complication for top executives and business owners as evaluating mergers and acquisitions. Some mergers are consumma...

Guide to Managing Mergers and Acquisitions KPIS
Sun, Dec 02, 2012 @ 10:30 pm

How to Mitigate Risks Using Effective Business Continuity Planning

Thorough business continuity plans help organizations minimize the risks of a disaster and restore vital business functions without significant detrimental effec...

How To Mitigate Risks Using Effective Business Continuity Planning
Sun, Oct 01, 2017 @ 6:40 pm

A Guide to Self-Assessment Value Proposition

Self-assessment is a process through which an organization utilizes its internal knowledge to identify and assess uncertainties and the extent to which current pr...

A Guide To Self-Assessment Value Proposition
Thu, Jan 17, 2019 @ 8:59 pm

Developing Budgets: What You Need to Know

In a previous blog on Managing Mergers and Acquisitions KPIs, we discussed what exactly key performance indicators are: “KPIs are generally defined as quantifiab...

Developing Budgets What You Need to Know
Thu, Feb 27, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Five Essential Lines of Defense You Need to Know for Managing Risk

Organizations have learned many lessons over the years from specific financial crises. For example, if a chief executive ignores the warning signs posed by the...

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Wed, Oct 31, 2018 @ 9:12 pm

How to Get Your Accounts Payable Process to Work for You

One of our leading practices to consider for your accounts payable process is to develop strategic business alliances with suppliers and involve them in developin...

How to Get Your Accounts Payable Process to Work for You
Thu, Aug 03, 2017 @ 7:30 pm

Close-the-Books Guide: Reduce Financial Close Risk

A fast, close-the-books process provides multiple benefits for the finance function and for the company. First, a fast close process creates more time for finance...

Close-The-Books Guide Reduce Financial Close Risk
Fri, Aug 23, 2019 @ 5:49 am

Compliance: How to Position for Ultimate Effectiveness

Positioning Compliance for Effectiveness Positioning the compliance function for effectiveness is a matter of first defining the roles executive management and t...

Compliance How to Position for Ultimate Effectiveness
Thu, Jun 28, 2018 @ 1:24 am

Guide to Records Management

Technology has greatly expanded the methods of creating, editing, maintaining, transmitting and retrieving records. From creation to disposition, records in elect...

Guide to Records Management
Wed, Jun 06, 2018 @ 9:19 pm

The Three Components of a Successful Systems Design

What is design risk? To “design” is to create, fashion, execute or construct according to plan. The term design as used here refers to the entire scope of a proje...

The Three Components of a Successful Systems Design
Tue, Jan 14, 2020 @ 12:00 am

What Are the Benefits and Risks Associated With Data Integrity?

Data integrity is the assurance that information can only be accessed or modified by those authorized to access the system. Measures taken to ensure integrity in...

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Sat, Feb 29, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Important Factors of Data Analytics You Need to Know

Auditors can use data analytics to avoid the massive waste spending that often goes hand-in-hand with hiring outside vendors and contractors. This technique does...

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Thu, Oct 24, 2019 @ 7:23 pm

Audit Committee: How to Maximize Your Evaluation

Every audit committee should assess the effectiveness of the organization’s internal audit function at least annually, if not throughout the year. The critical ro...

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Wed, Feb 21, 2018 @ 11:33 pm

What is Organizational Alignment Risk?

What is Organizational Alignment Risk? "Organizational alignment" is defined as conscious and systematic coordination and alignment of three powerful and interre...

What is Organizational Alignment Risk
Wed, Jul 25, 2018 @ 9:33 pm

What is Sourcing Risk?

Outsourcing has become a keystone of major business operations to the point that it’s almost a given that large companies will move certain expensive business pro...

What is Sourcing Risk
Thu, Jan 30, 2020 @ 9:48 pm

Are You Properly Managing Cash Flow Risks?

Cash flow management is the mobilization of company funds, the investment of these funds to produce income and compensation of the banks that support the process....

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Thu, Mar 22, 2018 @ 4:41 am

How To Minimize Customer Fraud Risk

Fraud is the intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right. In the business community, ...

How To Minimize Customer Fraud Risk
Tue, Jan 14, 2020 @ 6:00 pm

How to Keep Your Organization’s Policies Up to Date

Defined policies and procedures play an integral role in efficient and effective company operations. They are also key to the company’s internal control environme...

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Thu, Feb 21, 2019 @ 5:15 pm

Intellectual Property: Risks You Need to Know

Copyright pirates, brand impersonators, patent flouters and trade secret thieves are a major threat to businesses, given their increased aggressiveness toward int...

Intellectual Property Risks You Need to Know
Fri, Jun 28, 2019 @ 2:58 am

Consider Different Approaches When It Comes to Cybersecurity

Cybercrime is now considered a top risk to most enterprises. Many organizations seek to build security by adding tools and processes on top of their established o...

Consider Different Approaches When It Comes to Cybersecurity
Fri, Jun 14, 2019 @ 5:15 am

How to Evaluate Your Corporate Culture

Starting the Process to Evaluate Culture Internal auditors often talk about the “tone at the top” – the idea that corporate culture begins with the example set ...

How to Evaluate Your Corporate Culture
Thu, Aug 10, 2017 @ 3:24 am

Guide to Managing Large-Scale Business Projects

It seems like everybody is wearing a lot more hats these days and finance leaders are no exception. Of course, this means that they are finding it increasingly difficult to balance the multitude of resp...

Wed, Nov 27, 2019 @ 4:00 am

How to Successfully Optimize Your BCM Program

Business continuity management (BCM) is the development of strategies, plans and actions that provide protection or alternative modes of operation for activities ...

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Mon, Mar 16, 2020 @ 10:00 pm

How to Conduct an Up-to-Date Information Security Audit

The point of the article, of course, was that people must focus their attention in the correct places when considering what would most influence their quality of...

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Thu, Jan 31, 2019 @ 9:49 pm

Audit Committee: How to Develop a Strong Self-Assessment Process

The audit committee of the board of directors helps the board fulfill its responsibilities to the company and its current and potential shareholders, the investme...

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Thu, Oct 18, 2018 @ 2:06 am

Six Successful Warehouse and Storage Strategies You Need to Know

There are two main goals that companies with leading practices strive to achieve in the warehousing process: to provide value-added services such as product custo...

Six Successful Warehouse and Storage Strategies You Need to Know
Thu, Jun 20, 2019 @ 4:30 am

What You Need to Know About Robotic Process Automation

Are You Familiar With Robotic Process Automation? Robotic process automation (RPA) has been gaining traction as an efficient way to automate labor-intensive and ...

What You Need to Know About Robotic Process Automation
Fri, Mar 27, 2020 @ 5:15 am

What You Need to Build Remarkable Partnerships With the IT Organization

The strength of the partnership between IT audit and the IT organization is a significant differentiator in the overall success of IT projects and IT audit effect...

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Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:15 pm

How to Remarkably Audit Your IT Initiatives

Changes to a company’s information technology (IT) environment, both information systems and the underlying platforms, are a source of significant operational ris...

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Tue, Feb 25, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

How to Identify Gaps in Your IT Strategy Process

Everybody is talking about IT strategy these days. As IT managers, you’re faced with considerable pressure to communicate a comprehensive strategy, and show a cl...

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Tue, Aug 07, 2018 @ 1:05 am

How to Monitor and Manage Legal and Ethical Issues

Globalization, technology and expanding economic development have propelled business to a leading role in shaping the course of human events. With that influence...

How to Monitor and Manage Legal and Ethical Issues
Thu, Jan 02, 2020 @ 3:35 am

In The Spotlight: Your Accounts Payable Process

The accounts payable process is all about how a company pays its bills. For most companies, accounts payable begins with receiving an invoice and ends with issuin...

image of factory
Fri, Jun 01, 2018 @ 1:35 am

How to Build an Effective Business Process

Key Performance Measures Improving the Process An effective business process is built on a set of well-defined and clearly-stated business objectives. These key ...

How to Build an Effective Business Process
Thu, Apr 12, 2018 @ 4:01 am

Five Keys to Managing Relations With the Board of Directors

For directors to make meaningful contributions in their oversight of management, they need to understand the business environment within which the company operate...

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Sun, Jul 16, 2017 @ 9:10 pm

Electronic Discovery Risks, Challenges and Procedures

Electronic discovery (eDiscovery) refers to the process of searching, locating and securing electronic data for the purpose of using it as evidence in a legal cas...

Electronic Discovery Risks, Challenges And Procedures
Wed, Apr 04, 2018 @ 10:01 pm

How Can Human Resources Risk Be Managed?

“All of the blame and none of the praise” This was how one Human Resource professional described their job in a forum on tech recruiting recently. Human Resource...

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Thu, Feb 13, 2020 @ 2:49 am

How to Effectively Conduct Self-Assessment Meetings

  Why are we meeting? What are the objectives of the self-assessment meeting? Defining the meeting objectives is the most important aspect of planning a self-as...

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Thu, Nov 07, 2019 @ 10:05 pm

Traditional Risk Assessment Approaches Have Limited Value

Developing risk maps, heat maps and risk rankings based on subjective assessments of the severity of impact of potential future events and their likelihood of occ...

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Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Ten Tips You Need to Know for Making High-Impact Presentations

In order to be a high-performing auditor, you must be able to deliver messages in a clear and compelling manner. From kickoff meetings and status reports to inte...

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Thu, Feb 28, 2019 @ 10:14 pm

Improving the Close-the-Books Process

An effective business process is built on a set of well-defined and clearly stated business objectives. These key objectives articulate the ideal performance resu...

Image of Controls
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:30 pm

Five Tips for Increasing Your Influence as an Auditor

Written by Ann Butera, president of The Whole Person Project, Inc.     By definition, “influence” is the ability to get others to act on your suggestions wi...

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Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 5:26 am

Exploring the Big Picture of IT Risk Assessment

Most, if not all, business transactions executed today touch the information technology (IT) environment at some point in their lifecycle. As organizations plan f...

Exploring the Big Picture of IT Risk Assessment
Fri, Nov 22, 2019 @ 4:19 am

IT Governance Opportunities in the Age of Digitalization

Sustaining an effective business model in the face of digital disruption requires a strong foundation of IT governance able to scale and adapt to modern enterpris...

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Tue, Feb 18, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

External Access Risk: Key Factors You Need to Know

Many businesses today exchange goods, services, information and knowledge using network-enabled technologies. Within such business, the proper protection of conf...

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Thu, Apr 04, 2019 @ 6:04 pm

What You Need to Know About GDPR Compliance

Are You Familiar With GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became effective May 25, 2018, and introduced strict rules for the protection of the pe...

What You Need to Know About GDPR Compliance
Thu, Aug 24, 2017 @ 11:47 pm

Is Your Financial Close and Reporting Process Too Manual?

Most organizations continue to invest a significant number of hours every month in a particular set of activities related to calculating, manipulating and validating critical financial reporting data us...

Fri, Dec 14, 2018 @ 1:14 am

Currency Risk: The Purpose and Risk of Money

What Is Money? People may say that “money is the root of all evil,” but is it? It may be best to point out that the original quote is better expressed as, “for ...

Currency Risk The Purpose and Risk of Money
Wed, Jun 28, 2017 @ 9:08 pm

Business Intelligence Competency Centers Overview and Guide

The objectives of a business intelligence competency center (BICC) are to provide the organization with better control over operational and financial reporting, r...

Business Intelligence Competency Centers Overview And Guide
Wed, Dec 19, 2018 @ 10:00 pm

What is Cloud Computing?

What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is defined as the use of a collection of services, applications, information and infrastructure composed of pools of com...

What is Cloud Computing
Thu, Feb 20, 2020 @ 5:15 pm

Intelligence Automation: How to Get Started

Discussions of robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) tend to follow separate tracks. This has been a function of the way these technol...

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Thu, Jan 11, 2018 @ 9:59 pm

Settlement Risk: Using Key Performance Indicators to Mitigate Exposure

Settlement risk, in its simplest form, is the risk that one party won’t hold up their end in a transaction. There are several reasons this can occur, including ti...

Settlement Risk Using Key Performance Indicators to Mitigate Exposure
Thu, Dec 05, 2019 @ 8:17 pm

How Important is Due Diligence to the M&A Process?

There are several key phases of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process: Growth/Portfolio strategy Due diligence Integration planning Integration execu...

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Thu, Oct 31, 2019 @ 4:45 am

How Quick Is Your Financial Close Process?

"Close the books" is a process that a corporation uses to reconcile, consolidate and report financial information on a periodic basis. Each company defines closin...

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Wed, May 02, 2018 @ 10:08 pm

How Does Opportunity Risk Apply to Financial Business Processes?

Opportunity risk occurs whenever there’s a possibility that a better opportunity may become available after having committed to an irreversible decision. We all ...

How Does Opportunity Risk Apply to Financial Business Processes
Thu, Feb 14, 2019 @ 11:36 pm

Communicating With Shareholders: What You Need to Know

Communicating with shareholders is about capital – the ability to access either equity or debt at the lowest possible cost. By understanding investor motivation a...

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Tue, Feb 25, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Five Important Questions on How to Effectively Keep Pace With Change

We all know that change is inevitable, but what can an organization do to keep its strategies and risk management capabilities on the same course as the ever-cha...

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Thu, Oct 03, 2019 @ 10:14 pm

Is Your Strategy Focused on Digital Transformation?

The digital revolution currently taking place is transforming our world. Over the next few years, many organizations will need to undertake radical change program...

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Wed, Aug 22, 2018 @ 11:30 pm

Best Practices for Developing Strong Public Relations

Are you using strong strategic communication processes that build great relationships between your organization and the public? Public relations has gained impor...

Best Practices for Developing Strong Public Relations
Thu, Jan 04, 2018 @ 8:38 pm

Process Alignment Risk Key Performance Indicators Guide

What Is Process Alignment Risk? This is the risk that the business processes within a company may not be appropriately aligned with its corporate strategy, resul...

Process Alignment Risk Key Performance Indicators Guide
Thu, Sep 20, 2018 @ 1:44 am

How to Manage Your Lender Relationships

Is The Treasury Function Ensuring Superior Financial Services for Your Company? The treasury function at a company bears responsibility for managing financial t...

How to Manage Your Lender Relationships
Thu, Jul 18, 2019 @ 10:00 pm

Where to Look for Digital Risk

Many auditors are asking themselves the same legitimate question: With so much happening, where do we start?  Advancements in technology and data have been so rap...

Where to Look for Digital Risk
Thu, Feb 15, 2018 @ 3:57 am

What is Transaction Authenticity?

What Is Transaction Authenticity? "Transaction authenticity" can be defined as the authentication of a party’s (individual, organization) identity, to ensure tha...

What Is Transaction Authenticity
Thu, Sep 27, 2018 @ 2:33 am

Self Assessment: Launching Here and Soaring Beyond

First Step: Use Self-Assessment Within the Internal Audit Department The first and simplest way to use the self-assessment process is to use it in determining ...

Self Assessment Launching Here and Soaring Beyond
Fri, Sep 20, 2019 @ 5:52 am

How to Achieve Remarkable Value From Internal Audit in the Digital Age

In a world of rapid change on almost every front at which organizations must adapt and grow or risk decline and their ultimate demise, everybody faces the same re...

How to Achieve Remarkable Value From Internal Audit in the Digital Age
Thu, Nov 01, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

What is Design Risk and What Risks are Associated With System Design?

To “design” is to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan. The term design as used here refers to the entire scope of a project. A business syst...

What Is Design Risk and What Risks Are Associated with System Design
Mon, Mar 02, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

What You Need to Integrate Risk in Your Business Planning Process

While strategy-setting defines an enterprise’s overall strategic direction, differentiating capabilities and required infrastructure, a business plan lays out ho...

image of woman in a room
Thu, Nov 14, 2019 @ 9:08 pm

How to Assess Your View of Future Risks

Given the complexity of the business environment, executives need to be careful to avoid overconfidence that can be bred by an expressed or implied “official” vie...

image of water and the city
Thu, Sep 06, 2018 @ 12:06 am

Measure Cost-of-Quality to Improve Product Quality

Total quality management requires commitment and persistence. Quality will always have a cost, but many companies are demonstrating that investments in quality al...

Measure Cost-of-Quality to Improve Product Quality
Thu, Jan 25, 2018 @ 5:13 pm

What is Financial Instrument Risk?

What is Financial Instrument Risk? Buyers and sellers may enter into sub-optimal financial or commodity instrument structures that have been standardized for eff...

What is Financial Instrument Risk
Fri, Aug 02, 2019 @ 5:02 am

Consider the Distinguishing Characteristics of Risk

Making Your Risk Assessments Count: Consider the Distinguishing Characteristics of Risk Traditional risk assessment approaches don’t often address the unique ris...

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Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

What You Need to Align IT Management With Business Priorities

The "Holy Grail" for IT has always been to be closely aligned with business efforts. For years, business has encouraged IT to focus on delivering business priorit...

image of water and the city
Mon, Mar 09, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Important Things You Need to Know When Traveling for Audits

Auditors often have the good fortune to go on audit assignments and client meetings throughout the U.S. and in many countries of the world. Some trips are specta...

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Fri, Aug 30, 2019 @ 5:31 am

Social Media Risk: What it Means to Your Risk Profile

Social Media Risk: What it Means to Your Risk Profile Social media platforms and applications have been implemented rapidly by most organizations over the past d...

Social Media Risk What it Means to Your Risk Profile
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Natural Disasters: How to Efficiently Leverage Lessons Learned

Perhaps no disaster in recent history has done more to show the need for strong business continuity and disaster recovery planning than the Japan earthquake and ...

image of mountains and forest
Thu, Dec 19, 2019 @ 8:50 pm

How to Easily Revamp Risk Culture in the Digital Age

How many directors can name a chief risk officer who has advised them and the executive team that the organization is too risk-averse? In the digital age, not eno...

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Sun, Jul 09, 2017 @ 8:08 pm

Signs Your Organization Needs Business Intelligence Solutions

|Busi*ness In*tel”li*gence|, n. - the capacity to acquire and apply business knowledge, the act or state of knowing about your business; to understand and profit ...

Signs Your Organization Needs Business Intelligence Solutions
Thu, Jun 21, 2018 @ 2:59 am

What is IT Performance Risk?

Performance is defined as the throughput of business transactions compared to user needs, expectations or requirements. IT performance risk is the risk that a co...

What is IT Performance Risk
Sun, Jun 14, 2020 @ 11:30 am

Cyber Risk: Major Challenges You Need to Know

Cybersecurity is likely to remain center stage as a top risk as companies continue to expand their reliance on digital technologies to transform customer experien...

Data Analytics Blog Image
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 2:02 am

How to Efficiently Create Agile Risk Management Solutions

Many organizations have failed to keep pace with changing trends in risk and compliance. Resource allocation for many risk and compliance initiatives implemented ...

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