Audit Software

Objectives
To learn various tools that auditors can use to collect evidence Focus on different types of software that auditors employ to facilitate evidence collection Focus on two types generalized audit software and utility software

Generalized Audit Software

Generalized audit software is off-the-shelf software(tool) that provides a means to gain access to and manipulate data maintained on computer storage media This will help the auditors to obtain evidence directly on the quality of the records produced and maintained by application system and this judgments on quality will enable them to judge the quality of application system that process these records

Functions of Generalized Audit Software

File access that permit different types of file structures, record formats, and data formats to be read File reorganization functions that allow files to be sorted and merged Selection functions to extract data that satisfies certain conditional tests Statistical functions to allow sampling to be undertaken and results of sampling to be evaluated

Functions of Generalized Audit Software

Arithmetic functions to enable computations to be performed on data Stratification and frequency analysis function to allow data to be categorized and summarized in different ways File creation and updating functions to allow work files to be created and updated Reporting functions to allow results to be formatted and output in flexible ways

Utility software
Is a software that perform fairly specific functions that are needed frequently, often by a large number of users, during the operation of computer systems Auditors use it to
Facilitate gaining an understanding of an application system Facilitate assessment of security and integrity Assess data quality Assess program quality Facilitate program development Facilitate assessing operational efficiency

Specialized Audit Software

Specialized audit software is software written in a procedure of problem-oriented language to fulfill a specific set of audit task Specialized means auditors have developed and implemented the software where the purpose and users of the software are well-defined before the software is written Different reasons for developing specialized audit software:
Unavailability of alternative software Functional limitations of alternative software Efficiency considerations Increased understanding of systems Opportunity for easy implementation Increased auditor independence/respect

Concurrent Auditing Techniques

These are the set of audit techniques has been developed to collect evidence at the same time as an application system undertakes processing of its production data These techniques can identify a critical error or irregularity, and notify auditors immediately by transmitting the audit evidence to a printer or screen that auditors should examine continuously, also can be stored and printed later

Concurrent Auditing Techniques

Factors motivating use of concurrent techniques are:
Paper based audit trail in application system is progressively disappearing Continuous monitoring required by advanced systems Increasing difficulty of performing transaction walkthroughs Presence of entropy in systems Problems posed by outsourced and distributed information systems Problems posed by interorganizational information systems

Concurrent Auditing Techniques

Types of concurrent auditing techniques:
Integrated test facility(ITF) Snapshot / extended record System control audit review file (SCARF) Continuous intermittent simulation (CIS)