Tools
The following tools were published on KnowledgeLeader this week:
Risk Management Policy
This tool contains two sample policies that establish standards and procedures for a common and systematic approach to managing risk across a company. This approach increases risk awareness, ensures the appropriate management of risks and makes the business unit risk profiles transparent. This enables risks to be compared and aggregated and allows one to take a portfolio approach to risk management.
Payroll Policy
This payroll policy outlines procedures related to payroll payments, time reporting, holiday schedules, vacation, non-occupational illness or injury, overtime, check requests, change in employee payroll information, new employees, and resignations and terminations. These procedures are meant to apply to all U.S. domestic company employees in an organization.
Accrued Liabilities Audit Work Program
This sample audit work program primarily focuses on identification and reporting of contingencies and accrued liabilities. Audit objectives include asking if any contingencies exist and identifying the existence of any contingencies, when the underlying cause occurred, and the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome and the amount or range of possible loss.
IT Application Management Audit Work Program
Enhance your IT application management audit capabilities with our comprehensive work program, tailored for risk assessment and performance monitoring. Project work steps include sampling the organization’s problem tickets and incident reports, looking for trends that might be indicative of potential areas of concern, and comparing these to performance management reports.
Internal Audit Department Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
This benchmarking tool provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating the performance of an internal audit department using different metrics and indicators. Key concepts discussed include developing effective communication strategies to drive management and employees to action. Metrics include monitoring the percentage of implemented recommendations within agreed-upon timelines, the frequency of surprises at exit meetings, report cycle times, and more.
Quarterly Self-Assessment Survey
The purpose of this questionnaire is to facilitate the quarterly Section 404 assessment process. One component of the process includes completing this questionnaire to identify changes in the existing IT process documentation, including risks, control points, systems and personnel impacting the internal control environment.
Close-the-Books Audit Report
Learn how to minimize manual journal entries and improve month-end close activities with our audit report sample. Best practices covered in this sample include limiting the number of general ledger trial balances and performing account analysis and reconciliations outside the close process.
Publications
KnowledgeLeader has also published several publications this week.
Former Australia Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop: Find a Way to Build a Better World
The challenges facing governments around the world, including Australia, are immense and growing. To help sort it all out, VISION by Protiviti caught up with Julie Bishop, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 until 2018. Protiviti Managing Directors Steve Baker and Melanie Morrissey sat down with Bishop to talk megatrends, talent, trust, gender, generations, education design, as well as the future of Australia, its government, its people and the planet.
From Meme Stocks to Market Reform: The Journey to T+1 Settlement
May 27-28, 2024, were exciting days for investing in Canada and the U.S., respectively. These were the effective dates for the SEC rule amendments to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions from two business days after the trading day (T+2) to one business day (T+1). In this article, Audit Analytics further examines how the SEC’s T+1 settlement cycle reform aims to reduce risks in securities transactions, sparked by the 2021 meme stock frenzy.
DORA Compliance: Untangling Key Hurdles to Implementation
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), more formally known as Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, took effect on January 16, 2023, with final industry compliance required by January 17, 2025. The regulation underscores the importance of digital operational resilience in today’s increasingly interconnected and digitized landscape and seeks to expand the reach of European regulators. This whitepaper explores how firms can respond to and apply the DORA requirements by the implementation date.
Recommended Resources
This list of recommended resources from the web may be of interest to you. Click each link to learn more.
- A&A Focus Recap: CECL, Leases and Commercial Real Estate
- Conducting Workforce Reductions With Compassion
- Can CPA Requirement Changes Solve Finance’s Talent Shortage?