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#23216 - 07/10/02 02:39 PM Audit Writeups
MackenzieS Offline
Diamond Poster
MackenzieS
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,722
Oklahoma
For those of you who were fortunate to attend an audit school like BAI, my question is did they provide samples of audit writeup reports that you would be willing to share? I have been our bank's internal auditor for about four years and have never attended any type of audit school, so much of what I know was self taught. I am always looking to improve upon my writeups and would appreciate anyone who would be willing to share.

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Audit
#23217 - 07/10/02 02:50 PM Re: Audit Writeups
RVFlyboy Offline
Power Poster
RVFlyboy
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,991
Soaring over Georgia
A few years back, when I was the Director of Auditing for the bank I worked for, I adopted an audit report format based on a sample provided from our external auditors. This report format replaced the traditional letter or memo based report with a report that was actually put together in PowerPoint. It used bullet points to emphasize the executive summary points of the audit report. Then it used charts to identify the critical internal control areas and the specific controls that were tested during the audit. Each control had a graphic symbol to indicate whether the control was operating effectively, needed improvement, or was functioning unsatisfactorily. For NI and U controls, another chart identified specific recommended improvement plan, as well as management's commitments with regard to the plan.

This format was well received by our managers as it did a very good job of pointing out all of the good controls in a very graphic way, while still lending appropriate emphasis to the deficiency areas that needed correction.

Just another example showing where thinking outside the box can be very effective. I don't know that I ever would have thought to use PowerPoint, but it worked great. It also made it easy to clip the appropriate sections of the reports for inclusion in the Audit Committee presentation, which was also PowerPoint-based.
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Jim Bedsole, CRCM, CBA, CFSA, CAFP
My posts - my opinions

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#23218 - 07/10/02 03:03 PM Re: Audit Writeups
Michelle D Offline
Gold Star
Michelle D
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 313
Terminator Country
I've never attended the BAI audit school, but in my experience, audit write-ups have 2 audiences. The first is management - how to present the material in a way that it understandable and gets the point across. The second is the audit committee - and what do they want to see.

Most management reports I've seen and what I'm using now is a narrative. But I've seen AC reports that vary between narrative (what I'm using now) to powerpoint presentations that summarize the control issues rather than identify specific findings. A lot depends on what your AC wants - my current one wants narrative - their attorneys, bankers, etc., for the most part. But at a previous instituion we had more non-financial services people on the AC and they wanted a the material presented more graphically.

Currently, my reports identify the audit, time period, briefly describes the scope, and then provides the rating. The findings are grouped into 3 categories High Risk, Moderate Risk, and Other Observations. Each finding contains the finding, recommendation, and management's response.

When I got the job at this bank, I spoke to the Pres/CEO and the AC Chair to ask them what they'd like to see in an audit report - it gave me my starting point.
Hope this helps.
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The opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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