The tools provided by technology have been expanding to each of the activities carried out by human beings. Internal auditors have been adapting these new technological tools to their work and generating several benefits. Audit risk model is essential to improve and verify the performance of a company, but they themselves are prone to undergo situations of change and continuous improvement, mediated by the progress made in the management and analysis of information.
Having specialized auditing software or program can greatly enhance performance, productivity and improve the quality of the processes that require examination in a company. The company must help and accompany the internal auditor to make extensive and responsible use of technology, this is how both the auditor and the company must follow the following recommendations: first, the auditor must have a defined computerized system that allows you to streamline your review processes.
This point is important to analyze, because many auditors may be intellectually trained but do not have the technological tools that are able to enhance all their capabilities. Second, Critical time must be spent before the audit exercise begins. This time is considered preparation time by the auditor and implies a thorough knowledge of the company in which they will work and the computer systems they have and the technological tools that they will use during the audit.
Third, the auditor must have the ability to decide how all the information is to be stored. The information of the company is of essential value, as it will allow it to generate reports, analysis and performance indicators. Therefore, information can be considered to be the most valuable resource that a company has and therefore the internal auditor must ensure its conservation and care. Fourth, the reports generated to solve the problems that the company presents must be given quickly and in a timely manner; that is, what is wrong must be solved quickly, so that the problem does not increase or cause greater damage. In fact, smaller problems need to be fixed as the audit unfolds. Technological tools serve to streamline each of these aspects,
What Technology Means for Audit Management
Both the companies that provide the audit service and the auditor training centers have been concerned about the inclusion of the use of technology both for the analysis of data and company risks and the management of information. The philosophy of this new wave is concerned with doing more with less; in other words, make the audit a more efficient process. According to data from Cangemi (2016) about Views on Internal Audit, Internal Controls, and Internal Audit’s Use of Technology, the use of technology in the audit process, although it increases over the years, there is still much to do and to explore. In addition, word processing programs and numerical data processing are indispensable for the auditor’s work.
In a conclusive way, technology is indispensable for the exercise of any profession. The development of society and technological changes have emerged over time as facilitating tools for information management. It is essential that an auditor complements his work with these tools. However, it is a matter of going beyond including information technologies, since these tools should facilitate and make their work more efficient, but not hinder it and make it more cumbersome.
The use of technologies must not also create an obstacle in communication between the company and the auditor. The department in charge of technologies within the company, must constantly dialogue with the auditor, and match the knowledge of each one, to achieve more solid policies for the protection of information and the management of specialized software. This union must also ensure the security of valuable information for the company. In such a way that the inclusion of technology in the company does not make it more vulnerable, but rather strengthens it.
There are already many audit management solutions available for purchase which use different technologies to make the audit cycle easier to manage for businesses. As computers become better at understanding human speech and as A.I. becomes more accessible, we can only expect more auditing work to be left to computers. Auditors should make sure they know how to use the latest auditing tools and technologies as they will soon be required to use these tools to perform their job.
It would be remiss to think that technology is replacing auditors. The truth is the opposite is happening – audit management technology improves the job role of auditors instead of eliminating it. Auditors who have access to modern risk technology can audit faster and while causing fewer disruptions, which allows them to achieve more while putting in less time and effort.
