Accounts Receivable

Audit Number: 1103

Fiscal Year Ending 11-30-2008

When certain audit tests are performed, the system can document these results in the work papers as an automatic by-product of performing the tests. These documents can then be edited using Word or other text editor to indicate the test results, conclusions, add tick marks, etc.

The advantages of electronic work papers include the following:

• documentation of test results in standard work-paper format
• reduced audit training requirements for performing computer based tests
• repeatable process (can be re-used during the next audit cycle)
• simplifies sharing of results and tests between audit staff

The starting point for the preparation of electronic work papers is to complete the details of the audit tests to be performed. This is done through "fill in the blanks" on an Excel worksheet and includes information such as type of test to be performed, data source, data elements to be tested, etc.

Once the details have been completed, a series of audit tests to be performed by the system can be started by clicking a button on an Excel worksheet. This will cause the system to perform the analysis, document the results and produce any charts of the results, where applicable.

The next step is for the auditor to review the results of the tests, edit the documents to add conclusions, comments, cross-references, etc. and then store the documents, either as a Word document, HTML or converted to Adobe PDF format.

Although the initial format for this project is to use Excel sheets for inputting testing parameters and performing the audit processing, later versions will use a standard Windows GUI.

Currently there are example audit programs for audit tests in the following areas: