Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 02

February 2017 // Canadian Government Executive / 11 Strategy The bottom line is that the internal audit shops of the future must be increasingly staffed by intellectually curious, tech- savvy auditors who bring to the table a healthy combination of academic excel- lence, professional designations, and di- verse work experiences. Using technology effectively Clearly, internal audit groups are using software applications in their work more than ever. These technology tools have multiple uses. They can enable auditors to automate repetitive tasks, produce elec- tronic working papers, drill down into data, identify trends and present findings in dynamic ways. Data analytics, in particular, continues to be an area of high interest to the inter- nal audit community. Not surprisingly, it proved to be another stimulating topic of discussion at the Forum. GIACC members agreed that the value of technology is best demonstrated to auditors and their clients when used in the areas of greatest risk to an organization. There, it can be used to help plan the scope of an audit, to increase audit cover- age, combine data from multiple sources, and identify outliers. It is especially pow- erful in the many ways it can be used to communicate information to clients. However, introducing data analytics into internal audit operations is not a simple task. It requires planning, training and for subject matter and technical experts to work hand-in-hand to ensure data reliabil- ity and integrity, data consistency and data confidentiality. Courtney Brown, a director in the Risk Assurance Services Practice with PwC, advised GIACC members not to venture into this area on their own. He suggested co-developing a strategy with IT special- ists, data analysts and business owners. He also reminded forum participants that data analytics is not a back-office solution. It requires collaboration and ongoing com- munications with all parties involved if it is to succeed. Richard Kennedy shared what his group observed on how data analytics could be used. In one instance, data analytics re- vealed that more than 16,000 Ontario sec- ondary students had dropped out of school even though they were only a few credits short of graduating. The information that was gathered, in addition to other corrobo- rative evidence, led to a highly successful campaign to specifically encourage these former students to return and complete credits and obtain their high school di- ploma. According to Kennedy, ‘data ana- lytics opportunities are emerging from a data-driven systems environment, an increased emphasis on evidence-based decision-making and the availability of robust tools and expertise.’ Producing more useful and user-friendly audit products One of the key benefits of data analytics software is that it allows users to pro- duce sophisticated, eye-catching visuals to communicate with program managers and executives. This was another area that generated thought-provoking discussions among GIACC members, and a number of useful strategies were put forward to enhance communications with clients. They in- clude: • Distilling audit reports down to a single page summary that highlights the rea- sons for the audit and the key findings. • Avoiding bureaucratic language. • Investing effort into visualization of audit results so executives can quickly focus on recommendations. • Using a text box and bullets to outline key findings. • Improving timeliness of reports so the recommendations can reach clients while interest is still high. • Publishing case studies, best practices and management frameworks (e.g. for fraud detection, contracts and grants management) to maximize the impact of individual audits. • Helping organizations design effective controls at the beginning of a process rather than recommending them after the fact. • Introducing agile or ‘just-in-time’ audit- ing. • Producing quarterly risk-based dash- boards. • Tracking recommendations and actions alongside success indicators Forum participants recognized that many of these approaches break with the way internal audit has delivered services in the past, signaling that an important cul- ture change is taking place across our pro- fession. While this necessarily means there will be a period of adjustment, the new direc- tion in which we are evidently headed signals the need for a strong commitment to explore ways to improve approaches to serving clients and to enhancing the value we provide to government. The future we discussed at the GIACC Forum is actually right on our doorstep, so we encourage the community to mobilize efforts to address these challenges with- out delay. At the end of the day, the one thing that we all know with certainty is that the first step is to continue to work to- gether and share our knowledge and our progress. J ennifer R obinson is A/Executive Director, Internal Audit Policy and Communities at the Office of the Comptroller General of Canada and Vice-Chair of GIACC. The bottom line is that the internal audit shops of the future must be increasingly staffed by intellectually curious, tech-savvy auditors who bring to the table a healthy combination of academic excellence, professional designations, and diverse work experiences.