Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley: A Guide to Process-Driven Reporting (Wiley Institute of Internal Auditors Professional Book)

Brimming with commonsense advice delivered in a conversational, easy-to-read style, Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley: A Guide to Process-Driven Reporting helps you transform raw data into useable information and then translate that information into actionable messages while complying with the SOX Act. Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley: A Guide to Process-Driven Reporting......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 7 PREFACE......Page 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 13 ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 15 ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS......Page 16 SECTION ONE: FROM VENI, VIDI, VICI TO SOX......Page 17 REPORT WRITING AS PROGRAMMING......Page 21 PROCESS-DRIVEN REPORTING DEFINED......Page 23 THE COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT REPORTING PROCESS......Page 27 CHAPTER 2: THE LATEST STANDARDS......Page 41 WHAT IS DIFFERENT SINCE SOX?......Page 42 SEC REGULATIONS......Page 49 PCAOB STANDARDS......Page 50 AICPA PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS......Page 53 REPLACEMENT FOR SAS NO. 61......Page 54 THE COSO FRAMEWORK......Page 55 READABILITY STANDARDS......Page 56 CHAPTER 3: NEW RULES AND NEW TOOLS......Page 59 SAS THREE WAYS......Page 60 AUTOMATION ADVANTAGES......Page 61 AUTOMATION CHALLENGES......Page 63 WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOES NOT?......Page 66 SECTION TWO: GOING WITH THE FLOW......Page 71 ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATED, LIMITED SPACE......Page 73 CLEAR EXPECTATIONS AND COMPANY EXPECTATIONS......Page 75 SAMPLE TEMPLATES......Page 76 FORMAT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES......Page 90 CHAPTER 5: THE VALUE-ADDED SPOKEN (AND E-MAILED) WORD......Page 92 SHARED INTERPRETATIONS ARE VALUABLE......Page 93 IIA RECOMMENDATIONS......Page 94 ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS......Page 96 THE IMPORTANCE OF PROBES......Page 97 THE POWER OF PROGRAMMING AND DEFERENCE......Page 98 TELEPHONE TALK......Page 99 SECTION THREE: REPORT WRITING 101, ER, MAKE THAT 404......Page 107 WORD CHOICE CRITERIA......Page 111 RULES OF THE VERB......Page 115 PRECISE AND SPECIFIC WORDS......Page 120 CODE WORDS AND ACRONYMS......Page 121 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SPECIFIC......Page 122 CONCISENESS......Page 123 THE “WHATEVER” STEP......Page 127 CHAPTER 7: STRUCTURED SENTENCES......Page 129 IDENTIFYING THE SUBJECT......Page 130 OTHER SENTENCE COMPONENTS......Page 132 SENTENCE SCHEMATA......Page 136 MOVING ON TO MODIFIERS......Page 139 ABOUT PREPOSITIONS......Page 140 CHAPTER 8: PARAGRAPHS, PUNCTUATION, AND CAPITALIZATION......Page 145 PARAGRAPH GUIDELINES......Page 146 PUNCTUATION MATTERS......Page 150 CAPITAL RULES......Page 154 MAKING REPORTS LOOK GOOD......Page 156 TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND GRAPHS......Page 157 ANOTHER LOOK AT REPORTS......Page 160 SECTION FOUR: IT’S A FLAT WORLD AFTER ALL......Page 165 PART ONE: THE LONG REACH OF SOX......Page 167 PART TWO: ANALYZING AUDIENCES......Page 168 PART THREE: WHY ENGLISH?......Page 173 PART FOUR: GETTING STARTED......Page 175 PART FIVE: LAST WORDS......Page 177 APPENDICES......Page 181 INTRODUCTION......Page 183 ATTRIBUTE STANDARD 1200—PROFICIENCY AND DUE PROFESSIONAL CARE......Page 185 PERFORMANCE STANDARD 2400—COMMUNICATING RESULTS......Page 186 SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002......Page 188 PUBLIC COMPANY ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD......Page 191 OBJECTIVES OF AUDIT DOCUMENTATION......Page 219 AUDIT DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT......Page 221 DOCUMENTATION OF SPECIFIC MATTERS......Page 223 INTERNAL CONTROL—INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK......Page 227 VERB FLAWS......Page 238 MODIFIER FLAWS......Page 240 PUNCTUATION FLAWS......Page 242 Appendix C: BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 245 INDEX......Page 247

Praise for Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley:A Guide to Process-Driven Reporting

"In a post-SOX era, internal audit plays a key role in helping CEOs and CFOs to assess internal controls over financial reporting. Effective communication, by way of issuing clear, crisp, and timely internal audit reports, is essential to the speedy remedy of any deficiencies representing high risk for the corporation. This book serves as a tool box to improve such written communication from internal audit."
—Stephane Girard, former director, Internal Audit, Schlumberger Limited

"This is a cutting-edge book that should be of interest to anyone associated with the internal auditing profession. The book focuses on post-SOX issues as they relate to report writing and emphasizes the critical importance of written communication in the corporate world. The author's unique process-oriented approach makes for a practical and readable end product that should prove beneficial to a wide audience of accounting practitioners."
—Dr. Richard G. Brody, CPA, CFE, Associate Professor of Accounting, Anderson Schools of Management, University of New Mexico

"Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley offers a broad array of practical tools and techniques to make internal audit communications effective in the world of global business. By using these techniques in their reports, e-mails, and phone conversations, internal auditors can connect the dots for audit committees and financial executives—and transform information into knowledge."
—Ted Senko, Global Leader of Internal Audit Services, KPMG

"Written with humor, energy, and clarity, I hear her message on each page. This will be a valuable tool to all auditors, and others, who write financial reports."
—Nicholas J.S. Causton, Manager, Financial Training, Schlumberger LTD

Internal auditors are the front-line financial reporters for most companies. Now, in addition to logging their findings and making recommendations, they are required to link their findings directly to potential risks and accountability issues in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Brimming with commonsense advice delivered in a conversational, easy-to-read style, Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley: A Guide to Process-Driven Reporting helps internal auditors and financial managers to transform raw data into useable information and to then translate that information into actionable messages while complying with SOX.