But the right finance solution can and should aid any internal audit. With modern finance tools, audits should run more quickly, efficiently, and accurately than ever before.
1. System of Reference
The right accounting software will act as a system of reference, digitizing and unifying an organization’s financial data. We interviewed Espen Jansen, CPA, about this last year. Jansen, who ran his own accounting firm for 11 years, described from experience the benefits of a financial management solution like Xledger: “you have everything you need in one place. You don’t have to drive to a warehouse miles away or wait in a cramped room with the AC turned off until the company you’re auditing finally gives you the documents you need.”
2. Record of Events
Consider how audits work. The success of an audit has always depended on the completeness of the company’s records. Auditors could only do their job if they had the documentation necessary to know what occurred when and who approved it.
Today, your finance solution should serve this purpose. Most financial management applications include some form of digital event tracking. But the breadth and accuracy of the event record will vary according to the financial software model.
The more best-of-breed the financial system—the more dissimilar the components it’s made of—the lower the likelihood that an audit trail will be comprehensive. The more unified the finance solution—the more seamlessly interwoven it is—the greater the likelihood of a complete event record.
3. Tools for Review
Once again, picture the traditional setup. Since the Renaissance, auditors have depended on a close physical analysis: on the abilities to access, examine, cross-reference, track, and verify.
The right finance application will support these functions and more. Modern auditors should have a range of advanced BI tools at their disposal: tools for drill-down and drill-through; rapid and role-based access; configurable reporting; multi-dimensional inquiries; and a complete and navigable audit trail.
This same toolset will also strengthen internal controls in the audited organization. Financial managers should have the ability to perform ongoing ‘soft’ audits: to monitor cash flow, trace approvals, retrieve invoices, run inquiries, and more.
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Your organization will always need a human auditor. But with the right finance software, you can both transform the internal audit (IA) function and ready your organization for any external scrutiny.
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Xledger empowers 10,000+ customers in 50+ countries with the market’s most automated finance management solution. We equip internal auditors with a fully-unified system of reference, end-to-end event records, and market-leading BI tools. Xledger’s robust solution and dedicated customer service have won us an industry-leading 98% customer retention rate.
Please get in touch for more information about how Xledger can transform your internal audits.