The importance of the process in getting to Internal Audit and Advisory recommendations!
I recently read a Fortune magazine “ ask the columnist” article where a reader expressed frustration at a team of consultants working at her company, that had never engaged the employees prior to honing their focus, or ignored them when coming up with recommendations. Continue reading
Culture eats Process for Lunch!
This widely attributed phrase never rings more true when talking about business or organizations. When we think about the entity level control environment or “tone at the top” we think primarily about culture. What are the norms and principles that guide behavior in the organization? How do they shape the culture that is really the organization DNA?
The enduring value of JFK’s inspiration to risk management
This year marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s death. I’ve been inspired by his following quotation:
“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction”
Stop the Revenue Leaks and Protect Profits!
Instill more discipline and control in your pricing process and business
acceptance practices to strengthen pricing transaction managagement and profits.
Why poor messaging and misunderstanding undermines Risk Assessment & Internal Audit value?
As part of performing a recent company risk assessment for a client, I asked a customer in what areas might Internal Audit be of service to you in helping you achieve business objectives? The response was in the form of a question asking if that meant IA would be rating me (e.g. “green, yellow, red”), expecting that would be the extent of the service and value. The perception being that IA was there to primarily “ding me”. The opportunity to uncover high risk and operational performance areas for improvement was missed!
How to provide vendor assurance, best value and cost management… competitive bidding!
A large service provider with millions of dollars of annual spend, had no documented policy on when competitive bids were required! It was left more to business people and Purchasing function judgment. Continue reading
Revenue leakage exposure. Do you use credit card processors for payment?
Many companies and organizations accept credit card payments for their services, but have sales or accounting systems that are not linked to this payment mechanism. They receive a summary notification from the payment processor of the amount to be remitted to them, say monthly. They then get an ACH or wire transfer payment that posts to their bank account.
Not really thought about your business process? your result!
An organization acquired a new business which was cash based. Apparently, there was no thought given about the required controls or oversight to manage this program. It was allowed to continue the same way it was always done. Continue reading
What is good stewardship of company funds?
Internal Auditors are often asked to assess how well organizations are performing as good “stewards” of company funds. The scope of such audit work invariably centers on controls over expenditures in the purchasing, finance and treasury groups. It also covers areas like policies and procedures, segregation of duties and proper approvals. Continue reading
Staff Turnover, the biggest fraud driver to your organization!
A decentralized, geographically dispersed, services organization experienced several thousand dollars of fraudulent use of company and client resources! What was the root cause of the abuse? Overlooked staff turnover that led to an opportunity to commit fraud. Continue reading
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