Firms have long understood the value of data and automation in enhancing the quality and value of the audit. Computer-assisted Audit Techniques (CAATS) were in use as far back as the 1960s to improve audit speed and quality. But data analytics (or data analysis) – the process of analyzing data to reach meaningful conclusions – promises to revolutionize audit approaches. Data analysis can empower auditors to manipulate complete data sets and audit 100 percent of transactions.
Leveraging data to this degree has been slowed by a shortage of skills, an efficient and effective means of data capture from multiple formats and platforms, and concerns over client privacy. Still, progress is being made and audit software and related tools are more sophisticated than ever. Moreover, more and more clients want the audit improvements that data makes possible. They want to have deeper dialogues with their auditors, gain greater insights into their businesses – especially on where and how improvements can be made – and to be able to provide greater value, insight and transparency to users of their financial statements.
Download this whitepaper by CaseWare Africa, a division of Adapt IT, to find out why leveraging data is the future of audit and what the future holds.
