• 04Mar

    Van Rownd of Control Compliance Group and Sally Smoczynski of The Radian Group will be presenting the following workshop on March 13th, 2007 - sponsored by OMICRON, Atlanta, GA.

    Governance - IT Support and Involvement in Business Process
    March 13, 2007
    8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (Continental Breakfast and Lunch are included)

    Dress Code: Business or Business Casual
    (No blue jeans, shorts, etc.)

    Location of Interchange: The Georgian Club
    (Call OMICRON for details (404-255-0096)

    Registration: http://www.omicron.edu/registration.htm

     

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  • 02Mar

    The SOX Institute peruses the Internet headlines so you don’t have to. Here are the recent headlines (and links) they felt newsworthy:

    Senators Press SEC, PCAOB for 404 Delay - Kerry and Snowe want to put off small-company compliance by one year. At the same time, total spending on Sarbox compliance seems to have topped out at $6 billion, new research finds.

    FEI Calls for SEC-PCAOB Alignment on SOX - Committees of Financial Executives International submitted separate letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voicing concerns with proposed Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 changes, and urging the importance of alignment between both agencies.

    Further tweaks urged for Sarbanes-Oxley - Monday marked the closing of the comment period for rules proposed in December by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that aim to streamline Section 404 of the 2002 corporate-governance law.

    Report Shows Sarbanes-Oxley Works - Earnings restatements rose 13 percent last year but declined at larger companies that have to comply with a Sarbanes-Oxley requirement to inspect their internal controls, a report released Tuesday said.

    Spectre of UK Sarbox looms - Last week, Accountancy Age revealed that the International Federation of Accountants has proposed making all company officials who speak to auditors sign ‘management representations’, or legal letters, raising the prospect of mountains of extra paperwork. Currently in the UK only directors have to do this.

    Credit unions next in Sarbanes-Oxley sights - Some local auditors are telling their credit union clients to brace for stricter internal controls similar to those of the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules for public companies passed in 2002.

    Phoning It In - In a recent study of nearly 200,000 whistle-blower reports of alleged infractions, almost two-thirds of the complaints were made via hotlines without first alerting anyone in management, and few prove to be false alarms.

    HealthSouth CFO Avoids Prison, Again - Former HealthSouth chief financial officer Malcolm "Tadd" McVay was sentenced Thursday to five years’ probation, the same sentence an appeals court threw out last year.

    AS5: More Flexible, Less Effective? - Does the PCAOB’s proposed replacement for Auditing Standard No. 2 offer too much leeway for professional judgment?

  • 01Mar

    From the IT Compliance Institute:

    New IT Audit Checklist: IT Governance and Strategy

    This checklist offers:

    ·   74 specific checklist items to help assess your audit-readiness

    ·    A breakdown of suggested management, operational, and technical controls

    ·   Clarification on what auditors want (and don’t want) to see

    ·    Pointers on audit planning, preparation, testing, and reporting

    Download the Checklist

    (Requires brief registration for non-members of ITCi)



    More Information

    What is the IT Audit Checklist Series? | What Is This Paper About? | About the authors | About ITCi 

    What is the IT Audit Checklist Series?
    The ITCi IT Audit Checklists are a series of topical papers that provide practical guidance for IT, compliance, and business managers on preparing for successful internal audits of various aspects of their operations. In addition to helping managers understand what auditors look for and why, the IT Audit Checklists can also help managers complete proactive self assessments of their operations, thereby identifying opportunities for system and process improvements that can be performed in advance of an audit.
     

    What Is This Paper About?
    This paper, "IT Audit Checklist: IT Governance and Strategy," supports an internal audit of the organization’s IT leadership and high-level planning resources, systems, and processes. The paper includes guidance on assessing the completeness, effectiveness, and sustainability of existing IT governance and strategy; guidance on supporting effective IT leadership; and information on ensuring continual improvement of governance efforts. The paper is intended to help IT, compliance, business, and audit managers prepare for an audit of high-level processes and resources and to provide concrete tools managers can use to ensure that the audit experience and results are as beneficial as possible to both IT leaders and the company as a whole.

    About the Authors
    Dan Swanson, CMA, CIA, CISA, CISSP, CAP, is a 24-year internal audit veteran who was most recently director of professional practices at the Institute of Internal Auditors. Prior to his work with the IIA, Swanson was an independent management consultant for over 10 years. Swanson has completed internal audit projects for more than 30 different organizations, spending almost 10 years in government auditing at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, and the rest in the private sector, mainly in the financial services, transportation, and health sectors. The author of more than 75 articles on internal auditing and other management topics, Swanson is currently a freelance writer and independent management consultant.

    Cass Brewer is the editorial and research director for the IT Compliance Institute (ITCi, www.itcinstitute.com), an independent research and media firm committed to advancing IT’s leadership role in corporate compliance, risk management, and governance. Brewer directs ITCi’s editorial, analytical, and educational initiatives and is the chief contact for the institute’s member community of more than 8,000 business managers, regulators, auditors, consultants, and solution providers from countries and companies around the world. Over the past 13 years, Brewer has issued more than 100 articles, presentations, and white papers on IT and data management topics, and has provided strategic advice and editorial direction for hundreds of additional publications and events.

    About the IT Compliance Institute
    The IT Compliance Institute (ITCi) strives to be a global authority on the role of technology in business governance and regulatory compliance. Through comprehensive education, research, and analysis related to emerging government statutes and affected business and technology practices, we help organizations overcome the challenges posed by today’s regulatory environment and find new ways to turn compliance efforts into capital opportunities.
     
     

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