Audit TrailAudit TrailAudit Trail is the official blog of Approva- tracking the latest news, opinions and trends in governance risk and compliance. Audit Trail provides visitors with informed views on issues that matter to finance compliance, and audit professionals. Articles
Ditching Traffic Signals to Reduce Car Accidents
2007-09-12 23:08:00 The message coming out of a town council in Germany is that not all automated processes are necessarily in the best interest of safety. In fact, as of this morning, all traffic controls will disappear from downtown Bohmte to try and reduce accidents and make life easier for pedestrians. The idea is to give drivers ... More About: Traffic , Accidents , Reduce , Car accidents , Cide
Daily News: Debate Over Cost of SOX
2007-09-11 23:11:00 It seems that the cost of SOX compliance is a hot topic in the office of Steve Jackson. Jackson, a partner in accounting firm UHY, has spoken out publicly against a survey which was issued by the law firm of Foley & Lardner back in August. According to the survey, out-of-pocket audit costs are still ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Debate , Cost
Daily News: Surveys, Shortfalls and Sustainability
2007-09-11 04:55:00 According to IT Pro, a new survey released today has revealed that almost nine out of ten UK businesses (88 percent) do not track all information that is kept on mobile devices. The survey sponsor, Minformation points to information management compliance and data protection regulation issues. Financial Weekly is worried about another issue: a brainiac ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Sustainability , Surveys
Happy National Payroll Week!
2007-09-05 22:34:00 For many of us, Labor Day marks the official end of summer fun. It’s the last long weekend up until the Thanksgiving holiday, the local pools have begun shutting their gates, the kids are marching back off to school and for those of us commuting around the nation’s capital — well let’s just say the ... More About: National , Happy , Week , Payroll
The Tax Man Spilleth
2007-09-05 21:57:00 Happy Wednesday, everybody. Let?s kick today off with some news from the IRS, which, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, is doing very well with sharing taxpayer information with agencies in all 50 states. That?s the good news. The bad news? That the information they?re sharing is not ... More About: Daily News
User Provisioning Series (Part Two)
2007-09-05 15:50:00 Last week I talked about some of the challenges to provisioning complex business environments like ERP systems. I spent a little time discussing one of the responses to the challenge that some deployment teams have taken ? hardwired provisioning. In this piece, I?ll pick up one of the other responses deployment teams have ... More About: Series , User , Part , Provision , Serie
Daily News: Survey Finds Automated Controls Makes for Sustainable Complianc
2007-08-28 22:33:00 In conjunction with their conference on current financial reporting issues, the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF) ? the research arm of Financial Executives International (FEI) ? has released two new reports on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and management?s reports on internal controls. The first report, ?Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance ? From Project to Sustainability,? summarizes the experiences of ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Survey , Sustainable
Daily News: News Spins on Professional Development
2007-08-24 19:56:00 We offer you a break from the usual today, people. We can?t all go to Wharton, but we can all learn something from this article. Knowledge@Wharton offers insight into how to cut through the noise and make a human connection with employees, partners, customers and everyone else you encounter. And, lest you think it is ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Development , Professional
Daily News: Up and Down, Up and Down, and a Little More SOX Fifth
2007-08-17 19:05:00 French Caldwell says, ?It?s not over yet,? and more in this review of SOX costs. Costs are down (hurray!) but OOPs (out-of-pockets) are up (Boo!) Caldwell points the finger at a lack of automation. Read on people, read on. And, if you didn?t get enough info regarding five years of SOX from us, which would ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Litt
Daily News: Who Stole Our Cheese?
2007-08-15 23:49:00 Wisconsin is sharing more than its cheese. Okay, bad lead in (perhaps) but this Wisconsin Technology Network is the best thing since sliced cheese. It is anything but cheesy. We mean the article really makes the grate. (Help! We can?t stop!) Adopting a serious tone: Read on for reasons why compliance is benefiting CIOs. Here ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Cheese
1-800-DIVORCE?
2007-08-15 20:35:00 Being in the business of SOX we sometimes lose sight of the fact that scandals don?t just involve shady corporate executives looking for their next ?get rich quick? scheme. Although let?s be honest, we do love a good backdating scandal involving criminal charges being brought against a former CEO of a major public company don?t ... More About: Divorce , Divo
Daily News: Housing Market Woes
2007-08-01 19:09:00 Anyone up for some metaphor-mixing on this fine Wednesday? This morning?s news has got us musing, once again, on ripple effects, and there?s nothing like further ripples from the housing market to remind us that, just as no man is an island, no market operates in a vacuum. We may have mentioned before here ... More About: News , Daily , Market , Daily News , Housing
Nice day for a SOX Luncheon?
2007-08-01 15:39:00 Of all the ways to mark SOX?s big fifth birthday ? say, with cakes and songs and what-it-all-means-retrospectives from experts in the field, we have to give props to the Center for Audit Quality for a bang-up luncheon discussion featuring Sarbanes and Oxley themselves. Not to mention Pitt (of course we?re not talking Brad) ... More About: Nice
Daily News: A Fraud Kind of Day
2007-07-27 00:27:00 It looks like today is a fraud kind of day in the news. The New York Times reports that Mark Lenowitz, who had worked as a stock picker for two hedge funds, recently pleaded guilty to insider trading ? as he profited from inside tips that were leaked by a former executive at UBS ... More About: News , Daily , Fraud , Daily News
Sarbanes-Oxley Fifth Anniversary Event
2007-07-26 23:34:00 In case you didn?t hear, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) will be hosting an event at the National Press Club on July 30th to mark the fifth anniversary of SOX. As you well know, we here at Audit Trail are suckers for a good birthday party, so we?ll be there taking in the scenery ... More About: Event , Anniversary , Vent , Sarbanes-Oxley
Approva Appoints Two Eminent Industry Leaders to Advisory Board
2007-07-26 23:27:00 GRC is some serious business. So while we here at Approva like to find fun and lighthearted ways to share the love of audit, we also know that it takes serious dedication and know-how to keep at the top of our game and offer our clients the best in continuous controls monitoring and audit software. ... More About: Industry , Board , Leaders , Lead , Advisor
Daily News: Others Are Marking the 5th Anniversary of SOX
2007-07-17 23:19:00 We like to believe that we are blazing the trail (no pun intended) at Audit Trail with our SOX 5th birthday hoopla. It seems others are marking this historic date as well. Here’s an article from CFO Europe on the legacy of SOX in that marketplace – it’s not all roses. Speaking of SOX birthday, our friends at SOXFirst did a post that included a blurb about our hilarious (we think) birthday song and video. Finally, the SEC’s new terrorism tool is not getting rave reviews. More About: News , Daily , Anniversary , Daily News
Where Are They Now: Enron
2007-07-17 17:49:00 Time flies when you’re not the one under investigation (or the ones whose life savings disappeared overnight). It’s hard to believe, but we’re creeping up on six years since Enron imploded — and not coincidentally, of course, it’s 5 years since Sarbanes-Oxley passage. In honor of these milestones, we give you an update on some of Enron’s major players and where they are now (with thanks to Enron’s hometown paper, The Houston Chronicle, for the latest news on All Things Enron). Kenneth Lay, former Chair and CEO. Lay was indicted for securities and wire fraud in 2004, and he was convicted on all 6 counts in May 2006. The time since has not been good to Lay, as Lay suffered a fatal heart attack while on vacation in Colorado just after his conviction. Since he had not yet exhausted all of his legal appeals, that conviction was vacated. Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO and COO. Skilling was convicted in 2006 of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron’s fin... More About: Where
Send the Very Best – SOX Anniversary eCard
2007-07-16 22:16:00 Come on now, you didn’t think we’d stop at celebrating the 5th birthday of SOX with just its own catchy birthday song and one-of-a-kind music video, did you? An anniversary like this deserves the very best, and what is better than a state-of-the-art eCard studded with a girl’s (no make that an auditor’s) best friend? Our thoughts exactly. So, go to www.iloveagoodaudit.com and share the love with that special “SOX” someone in your life. Tags: SOX, SOX Anniversary , SOX Birthday, eCards, iloveagoodaudit.com More About: Send , The V , Ecard
Daily News: Test Your SOX Knowledge; Transparency Issues at Whole Foods
2007-07-16 18:38:00 Now that we all survived Friday the 13th relatively intact – with the exception of Conrad Black of course – and are back to the work grind, we have some interesting news to share. First, we have a “test your SOX knowledge” article from ComputerWeekly. How did our Audit Trail readers fare on the quiz? We welcome your feedback. Now, in the “What Were They Thinking” category, the CEO of Whole Foods may be in hot water over dissing the competition anonymously in the blogosphere. Finally, CIO Asia provides an interesting read on the value of automated compliance as a way to save money. Enjoy. Tags: SOX, Conrad Black, Whole Foods, Automated Control More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Issues , Knowledge
Lessons from the Field: ?Benefits of Baselining?
2007-06-21 15:48:00 A topic that seems to come up over and over again in my conversations with executives about GRC and controls automation is return on investment or ROI. I think there are two key reasons why this is such a hot topic. First, people are now looking at GRC programs as long-term investments ? not as ... More About: Benefits , Lesson , Lessons , Esso , Benefit
Daily News: Greynet A Concern For Executives
2007-06-21 14:53:00 Fierce Sarbox covered ?greynet,? policies this week. For those who don?t know what ?greynet,? is, you?re forgiven. It includes IM, file sharing and other ?personal programs.? You know the fun music-sharing, chatting, nonsense type of apps that kill corporate productivity, not that we know anything about that. Greynet is no joke. These apps do more ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Dail , Once
Red Sox, White Sox, SarBox, No Socks
2007-06-20 22:57:00 For THIS crowd SOX might have a specific meaning, but for the general population? It’s all about those game-playing Sox. Red Sox, White Sox, whatever. Baseball is the name of the game. Coming soon? A show named, “Sox Appeal,” that matches the American seemingly-endless-never-gonna-stop-lookin g-for-15 minutes of fame reality TV craze with the beantown Sox. Check it out — we’re serious. Anyone up for our own version of Sox (or Sarbanes-Oxley) Appeal? Sultry Auditor meets Straightlaced Compliance Officer? Write your own storyline… Tags: SOX Appeal, Baseball More About: White Sox , Socks
Daily News: Sarbanes-Oxley Tied to Yet Another Business Downer
2007-06-20 22:11:00 See that news feed on the right of the screen? The GRC feeder? Well, we were interested in the risk taking headline. So, we went deeper. According to the report, “U.S. companies significantly cut research and development spending and capital expenditures, while at the same time increasing cash holdings in the period after the 2002 law compared with their United Kingdom counterparts,” the study found. It found the ratio of research and development expenditures to assets significantly declined from the pre-SOX period to the post-SOX period for the U.S. companies, while the ratio increased for the U.K. companies. Seems like a heavy burden to place squarely on SOX. Circumstantial evidence anyone? Naysayers — speak your mind. Could there be anything else that contributed to the dip in R&D and cap expenditures? Holla. Tags: Sarbanes-Oxley, SOX Risk Study More About: News , Business , Daily , Daily News , Dail
The SEC Goes Searching for Hard Numbers on SOX
2007-06-18 23:16:00 It seems like dj vu with all of the renewed debate going on about whether SOX is going to put small companies out of business or drive them overseas. Ever since Congress passed SOX nearly five years ago critics have complained that its one-size-fits-all approach penalized small businesses. Our very own Harvey Pitt, has long ... More About: Hard , Numbers , Searching , Goes , Number
Daily News: Risk Management and IT Auditing Need Improvement
2007-05-03 15:23:00 We like any information that comes from a site called, “jobs in the money,” particularly if they are giving a shout out to our internal auditor friends. And, while we hate to pick on TJX, because the bad news keeps piling on, it seems as though there were glaring compliance issues. And, perhaps it was ... More About: News , Daily , Management , Risk Management , Daily News
Is This Your Bank?
2007-05-03 00:03:00 Today’s Weird Wednesday news brings us to the Des Moines, Washington home of Robert Arant. If the above picture looks like your bank, you could be in big trouble. Arant is currently under investigation for running a warehouse bank out of his home for those “who would rather not deal directly with the ... More About: Bank
Daily News: Dow Hits Record Again Today
2007-05-02 22:00:00 Will day trading make a comeback as a viable career? Who knows?but one thing we do know is that the Dow is riding high today. However, not everything is turning up roses in business. Pick up truck sales are declining fast for GM. And in other news, the former CEO ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Today , Again
Daily News: PCAOB Pushed Back Deadlines and More
2007-05-01 22:42:00 Since the PCAOB is still finalizing its reporting system, it has decided to push back the June 30 deadline for the first round of annual reports to be filed and registration fee payments by accounting firms. The new deadline is TBD. Our friends at Financial Executive International (FEI) have thrown their support behind the U.S. ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Back , Deadline
Daily News: SOX Leaves Markets Unharmed?
More articles from this author:2007-04-30 17:13:00 With all the negativity towards SOX these days, it is surprising to see a new study that counters all the naysayers in the marketplace. The study, published by Ohio State University, finds that SOX has not harmed the market. Sen. John F. Kerry is on the PR trail today with an Op-Ed on the value ... More About: News , Daily , Daily News , Markets , Mark 1, 2, 3 |
|
 |
|
 |
