A quick stroll down memory lane Let me take you on a quick stroll down my memory lane. I was a young auditor, fresh out of university, working on my second or third audit. I was a high potential, as I had already achieved mastery of those skills essential to a young staff assistant: I … Continue reading Clearly written working papers
Tag: internal audit
The (in)flexibility of corporate governance
Thinking about corporate governance When we think about corporate governance, most if us think about a large and quite often unwieldy set of organisational structures and processes which keep the organisation aligned and on course towards its explicit objectives. And that is what governance has been portrayed as ... An immovable aspect of an organisation, … Continue reading The (in)flexibility of corporate governance
Some ideas on democratic administrations (updated)
There is a old "new" management wave roaring through the organisational straights again, and it is lapping up on the shores of public administrations. I'm talking about the workplace democracy model that was made famous by the success of Brazil based Semco in the 1990's. The general idea is that reducing management in favor of … Continue reading Some ideas on democratic administrations (updated)
A lean government needs strategic internal audit
In the short period of 1999 to 2003, the Belgian federal government was making some real progress, at least conceptually, in improving its functioning. The Copernicus reform, which eventually failed, had some essential ideas on how to turn the Belgian federal public sector into a (reasonably) lean organisation. Come the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and we … Continue reading A lean government needs strategic internal audit
Are you a contract killer or a primary care physician?
The contract killer I've known quite a few internal auditors who took pride in the number of people they managed to take out as a consequence of their audit reports. The arguments? Most often they argued the people had failed to do what they were told to do by the procedures. Or they considered the … Continue reading Are you a contract killer or a primary care physician?
Some thoughts on note taking for internal auditors
There is a lot of information available on academic note taking Good note taking is a craft all by itself. Look at any website of any itself respecting college or university and you will find at least one class on advanced note taking skills. Do a search on the web and you will find many … Continue reading Some thoughts on note taking for internal auditors
Short practical guide to audit documentation in Basecamp
I've been surprised by the level of interest about my recent post on using Basecamp as the base application for internal audit working papers. While by no means a representative sample, I feel the interest indicates that current working paper solutions fail to address a number of concerns or needs which the simplicity and flexibility … Continue reading Short practical guide to audit documentation in Basecamp
Make sure you know what you did
Looking for better methods I was recently reading a paper by Kieran Healy of Duke University on workflow applications. I am always on the lookout for workflows that simplify or optimize our way of generating reports and this one came highly recommended by Dr. Drang, so I had to go and take a look. You … Continue reading Make sure you know what you did
A is for Anchoring – cognitive biases in internal audit
Introduction I really enjoy reading an audit report or audit working papers because quite often we see the cognitive biases of the auditor at work. Let's be clear, I am as much a potential victim of cognitive biases as any other auditor. However, being aware of their existence will make you more attentive to them, … Continue reading A is for Anchoring – cognitive biases in internal audit
“Says who?” and “So what?”
Most audit reports are too long Most of the internal audit reports I have read in my life have one thing in common. They are just too long. Sometimes I get the feeling that internal auditors need to motivate their existence by the sheer amount of paper we produce. Because I am guilty of this … Continue reading “Says who?” and “So what?”
Exploring The Black Box 