AUDIT 15 FUN

Are auditors responsible for finding fraud?

That was the debate between Alaba Awolaja, Chief Managing Consulting at GOARISC and Oversight, and Emmanuel Johannes, CEO at Kepler Associates.

The audit profession has had recent developments in this space lately:

- Last December, three audit and risk officers at Wells Fargo faced potential multi-million dollar fines for their role in the fake account scandal

- Last month, the UK parliament proposed a bill making "failure to prevent fraud" a criminal offense

As one would expect, this is a hot topic, so...it was a passionate debate!

Both agreed that auditors are not proficient in detecting fraud. What are your thoughts?

Annual Audit Plans are useless. Risks evolve and we need to revamp the plan as needed.

How should you respond to your Audit Committee if they still ask for an annual audit plan?

Will performing a continuous risk assessment really take more time than once a year?

What if you don't hear back from the business when you want their input more often?

These were the questions answered by Michele Variale, Chief Audit and Risk Officer at Telepass in Italy. I hope you enjoy the episode!

What is better than an AUDIT DUEL?

An AUDIT TRUEL!

What an instant classic with David Hill, Renato Trisciuzzi, and Tracie Marquardt, as they debated better ways to communicate audit results.

What is your strategic communication plan? Can we just use a dynamic dashboard instead of audit reports? Why do we need the audit reports in the first place? Why can’t we let go of these ‘audit traditions’?

These were some of the many topics discussed during the debate. I hope you enjoy it!

Is artificial intelligence overhyped?

In this AUDIT DUEL, Alex Ruehle, CEO of zapliance, and Darren Roberts, Technology and Digital Director at SWAP Internal Audit Services, debate the issue.

Alex says that we can't leave AI to the data geeks and IT auditors, and must embrace the technology so that we are not left behind, while Darren questions what the "A" in AI really stands for, augmented or artificial? And also asks, is ChatGPT just an advanced API?

What is your take on the topic?

A large retailer in Brazil recently had a $4 billion "accounting inconsistency."

What happened?

Was it fraud or an accounting error?

If it was a fraud, should the auditors be responsible for it?

These were the questions answered by Marcelo Almeida, host of the Voice of Integrity podcast.

Marcelo's website: https://compliancebsb.com.br/

Feedback episode. How can you engage with the podcast? There are four ways:

1) Take part as a guest, in short 15 minute-interviews (most of the time).

2) Take part in the AUDIT DUEL segment. Do you have a controversial, non-conformist idea to debate and share with the Internal Audit community? I want to hear from you.

3) Take part in the AUDIT FAIL segment. Do you have a failure experience you can share with the community? Let me know!

4) Provide feedback on topics, future guests, and general comments on what I can do better. Complete the form here: https://tinyurl.com/28bmbv8r

Why do auditors get blamed so much for fraud and is that fair?

What is the best free fraud detection tool?

What are some other resources auditors should use?

These were some questions answered by Haddon Fields. He is the Special Investigations Trainer with The PsyFIN Group which focuses on training investigators, auditors and other investigative personnel in innovative means of investigation, fraud, digital privacy, OSINT, and investigative leadership. He can be found online at: www.psyfingroup.com.

Listeners of AuditFun 15 can get 15% of any PsyFIN Group course by using coupon code: AuditFun15.

Why do auditors need to do a better job of marketing themselves?

If you had 20 seconds to pitch Internal Audit to Elon Musk, what would your pitch be?

If you were asked to create a short internal audit slogan, what would it be?

These were the questions answered by Charles Schrock, publisher of the Audit Explainer website, and retired CAE.

Follow him for some of the most fantastical internal audit stories. Like how Leonardo da Vinci became famous because of an internal auditor, and how an auditor was instrumental in testing and naming the Pontiac GTO. Fantasy? We call it marketing.

theauditexplainer.wordpress.com

The second episode of 2023, and the second episode of the AUDIT FAIL series.

Auditors are taught not to trust. Trust but verify, right? But how about your co-worker? Should you fully trust that person? In this episode, Abbas Al Lawait, Head of Audit at OQ8 in Oman, discusses the risks of 'blind trust'.

Don't trust me? Listen in to find out.

The first episode of 2023, and the first episode of the AUDIT FAIL series. Perhaps as important as setting goals for 2023 is to reflect on lessons from the past. Reflection builds resilience and wisdom. Robert shared some of the lessons he learned from a high-conflict situation where an audit client he worked with left a note on his desk. What did the note say? What was Robert's reaction? Listen in to find out!

Join the Auditor Exchange at community.thatauditguy.com