（2005）Continuous Auditing：An Operational Model for Internal Auditors（ExecSumm）.pdfVIP

Continuous Auditing: An Operational Model for Internal Auditors ©2005 The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This monograph is a report on various aspects of continuous auditing (CA) concepts, models, methodologies, and enabling technologies. The monograph is developed under a grant from The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation. Continuous auditing is a new and evolving auditing methodology that has relevance and application potential for the technology rich contemporary enterprise of various types, from business to government to not for profit. The information technology used by these enterprises enables them to receive, process, and report large sums of data on a continuing basis, thus fueling the need for continuous monitoring and auditing. At the same time advances in information technology have resulted in the development of data warehousing and data mining techniques that enable continuous auditing. While CA applies equally to internal and external auditing, its development has almost exclusively been in the internal auditing field. One of the reasons for this development is that, in comparison with the periodic nature of external auditing, internal auditing is more prone to the concept of continuous monitoring and control. Another reason is that The IIA has taken leadership in publishing a number of technical articles and monographs in recent years to provide the knowledge base for internal auditors to use CA. The current monograph fits well with this strategy. The topics included in this monograph cover a wide range of CA issues. In Chapter 1, we present various definitions of CA and argue that real-time reporting requires a correspondent assurance of the reliability of what is being reported on a real-time basis, thus the need for CA. We also argue that while CA enhances continuous monitoring of information, it goes beyond a simple monit