Auditioning and What You Can Expect (Part I)

My Experiences

Once in an all-day workshop on the subject of industrials, we were afforded the opportunity to audition for a casting director who normally casts for corporate videos. It was a mock audition situation and she told us that she would do something in this acting class that we are almost never fortunate enough to experience in the real world of auditioning. She said that she would tell us all after we auditioned, who would have gotten the job and why.

There were eight of us altogether and she told us that one of the women in the class would have gotten the job. She told us that the imaginary customer wanted to make an in-store video that spoke to women. She said that the customer made this change at the last minute. While in the beginning it could have been the right part for a woman or a man, they now decided that they only wanted a woman. The customer also made a request that the woman be a brunette, as she didn't want a blond, because probably she was reminded of someone with blond hair with whom she had a bad experience in the past on a video.

Lastly she said that if there had been no restrictions and if she, the casting director had to present the best candidate for that job, then she would have chosen...me! Once again I was flattered and it made me feel good.

On a side note, I really feel that corporate videos or industrials are my strong point. I also believe I know my type: the lawyer, doctor, businessman, detective, father, husband and feel pretty natural in roles like that.

Now all I have to say is, this is all great stuff in acting and audition class, but show me the money!!! When I look at my results, I have gotten the best feedback on those types of auditions, which I think is fine, since I'm really just starting out. I have absolutely nothing against being cast for what I am most suited for or because of what I look like or for my experience. Some actors say they want to have the possibility to play roles that are different from what they are really like. Ultimately, that could be what I want to, but I'm not sure yet. What I am sure about, however, is that I want to work! So if the easiest way for me to get work is to get cast in roles that are most like me, then great! I'm not going to complain. I'll continue studying and hopefully one day I'll be cast in other types of roles, if that's what I want.

One more tidbit

Something else I remember was a piece of advice that a noted casting director gave us in a seminar. She told us that when you leave an audition, take the copy and throw it in the trash. She herself said that she probably shouldn't be telling us that, but she said that the chances that you will get the part are often times so slim, that you should just forget about it until they call you back, if they ever do. So don't call to see if you got the part, don't pester the casting director, as they hate that, just move on with your life and if they want you, they will let you know.

In the next article, I'll give you some more information on this subject including how to handle rejection, how to analyze your results and some wise words from a noted casting director!

Anthony Smith left a successful corporate career as a senior manager in Nike and Levi's after 15 years to follow his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, writer, motivational speaker and actor. While enjoying success in his "new" life, Anthony shares his business insight and acting experience with young actors. Aside from acting work, he has created http://www.actingcareerstartup.com and his first book, Acting Career Start-Up: Four Key Factors For Success will hit the U.S. market in April 2007.

Auditing & Assurance Services: A Systematic Approach with ACL CD and OLC Card

Messier employs the new audit approach currently being used by auditing professionals. This new approach is a direct result of the demands of Sarbanes-Oxley, which has changed the way auditors do their jobs. The new auditing approach emphasizes understanding the entity (i.e., the organization or business being audited) and its environment (i.e. industry), and then assessing the business risks faced by the entity and how management controls those risks. This new audit process focuses on business processes instead of accounting cycles. This unique and innovative approach has been developed in response to changing market dynamics. The systematic approach, referred to in the subtitle of the text, reflects the early introduction of three basic concepts that underlie the audit process: materiality, audit risk, and evidence; this allows Messier to build upon this model in subsequent chapters. These are central to everything an auditor does and a unique feature of Messier. As such, this approach helps students develop auditor judgment, a vital skill in today’s auditing environment.

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Church Audits - Selecting a Qualified Auditor While Keeping Cost Low

A Church may require an audit for many reasons such as 1) to obtain a bank loan 2) a requirement from a regulatory body 3) to ensure that good stewardship is being used in the handling and accounting of the funds 4) to protect the persons elected or hired to offices of financial responsibility from unwarranted charges of careless or improper handling of funds 5) and to build the trust and confidence of the financial supporters of the church that there is proper accounting of their money - trust and confidence leads to improved patterns of financial support.

When you have decided to hire the services of an accountant it is important that you ensure that you hire a qualified, skilled professional. This article will address the qualifications you should look for in your accountant as well as ways to keep cost low. When it is time to hire the services of an accountant it is important to ensure that you know the level of services needed (as this greatly impacts cost) and it is also important to assess the qualifications of the accountant selected. Providing audit request timely will also keep cost down.

Below is an explanation of the three levels of services provided by an auditor; as well as some important factors to consider when selecting an auditor. Auditors provide three types of services listed below. If applying for a loan you should have your auditor communicate with the lending institution to ensure that you get the right level of service required for the loan. The three types of services are:

1) Audit - provides the highest level of assurance on the financial statements. It includes a review of internal controls if relied upon, testing of selected transactions and communication with third parties such as customers, vendors and banks.

2) Review - provides a lower level of assurance than an audit. It consists of discussions with management and analytical procedures applied to financial data. The accountants' report provides limited assurance.

3) Compilation - consists of preparing financial statements from information provided by the company. The accountants report states that they have not performed an audit or review and that no assurance is being provided. A compilation is the lowest in cost and at times all a bank requires.

Some key items to consider when selecting your church auditor are:

Ensure the auditor is licensed. When engaging an auditor you may wish to verify with the appropriate State regulatory authority that the provider holds a valid, up-to-date license or certificate to perform auditing services

Ensure the auditor is experienced with the unique requirements of church accounting. Ask the auditor for references from other churches that they have audited.

Ensure the auditor is reliable and timely. Ask the auditor or his references about estimated time of completion for the audit. If applying for a loan timeliness is of the utmost importance.

Ensure the auditor is independent. The auditor should not have any financial interest in the church that would affect their ability to render an objective, unbiased opinion.

Suzette Porter is a Certified Public Accountant with nearly 15 years experience with church and other non profit organizations. She is a partner with Business and Accounting Solutions, a Florida based firm that provides cost effective church audit, reviews and compilations nationwide. For more information contact us at http://www.BusinessandAccountingSolutions.com or 1-866-678-6588.

Suzette Porter, CPA http://www.BusinessandAccountingSolutions.com Sporter@BASPartners.com

How a Forensic Mortgage Audit Helps You

Many American homeowners are facing losing their homes due to economic factors beyond their control, or life circumstances which pull them into a financial vortex that is impossible for them to solve alone. Worse yet, it is reported that up to 85% of home loans have errors which entitle the home owner to receive a monetary reward from the lender, and rarely any of them know about it. The problem is how to get the loan companies to pay you what you are due.

What good would a forensic mortgage audit do for you?

With much of the mortgage industry lacking any quality control whatsoever, an extremely high percentage of loans have procedural flaws in them, or violated the customers right to disclosure and inquiry in some way or another. What this means for you is that when you get your mortgage audited, you will find out just how your mortgage company exploited your lack of knowledge regarding the mortgage and how they may have violated your rights doing so.

Who can benefit from a forensic mortgage audit?

Anyone who is seeking a mortgage modification will benefit from a forensic mortgage audit because they will have a much higher likelihood of receiving their mortgage modification they have requested once the errors the mortgage company made in completing the loan are revealed. The lender would much rather grant the modification than confront the wrong they have done with the loan.

Finally, a second group of people who will benefit from the audit is anyone who is losing their home. Most of these people have the money to pay for the audit, even though it is guaranteed free if it does not reveal any wrong doing, by taking the money they would normally pay on their home and allocating that for the audit. They stand to benefit by receiving money back for the wrong doing by the lender. Most homeowners are unaware that they are due the money and the lender will not tell them, that is for sure!

The author enjoys writing articles about forensic mortgage audits and how to prevent foreclosure. Click on the links above to learn more about these topics!

How to Perfect Your Telecom Audit Process

A Telecom audit is an important process for any organization. Human error, failure to pay close attention to details, constraint of time in checking long telecom bills, and insufficient knowledge of new technology and regulations - these mistakes can take a toll on the revenue of a company. Avoiding all these potential problems is an integral part of the expense management of an organization. Many small losses can add up to a huge amount. In order to curb this waste, organizations can either use an automated telecom audit tool, a Telecom Management professional, or a combination of the two.

Telecom audit is a process that helps to detect and reveal even the smallest errors that waste money. Thus, it provides an opportunity not only to recover lost revenue, but also ensures that errors are not repeated.

Telecom audit ideally has three stages:

Acquiring Documents to Create an Inventory Database

The first stage involves the collection of telecom invoices. These invoices show the costs over time and the customer records. Telecom audit companies at times use software in this stage that both acts as a database and helps in analyzing trends.

Depending on the size of your company, just collecting these invoices could be a very time-consuming job. Start with the local phone bills and work outward. The long distance bills may be on the same invoice or billed separately. Wireless services can be billed as a group or individual accounts. Check to see if each bill matches with a known phone. For Internet service bills, they may be on a separate bill or, if the local provider offers broadband with local service, they may be with the local phone invoice.

The next thing to collect is voice and data service contracts. These include local and long distance service, wireless phones, telecom equipment and any maintenance service agreements.

Make the time to request your Customer Service Records (CSRs) from your provider. Your providers may take a few weeks to get to your requests, but it's worth the wait. These records contain your unique data that will ultimately be the foundation of your telecom audit. They are written in Universal Service Order Codes (USOC) and they are an itemized listing of all your lines, services, and features.

You should also gather any agreements for Directory Advertising or Yellow Pages. If your company is large, sometimes a publicity or advertising department handles these agreements. The documents are important because they will specify the rates that apply to all advertising, when it was ordered and by whom.

Other documents to get access to are tariffs. Tariffs are the provider's official documents that break down all the rules, service offers, rates, etc. that they offer. You can find these rules on your provider's website. Also gather any tax information that applies to your company. Charities, schools, churches, and some nonprofit organizations may be exempt from state and/or federal taxes.

Analyzing All the Data

The second stage of audit involves the comparison of inventory costs against pricing plans. And the first thing required is an inventory audit. In this section, you look at your organization's inventory of telecom assets. Instead of looking for spot errors, this kind of telecom audit looks for trend information. This data aids the company in deciding whether it needs to expand its telecom resources or to re-deploy its existing resources.

Now a comparison of cost against pricing plans can be made. Here's where a telecom audit firm can be very helpful. They keep a record of current pricing and tariff changes. With the help of these records and databases, the audit firms can provide a cost effective plan for their clients.

Reporting and Recommendations

The third and crucial stage involves reports and recommendations. If you are doing this audit yourself, after looking at all the data, this is where you decide where you might be able to save money. A telecom audit firm will also give you their reports and recommendations at this time. Along with the presentation of their reports and analysis, they also give their suggestions for improvements and savings that have been identified in the process.

They may find errors in you bills and suggest disputing some charges. They may find credits you never received and apply for refunds for you. Today's telecom bills contain many errors that you won't find unless you do an audit.

Since billing errors play havoc on draining the organization's capital, partnering with companies that provide solutions to check such errors is becoming increasingly popular. When using a telecom-auditing firm, there are two ways to approach it. One of them is the "contingency" method, where the telecom audit firms receive a percentage of the money they saved clients. The second can be a "fixed fee" approach. Generally, small and medium firms go for the contingency process, whereas large firms go for the second approach, as it is easier to manage.

No matter which approach a firm takes, one thing that needs to be kept in mind is that telecom audits should be conducted by both big and small businesses to keep a check on their expenses. The telecom audit process is complex and time-consuming, but fortunately, there are companies that provide such services, and instituting a regular telecom audit can ensure cost optimization for any firm, and almost surely improve its bottom line.

With more than twenty years of experience in planning, implementing, managing and consulting on telecommunications projects, Nermine Shaker has generated millions of dollars worth of savings for her clients. She is a Partner at The Sygnal Group, a Telecommunications Management Company that offers unbiased reporting, analysis and implementation of telecom strategies to businesses of all sizes. http://www.SygnalGroup.com

Are Yearly Market Research and Consumer Audits Necessary?

Financial patterns in your industry assist in maximizing your advertising, sales and telemarketing dollars by revealing any stagnant or active patterns. Options of how to succeed are endless if you find the right goal and plan that will get you the result you want. Is steady growth for your company best, a grand entry or growth slam? How does your company fit in the industry? Is your company/technology/brand coming of age, or has it been around forever?

Spend time researching the industry while asking yourself how it can best be penetrated or saturated. Assess the general and global need to guide in establishing clearly defined achievable goals and objectives. The bull's eye is all in how well your new business development list criteria fit your target market. It is where you will get the biggest bang for your new business budget buck.

When market results show room for substantial growth, invest in clerical services to sample your list for accuracy first. Check the number, make sure the contact exists, the information is correct, and get any information about the person you need to speak to. You are left with a clean list to contact in a systematic, effective manner. This maximizes the list's potential value to you by transforming it from a public directory to a contact list.

Current customer audits are helpful in raising revenue with up selling, cross selling, winning back old customers and referrals. Regular contact to verify customer satisfaction is most effective in ensuring solid growth and prospecting future development opportunities.

If decades pass and your industry has seen no changes or new developments; then No, you don't have to do research, new business development nor audits.

By: Lou Ann Diamond, Market Research Specialist and Professional Telemarketer. For more information view: http://www.choicetreasures.com or contact the author at contact@choicetreasures.com

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Are Self-Employed Small Business Owners Audited More Often Than Other Individuals?

Yes, taxpayers who file a Schedule C, "Profit or Loss from Business," are historically twice as likely to be selected for audit as other individual tax filers. In its September 2007 report, Reducing the Federal Tax Gap: A Report on Improving Voluntary Tax Compliance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimated a $345 billion shortage for tax year 2001.

Yes, $345 billion in tax revenues, the "tax gap," that were either not reported, reported improperly, or not paid when due. IRS determined that individuals are responsible for 57% of that tax shortage, and Schedule C filers are the most likely to underreport their income. Based on these findings, during 2008, IRS will increase efforts in the audits of individual returns for tax years 2005 and 2006.

You're a business owner, so you know it's important to keep good accounting records. Your system doesn't need to be complicated, but it must be complete, consistent, accurate, and updated in a timely manner.

What tasks should your accounting system do for you? Your needs will differ depending on the size of your business and the industry in which you work, but here are some basic requirements:

*Record all receipts and payments

*Track customer billings and payments

*Monitor vendor billing and payments

*Prepare payroll checks, calculate employee and employer tax liabilities

*Manage inventory purchases and sales

*Generate periodic profit and loss statements and balance sheets

*Document your transactions through journals, registers, customer and vendor invoices, bank statements, etc.

Your accounting system must also provide information to comply with federal, state and local reporting obligations which are complex and ever changing. You may be overwhelmed or confused by the paperwork, but it's not okay to ignore it or hope it will go away.

It's also time consuming to keep track of everything. If you need help, hire a bookkeeper or a bookkeeping service, a virtual assistant, or engage a Certified Public Accounting firm to assist you. You don't have to do it all yourself, but you should understand what's necessary. It's your business, so supervise the process and understand your financial information. Get help from a professional to make sure you're doing things right, and you'll be better prepared if IRS comes to visit.

What items in the tax returns will IRS target? IRS estimates that noncompliance is greatest when income or expense items are not confirmed by a third party like a bank, mortgage company or a customer. For example, the taxpayer received income in cash and did not report it, deducted payments for personal expenses, or paid workers and didn't complete Form 1099 reporting. To persuade taxpayers to more accurately report their income, IRS will improve their monitoring processes, expand taxpayer reporting requirements, and increase penalties for noncompliance.

What do you do if IRS notifies you that you have been selected for audit? Take a deep breath, and then contact your tax professional and ask for help. IRS is now more selective of information to maximize audit efforts so they may request only specific data which makes the experience less stressful. The best advice is to hire a CPA and utilize their knowledge and expertise to guide you through the process.

If your accounting records are complete and accurate, your transactions are properly documented, and you have professional assistance, you should have nothing to worry about.

Hope Player started her own CPA firm in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1987. She promotes small business by helping start-up companies, and speaking at national, state, and local meetings on various topics relating to entrepreneurship. Hope is currently the Managing Member of The Arcadian Group, LLC, a CPA firm in New Jersey which provides accounting, consulting, and tax services to businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations. http://www.thearcadiangroupcpa.com

Preparing Your Company for Audits

It is inevitable. It happens every year. Hiding from it or ignoring it won't make it go away. The dreaded company audit; there is no way around it, so companies must do their best to comply with the current standards. And to be able to prove that they are meeting those standards. The compliance regulations companies must strive to meet are HIPAA for the medical field and Sarbanes-Oxley regarding any company's financial records.

There are records management systems today that make the auditing process simple and painless. Each time there is activity within the records management system, the event is recorded to a log file. For example, when a medical record is updated by a doctor, the event is recorded, dated, and saved for future confirmation. If a company document is deleted from the records management system, that occurrence is noted and logged.

Another advantage to using an auditing program in conjunction with your records management system is that in a sense, security is increased. In other words, the auditing programs have the ability to record each system login, logout, or bad password attempt. Companies are able to track such important information and evaluate any security issues.

Additionally, on an individual basis, a records management system audit program allows the auditing of specific users. The system records the activities of predefined, selected users. With this feature activated and configured, there will be no question as to "who did what."

Through the records management system, your company has a means of controlling the activities within the system. These options are configured and set up during the installation process. A user or a group of users may be prevented from modifying or deleting company records. This ensures that the documents do not get wrongfully changed or deleted. This feature allows your company to demonstrate that important records are secure and can never be lost.

To further take advantage of this technology and end possible compliance problems, some auditing program packages include email alert messaging. The value of email messages is that a designated auditor is immediately alerted to information, such as system startup or shutdown, database space availability, and user access denied.

From the data captured in your records management system, audit reports are generated. The reports contain information such as the presence or absence of documents, identification of document dates, document counts, and the occurrence of events within the system.

It takes a great deal of time and effort to operate and manage a company today. Installing a records management system with auditing capabilities lessens the anxiety over auditing and allows your company to concentrate on its productivity and success.

Does your company sweat it out each year during the auditing process? Can your company afford the time it takes to investigate the deletion or modification of a customer record? Research the solutions available to these and other compliance-related issues by investing in an electronic records management system with audit logging capabilities.

About the Author: Pam Marshman, an expert in document management and imaging, is a technical and marketing writer for the MultiProcess Computer Corporation, located in Windham, NH. MultiProcess designs and deploys powerful electronic records management solutions. Visit http://www.multiprocess.com to learn more.

Legitimate Work From Home - Why You Need to Look at Energy Auditing

Given the fickle state of the global economy, it is no wonder that people are interested in legitimate work from home prospects. But, obviously some prospects are time wasters, others are real. The area of energy saving is certainly a real opportunity.

I don't need to tell you that the global financial crisis has highlighted the fact that employment can be very unstable. Even professional people can be laid off regardless of their experience or qualifications.

This new reality has led many of us to think seriously about our employment situation and to look for ways to be more in control. Working from home and being your own boss is a great way to take your career into your own hands.

But only if you get the basics right!

Of course, working for yourself does involve a degree of risk, depending on your investment in it. And there are many scammers online trying to fool people into sinking their money into a dodgy home business venture. So don't be fooled when researching legitimate work from home businesses.

Growth in Home Business Opportunities

The way that we think about employment has changed significantly in recent years, largely as a result of the internet and improved communication methods. People are now able to create their own online business which enables them to effectively communicate with customers and develop a profitable company.

The internet has also made professional training a lot easier by eliminating the need to commit to attending college or university in order to attain qualifications. Online training opportunities make it a lot easier for you to study in a convenient time and place, while improving your career prospects.

If you have a great legitimate work from home business idea, but you're not sure how to implement it, there is a mountain of material online that can assist you in getting started. You can websites that guide you through the step-by-step process of creating your own e-business and making the internet work for you. Do your research for a successful work from home business.

People and companies are now also using the internet to outsource much of their administrative and technical work, rather than hiring full-time employees. Using these services cuts costs and time you can spend on the bigger picture.

Stay at your present job and supplement your income. Or jump into your new venture full-time.

Energy Auditing as a Legitimate Work from Home Business.

One of the legitimate work from home opportunities that has received a lot of attention in recent years is energy auditing.

Energy auditing and working from your home is a winning combination: You combine working your way with the urgent need for households and businesses to save energy.

It can be easy to complete energy auditing training online, depending on the course you choose. You may use this certification to start your own energy audit business or take a job.

This line of work is well suited to working from home. Start-up costs are very low, there is a growing demand for energy audits and you can do it by yourself or build it up and have people working for you.

Energy auditing is a legitimate work from home business that can be rewarding in many ways.

Individuals and businesses need to save money on electricity and implement alternative energy systems on their properties. Energy auditors have the professional knowledge to guide the public through this process.

This knowledge is valued as awareness of rising costs of finite fossil fuel reserves and alternative solutions grows.

AlternateEnergySources.com has long been concerned about the effects of global warming. We use our experience in practical approaches towards alternate energy sources to survive and thrive with climate change. See http://www.alternate-energy-sources.com/home-energy-audit.html

Auditing and Investigation

One gospel that is being vigorously preached in the corporate world today is the need to embrace corporate governance. Corporate governance is all about improving stakeholder value. There is need to institute well-developed international standards on best practices in the management of businesses for the benefits of all stakeholders. The existence of international standards would definitely give comfort to investors, creditors and regulatory agencies, etc., across the world. One issue that is very critical in corporate governance is the monitoring of compliance with international financial standards, which is the concern of auditing and investigation. It is as a result of this that we are X-raying this text entitled "Auditing and Investigation" this week.

It is written by Olugbemiga Olagbaiye, a 1978 graduate of Pharmacology from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria and Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). Olagbaiye, who has been involved in student training and development since 1984, has varied experience in accounting practice in the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy. He has also been a lecturer with the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration (NASFA), Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria for about two decades.

Olagbaiye says the resolve to provide enduring solutions to the difficulties experienced by students of tertiary institutions in general and those preparing for the professional examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, in particular has motivated him to write this book. He assures that the book will be a very useful guide to both academics and practitioners, especially that special attention has been paid to developments that have significantly affected the auditors' work, including recent Accounting and Auditing Standards and Guidelines.

The text is segmented into 22 chapters. Chapter one is interrogatively christened "Why audit?" Here, Olagbaiye educates that audit today involves the scrutiny of the account of an enterprise in sufficient details to ensure that the auditors can form an opinion based on truth and fairness. He stresses that auditors' opinion will be expressed in a written report addressed either to those who have commissioned the audit or to those to whom the auditors may have a statutory responsibility.

This author also discusses the concept of stewardship. He explains that stewardship is the name given to the practice by which the productive resources owned by one person or group are managed by another person or group of people. Olagbaiye discloses that today, most businesses are operated by limited liability companies that are owned by shareholders and managed by directors appointed by them.

He also sheds light on financial statements and parties involved. In his words, "Ordinarily annual reports and accounts are produced for the attention of members of a company, i.e. the shareholders. However, a much wider range of people are now interested in these annual reports & accounts and these are: owners or shareholders; lenders or debenture holders; employees; customers; suppliers; stockbrokers...."

Chapter two is based on the subject matter of Auditing and the Company Act. In this chapter, the author X-rays different provisions of relevant statutes regulating auditing practice in Nigeria. He explains that a person will not be qualified for appointments as an auditor of a company except he is a member of a body of accountants in Nigeria established by an Act or Decree.

Chapter three focuses on audit planning. Olagbaiye says the Nigerian Standards on Auditing (NSA) 8, that is, "Planning an Audit of Financial Statements", is the local standard that governs audit planning. He expatiates that the purpose of NSA is to establish standards and provide a guide on the considerations and activities applicable to planning an audit of financial statements. This NSA is framed in the context of recurring audits and the requirements of this standard comply substantially with ISA 300, that is, "Planning and Audit of Financial Statements", Olagbaiye educates. He adds that planning an audit involves establishment of the overall audit strategy for the engagement and development of an audit plan in order to reduce audit risk to an acceptable low level.

In chapters four to 10, Olagbaiye beams his intellectual searchlight on concepts such as audit evidence; audit timing; the modern audit stages; verification of assets and liabilities; audit working papers; audit report; and accounting standards.

Chapter 11 examines code of ethics in auditing. This professional accountant says code of ethics is essentially a set of professional ethical standards regulating the relationship of chartered accountants with their clients, employers, employees, fellow members of the group and the public in general. According to him, in Nigeria, maintenance of ethical standards is the collective concern of the ICAN and members of the accounting profession.

In chapters 12 to 18, he analytically X-rays concepts of internal control system; internal audit; auditors' liability; investigation; fraud and error; special audits; and share transfer audit.

Chapter 19 has thematic focus of valuation of shares. Olagbaiye educates that assets can be real or financial. Physical assets, according to him, are called "real assets", while securities such as shares and bonds are referred to as "financial assets". He says a well-informed, properly functioning capital market is called an "efficient capital market".

In chapters 20 to 22, Olagbaiye examines the concepts of computer-based accounting system; public sector audit; and accountancy as an indispensable profession.

If there is one thing that stylistically underscores the strength of this book, it is the didactic mode of presentation of the highly-sequential concepts that are products of in-depth research. The mode is also complemented by the proficiency and simplicity of the language. The outer front cover design embedded with physical symbols of auditing and investigation is visually suggestive of the overall subject matter of the text.

The layout of the text is okay. In short, the packaging of this text reflects a perfect blend of Olagbaiye's experience in the academia, as well as in the public and private sectors as he cohesively radiates the three professional backgrounds.

However, some minor errors are found in the text, which need to be corrected in the next edition. One is "Acknowledgement" (page viii) instead of "Acknowledgements". Another is "...to enable the auditors form" (page 1), instead of "...to enable the auditors to form". The use of the preposition "To", with the verb "Enable" in the preceding and succeeding ways (double) is compulsory. However, the second "To" is almost always omitted in Nigerian English, probably because it is "thought" to be redundant. The use of the second "To" is a kind of correlative like "Either or" and is an obligatory transformation in syntax. Another error is "Third partie's" (page xi) instead of "Third parties".

Generally, this text is a treasury of auditing knowledge; a radiation of high level of intellectual acumen. It is therefore recommended to students, lecturers, auditors as well as operators and regulators in the public and private sectors.

GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of http://www.gokeilesanmi.com and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.
Tel: +234(0)8055068773; +234(0)8056030424
Email: info@gokeilesanmi.com; gokeiles2010@gmail.com

Business Process Mapping Workbook: Improving Customer Satisfaction

A holistic approach to harnessing a company's processes to achieve true customer satisfaction

Every move that a corporation makes is a mixture of input, action, and output-in short, a process. To keep customers, employees, and shareholders happy, corporate management must juggle conflicting priorities. These competing priorities result in conflicting processes. To help achieve true customer satisfaction, manage-ment needs tools that allow for a holistic approach to analyzing these processes. This book provides that tool. It shows corporations how to analyze and enhance their critical processes in order to deliver the highest level of service to their internal and external customers. Providing a clear understanding of what process mapping can do for a company as well as practical applications for each step in process mapping, this useful guide outlines a proven method for assuring better processes and building a more customer-focused company.

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How Telecommunication Audits Work

Telecom audits are of several types, such as telecom bill audits and internal telecom audits. The purpose of these audits is to make sure that the information provided in the statement or the report is accurate and no false practices have been used. Telecom bill and invoice auditing deals with the checking of the information provided on the invoice or the bill from the telecom services provider to see if it is correct and factual. Internal telecom auditing can be of two types. First of all the auditing can be used to check the quotes of the expenditures on telecom of different departments of a company. This measure would try to eradicate any wrongdoing on a personal level in the establishment. Secondly the internal telecom auditing could be used to recreate the expenditure on telecom of the company and the purpose for this would be to compare the audit with the bill or invoice presented by the telecommunications service provider.

Telecom invoice audits also check if the tariffs used by the telecom service providers are correct and abide by a previously signed agreement. Often telecom companies make changes to their general tariff and include those changes in the invoices of companies with which they have already got a previous agreement agreeing to a fixed rate. It is then the task of the auditors to notify the telecom services provider of these irregularities and request a new invoice.

Telecom audits are thus a fundamental part of Telecom Expense Management. In order to decrease the money spent on telecom bills, the information should be checked to ensure that it is correct and this prevents any funds from being wasted due to irregularities. Also, when the solutions of two different companies are being compared, telecom audits are extensively used. The telecom audits here help aggregate the costs of the solutions of both the companies so that comparisons can be made between them and when a company is trying to reduce its telecom costs it can look at this audit and choose the company with more benefits and a cheaper rate.

Another way telecom audits assist in Telecom Expense Management is to provide details of the telecom expenditures of either all the departments in a big corporation or the individual telecom expenses of an employee in a smaller company. This helps the Telecom Expense Management advisor see where the money is being wasted and he or she can then come up with measures to reduce the expenditure on telecom for the company as a whole. This helps the company use the money saved for a wide variety of uses such as development and expansion.

Telecom audits can either be manual or software assisted. Manual telecom auditing is primarily used in small companies where there is not enough work to make telecom auditing software worthwhile. Telecom auditing software is mostly used in large corporations which do not have a problem in paying for custom made programs designed according to their needs. The software can help them for various purposes such as automatic auditing of the digital invoice from the telecom company and checking it for irregularities. The software can also conduct automated analysis of the telecom expenses in several different departments in order to find more information about where the telecom budgets can be squeezed without any loss in output.

All of this means that without telecommunications auditing, Telecom Expense Management would face a very major hurdle as there would be no concrete evidence to justify the changes that a company would be making. Telecom Expense Management companies such as www.TelecomExpenseManagement.com use expert auditing methods to get the most precise information to aid in TEM.

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Beginners Guide to IT Audit Jobs - What IT Auditors Do

If you are new to IT auditing it's important to understand how the process works, what its aims are and how they are achieved.

For an IT auditor they must firstly understand the business. While a company's business model might not at first seem connected to their computer network, in many ways it is. How they run their business should be reflected in their IT provision. Two businesses operating in the same sector may well be selling the same products, to the same customers, but they might interact with their systems in completely different ways. You might rely on certain aspects more; a failure in that area could be far more significant for you than it would be for a competitor or vica versa.

It's also important to understand the threats to the company. By understanding the risks, an IT auditor is better able to assess the situation and make recommendations. You would need to understand the company's vulnerabilities and its dependencies to truly understand the threats. To many people they may see their only IT threat as that of hackers. Some people may overestimate the risk assuming an illuminati of hackers of plotting to bring down their website or internal network. There are indeed risks of such a threat but what would motivate the action? If this kind of threat were to materialise it might be because of an ethically questionable competitor, yet it's not hugely common. It is the job of the IT auditor to assess this risk, understand the current vulnerabilities and recommend action based both on the need and the cost.

Dependency is another factor IT auditors have to take into account. Does the business rely on an order system containing all their customers' details & financial records on a creaky computer with no back-up strategy? Could the failure of a small low cost item in the system result in much larger costs from lost business? The IT auditor has the responsibility to find these potential problems and help the company solve them.

The next stage for the auditor is the testing of the processes and protection the company has in place. It might be a case of checking every cable leads to a computer, or that every unit is using a safe password or that the firewall is up to scrutiny. By doing this you can see if the protection the company thinks they have in place is actually up to scratch.

It's difficult for auditors as often they have to interact with systems administrators and other members of the company. These employees can often feel the auditor is being unnecessarily critical of their work. If you are thinking of becoming an IT auditor you will have to be quite diplomatic in your assessment. Their co-operation will make your work far easier so keeping them onside is important.

If you know the ins and outs of IT systems and are inquisitive by nature a job in IT auditing could be just the thing you were looking for.

Jonathon Hickstead writes for Careers in Audit, a jobs site specialising in IT Audit Director jobs and recruitment.

For more information visit Careers in Audit for more audit jobs

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Ease Your Audit Preparation With an Automated Document Control

Organizations operating in a regulated environment continually face the daunting task of managing volumes of documents and achieving a positive audit score during inspections. With the growth of competition and regulatory pressure, many companies may come across an unexpected inspection by authorities such as the US FDA. In such instances, ensuring effective document management and a reliable audit trail can help in preparation at short notice as documents and processes are the pillars of a sound enterprise-wide quality system.

One of the key issues that surfaces in relation to a poor audit score is the lack of synchronization between documents or underlying processes and actual change management. For instance, in many cases, due to multiple locations or suppliers, a change in the document may not result in the actual change in the process. This can easily result in non-compliance to a documented process and thus a negative inspection outcome following an audit. Effective document management demonstrates the organization is following the industry best practices across a wide range of activities and departments.

This article sheds light on the features of an effective document control system that plays a critical role in raising the audit preparedness.

1. A document system that offers document control in a secure environment: With the introduction of an electronic document system, you can fully automate the document life cycle while ensuring secure access to critical information. The system acts as a controlled document repository and offers automation features such as templates library, document revision control, electronic signatures, easy document search facilities, notifications, escalations and approvals - all of which result in an effective audit trail and traceable document history.

2. A web-based document control system for remote access: As the supplier and customer networks expand around the globe, many document systems fail due to their inability to provide a mobile document management solution. These 100% web-based, document control solutions are designed to allow the field auditors and suppliers to trigger a process change in real-time, attach the evidence documents to a non-conformance, remotely access, and fill in the audit questionnaire that elicits a change in the process. This reduces time and errors in transcribing the documents and carrying out the actual change.

3. A centralized document control solution that integrates with training management across the enterprise: A well-developed document control system can seamlessly integrate with processes and trigger a process change throughout the organization, be it a change in the manufacturing process or supply chain process, a comprehensive document control system will alert the affected departments and trigger training requirements. These training requirements could be for the personnel directly involved, or to enhance the competencies required for an audit type. A tight integration between document control system and staff training management can assist in enhancing the audit score.

Conclusion

By integrating a document control system with the organization's core processes and other business areas, organizations can significantly enhance their audit preparedness. A robust document control system is the backbone of flawless audits and a high audit score - all of which will undoubtedly result in motivated, success driven employees and happy customers!

Kanupriya is a copywriter for Proquis. Proquis offers web-based compliance management and process mapping / analysis software. Proquis software provides enterprise-wide automation of processes, complete audit trail and an efficient document change management. Visit http://www.proquis.com to request a live demonstration of Proquis software.

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Home Energy Services - Why Every Home Should Have an Energy Audit

Regardless of the type of home you live in, there are ways to improve your home to make it more efficient. With a few tweaks here and there, houses, both new and old, can be improved and can save homeowners a considerable amount of money each year. Think about how much money you spend on energy services each year:

? Do you think there are actions you could take to reduce energy consumption and your electricity bill?

? Do you know of any issues related to your home that you need to address but have yet to?

? Do you know how much money per year you could save by simply making a few small changes in your home?

? Do you know what steps to take to make your home more efficient?

Homeowners can easily find all the answers to these questions through a home energy audit. While some will advocate that you can do it yourself, it is best to leave it to the professionals. You may be able to do the basic quick fixes around the house, but the professionals will find the best methods to improve your homes efficiency.

For most homes, an energy audit will be the first step in the sustainability journey. And, the truth is that every home should have an energy audit. The results of the audit could make a huge difference in your utility bills.

How does an energy audit work?

An energy audit on your home involves going over it in detail in search of energy inefficiencies. Home energy service companies will conduct a comprehensive assessment with the aid of diagnostic instruments to identify potential areas for improvement. An energy audit can take between 2-6 hours depending on the size of your home and the issues that are discovered. Some of the assessments include:

? An inspection of all relevant equipment and appliances

? An analysis of your utility bills

? An Assessment of the building envelope's heat transfer and air flow

? An Analysis of the impact of occupancy, use, and weather on the building

? An Inspection of all windows, doors, and other fenestration

Once the assessment is completed, home energy service companies will perform an analysis of the data they have collected and create a report of their findings. Based on these findings, a customized

sustainability project plan will be developed for your home. This plan will take into account your budget, needs, and specifics related to your home.

Advantages of getting a home energy audit

There are a number of advantages to having an energy audit performed on your home:

? You could become eligible for tax rebates and financial incentives to aid with installation of green solutions for your home.

? You could considerably decrease your energy bill

? You'll receive professional recommendations on how to increase your home's efficiency

? Improving your home's energy inefficiencies will pay for itself relatively quickly

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Importance of a Forensic Loan Audit When Doing a Short Sale

Forensic Loan Audit is one of the measures that makes way to a fair and unbiased treatment of lenders to the people who avail their loan. Because of their work that analyzes the agreement and contract between them, they can easily find violations and can easily help those people who experienced fraud and fake agreements. It is important that we know all of these because we might be a victim of these lenders that will always take advantage of you whenever you are badly in need of money. But the thing is, it is also important when you are doing a short sale. You may raise your eyebrow now but the thing is, it is really essential especially nowadays that financial problem is the major problem faced by many.

Short sales by stores are done because of the fact that the competition is getting tougher and they want to get as many customers as possible. But sometimes, the reason behind is that they need additional money because of their other expenses. That is why most of the time, they will resort to loans and asking help from lenders. But the problem is, sometimes, they are not assured that they will have a safe transaction. This is where the importance of forensic loan audit comes in. They will ensure that you will get a fair agreement by deeply analyzing the agreement between you and your lender. They will research more and look deeper on the documents that you will present and the details that you will give them. In this way, they will have a closer and broader look on the situation and they can easily assess if your lender does a violation against the federal laws.

This is important especially if you are in a budget constraint. This will help you make sure that your investment is safe and that you are not wasting your money paying unnecessary payments where in fact, you should only pay a small amount compared to what your lender is imposing. Forensic loan audit is really important if you want to achieve a safe agreement with a lender and to make sure that when you do a short sale, you are not wasting effort and money. Forensic loan audit is being done by group of professionals and there are soft wares existing that can help you to figure out if your lender is violating any laws.

Now is the perfect time for you to know all of these because these are important in this industry. Since you know now this information, you may now use forensic loan audit in your advantage and you will see the effects on your loan endeavors. You will never have a problem with forensic loan audit!

Bill Taylor is a real estate professional who wants to educate people on their options when foreclosure looms. The banks do make mistakes and from 2002-2006 over 82% of the loans originated during that time have some type of problems. Get educated and get informed. Check out our website http://blog.yourfreeloanmod.net/ and get your forensic loan audit done.

MANAGING Customer Deductions.: An article from: Strategic Finance

This digital document is an article from Strategic Finance, published by Institute of Management Accountants on November 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1601 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: MANAGING Customer Deductions.
Author: Richard N. Lander
Publication: Strategic Finance (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2001
Publisher: Institute of Management Accountants
Volume: 83 Issue: 5 Page: 38

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Internal quality systems audits: A desk reference addressing objectives, procedures and methods of accomplishment

This digital document is an article from Management Accounting Quarterly, published by Institute of Management Accountants on September 22, 2009. The length of the article is 5342 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: THE BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC) HAS BECOME A STANDARD MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR ALL TYPES OF PROFIT AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND MANY REPORT SUCCESS WITH THE APPROACH. FEW PUBLISHED STUDIES, HOWEVER, HAVE EXAMINED HOW THE EMPLOYEES AFFECTED VIEW IT. TO ADD THIS DIMENSION TO THE ASSESSMENT OF THIS TOOL, WE HAVE CONDUCTED A SURVEY THAT FOCUSES ON EMPLOYEE REACTIONS TO BSC UTILIZATION. OVERALL, THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY SUGGEST CONSIDERABLE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN SCORECARD IMPLEMENTATION, PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO INDUCING EMPLOYEE BUY-IN AND DEVELOPING THE CULTURE NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS.

Citation Details
Title: Are employees buying the balanced scorecard?
Author: Clement C. Chen
Publication: Management Accounting Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2009
Publisher: Institute of Management Accountants
Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Page: 36

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning

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Security Audit - Potential Problems

Security audits help organizations find weaknesses in their security. Security auditors do this by collecting and analyzing data about an organization's hardware, software and security policies. The audits point out vulnerabilities in the network and suggest ways to eliminate these vulnerabilities. With what they learn from the audits, organizations can improve their security and protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their digital information. For that reason, security audits are a vital part of organizational management.

However, security auditing can cause problems when not performed well. Security audits can interrupt the routine of the organization. They can become overly annoying, expensive, and disruptive. When performed poorly, the problems of security auditing can negate the benefits.

Although poorly performed security audits can cause problems, these security audits are too crucial to simply not perform.

To ensure the value of security auditing, you need to avoid any negative side-affects of your audits. You have to make sure that your security auditing disrupts day-to-day business as little as possible. You want to ensure that the audits do not get in the way of any personnel. Make sure that everyone can do their job as normal as possible. When installing and running computer auditing software, make sure that the software does not use excessive computer resources and that it does not slow down the network in any way. Additionally, you want to keep costs down, so avoid needless expenses.

Using quality software to assist and/or perform security audits can greatly help keep the audits as non-disruptive as possible. Security auditing software can often run in the background, so that users of the network may not even notice. Security auditing software can collect security data as well as organize and analyze the data.

When selecting what software to use, read customer reviews. Look for comments about the software's level of disruptiveness. Even software can disrupt business; it can hinder the ability of other essential software programs as well as the activity of personnel. Namely, you want to make sure the auditing software will not overload the network's capacity for data transfer.

Also, you need to make sure the security software is secure itself. Both security auditing software and human auditors access loads of data about the organization that they audit. They have large amounts of security clearances to perform their job. As a result, it is of grave importance to ensure that they can be trusted to keep the data secure. In analogy, you would not hire a security guard who steals. Ironically, poorly designed security auditing software may create more access points for hackers and open your network up to attacks. The best way to determine whether or not a particular software program or auditing company will open you up to attack is to check reviews of previous users of the software or previous clients of the company.

When performed correctly, security auditing will give you the needed information and advice to repair any holes in your organization's computer security. Perform these audits with care to avoid any unnecessary problems.

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Six Sigma Projects - Audits 101

The Six Sigma Methodology is not a tool that is self-sustaining. The results that are delivered are always based on different variables and occurrences, and generally don't start to appear for around 4 to 6 months. When Projects are deployed, they are assessed for their effectiveness. Similarly, the audit allows for an assessment after a successful deployment of a Project to check the status of the results that are trying to be achieved. This will allow team members to figure out how things are on an 'as-is' basis, which will then be compared to the potential goals of the process to see how things stand.

By taking the time to make charts and checklists for goals, team members will be much better able to assess the processes that are going on, and figure out exactly what is taking place compared to what should be taking place. All of these checklists are actually prepared in the beginning of the Six Sigma Process, so that they can simply be pulled out and utilized when it is necessary. Every question in the audit is designed to critically examine how the process is working, and whether those steps are being followed properly.

By measuring the status of Six Sigma Projects, the auditing process can offer a lot of insight as to where Projects stand and how far they have to go before they reach their goals. The scope of this process is limited by the goals that were set when the project was started and how customers have responded to the changes. By taking these aspects, which are clearly measurable, and reviewing them periodically, team members can get a much better status report on the entire Process. This information will help them to stay on task and ensure that the entire Six Sigma methodology produces the results that it should.

By measuring both the Process and the customer response and satisfaction level regarding the changes, these critical examinations can shed some light on the process. When these things are measured and properly analyzed, they can reveal a bigger picture of the direction of the project is going in relation to ROI and customer satisfaction, which are both essential parts of Six Sigma success. Keep in mind that there may be deviations from the average responses that you receive during an audit. However, this simply points to the process variations, which can easily be resolved or interpreted through the auditing process.

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Using Your ISO 9001 Audit Checklist

Whether an organization is implementing ISO 9001:2008 or just improving their quality management system, they will undoubtedly need to review and analyse their current systems and processes in order to identify gaps in compliance. Gap analysis requires that organizations review their existing processes, procedures and documentation, etc. The framework for this review technique is often provided in the format of an ISO 9001 audit checklist which many organizations and auditors consider to be an indispensible tool that actively supports the audit process.

The Advantages of the ISO 9001 Audit Checklist

Regular internal audits are carried out to ensure compliance is maintained and the ISO 9001 audit checklist comes in handy for this purpose. This is just one of many tools that are available from the auditors' toolbox that help ensure the audit addresses the necessary requirements. It stands as a reference point before, during and after the audit process and if developed for a specific audit and used correctly will provide the following benefits:

- Ensures the audit is conducted systematically

- Promotes audit planning

- Ensures a consistent audit approach

- Actively supports the organization's audit process

- Serves as an aide memoire

- Provides a repository for notes collected during the audit process

- Ensures uniformity in the performance of different auditors

- Provides objective evidence

Structuring the Audit Checklist

One of the simplest methods of structuring the ISO 9001 audit checklist is by taking the applicable requirements from an organization's policies, procedures and of course, from the standard itself, and turning each requirement into a question. Be sure to include the 'organization shall' requirements as well.

Add a section for comments, add check boxes for compliant or non-compliant and you can even add a column to note objective evidence and to provide an audit trial. Each element of the audit process should have customized checklists to serve as documentation outputs from the audit process itself.

This type of approach is primarily utilised by external auditors, including registration and certification body auditors, but the technique can equally be applied by any organization actively seeking to enhance their audit process.

Adding Value to the Checklist

Organizations should assess the potential value that the ISO 9001 audit checklist can bring in helping their audit process to develop. It's worth remembering that a good checklist is no substitute for an inquiring mind and a good questioning technique.

If an internal auditor uses the checklist to ask narrowly focused questions then little benefit will be derived from the audit. If, on the other hand, the auditors conduct detailed preparation of the requirements of the process they intend to cover during the audit; the checklist then becomes an invaluable output for recording and communicating that preparation work.

Using the ISO 9001 audit checklist should not restrict the scope of audit activities, since that scope may change as a result of information actually collected during the audit. The key to unlocking the checklist's value is the willingness of the organization to use it as a guide rather than being a slave to it.

The ISO 9001 audit checklist and gap analysis tool is ideal for organizations that require a quick and affordable approach to developing a reliable framework for their internal audit process.

Download a free internal audit checklist example courtesy of ISO 9001 Checklist: http://www.iso-9001-checklist.co.uk/internal-audit.htm

The SHELL Audit - A Skills Assessment and Auditing System For Business and Personal Success

The S.H.E.L.L. Audit is a skills assessment and personal strengths recognition system that anyone can use to mine their background for fun and profit. It is a strengths assessment that business managers, executives and small entrepreneurs can use to get more attention, articulate greater value and increase personal and even business income.

For instance, if your whole department or business organization undergoes a SHELL audit, you have a much greater chance of identifying under-utilized intellectual capital that may be used to attract strategic partners or create profitable licensing opportunities.

The SHELL AUDIT Skills Assessment

Since the SHELL Audit is designed to maximize the intellectual capital monetization in formal and informal settings, it often requires that we customize it to the particular context of individual clients. Keep this fact in mind as you read through the subsequent sections describing this unique skills audit process.

Here are the components of the S.H.E.L.L. Audit.

S - Skills And Strengths

One of the easiest ways to begin with this area is to audit your resume and translate your past job descriptions into skills inventory covering the areas of responsibility and know-how that your jobs involved. In the "skills" section, you want to identify both "business" and personal skills.

Categories of skills may include technical and functional "hard" skill sets like:

Programming skills
IT skills
Administrative (office) skills

Or they may include soft skills areas like:

Leadership skills
Management skills
Organizational skills
Problem-solving skills

H - Hobbies And Habits

Your hobbies may be indoor or outdoor hobbies. They may be lifestyle-oriented or may be common to only certain demographics. In this age of information publishing and digital content publishing, many individuals have found ways to turn their hobbies into very lucrative profit sidelines and even full businesses.

Make a list of your hobbies to decide whether you might be able to create a community or content marketing platform around them.

E - Experiences or Epics

Your life experiences (or epics as I call them) can be highly valuable means of creating value in personal or business contexts. Many consultants have been able to build a base of business customers from expertise developed through their personal experiences.

For instance, John Maxwell who is a Christian evangelical pastor has built a worldwide thought leadership and a massive leadership development and consulting organization based on insights and expertise developed from his personal background.

My coaching clients at MarriageInspiration.com have built thriving marriage coaching and communications consulting businesses on the back of a unique epic of marital dysfunction, acrimonious divorce and blissful reconciliation.

L - Learning And Academic Background

Your academic background or your intellectual pursuits can provide the backdrop for identifying and assessing skills that you could package and provide to the marketplace for promotion or profit. Dig through the transcripts of your college career, or through training and certification programs you have completed over the course of your life and see if there are special and valuable skills or competencies that you can identify from them.

L - Loves and Life Missions

Sometimes, an individual's accomplishments and identity are defined by an all-consuming passion or by a philosophy that they adhere to. The example of John Maxwell above is one of those instances where a person leverages their spiritual background to build intellectual assets and skills that he is being paid for today.

What do you love or believe in so deeply that it can inspire you to deliver speeches, write books and create organizations?

Make a comprehensive list of these things and then see if you can match them to any of the other areas of your SHELL or connect them to a specific need in your company or in the marketplace.

Gogo Erekosima, The Small Business Digital Coach is the CEO and Lead strategist at The Idea Age Business Consulting firm, where he developed the S.H.E.L.L. audit for his clients in leadership positions.

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Tips for a Successful ISO Audit

An ISO quality management or environmental management system audit can be an uneasy and stressful time for many people in companies today. This article gives 16 common sense tips for a successful audit are based on real world experiences consulting with dozens of companies and auditors over the past two decades. These tips apply to ISO 9001; ISO 13485; ISO 17025; ISO 14001; RC 14001; AS 9100 or TS 16949 audits.

In my consulting practice I have observed people at all levels in an organization getting "uptight" or having "audit anxiety" about an ISO registration or continuing effectiveness (surveillance) audit by their registrar. Proper preparation can help lower the anxiety level. These tips can help you and everyone in your organization be better prepared for the audit.

Know your job, roles and responsibilities.
Know where to find the appropriate procedures, forms and documents; It is o.k. to refer to them to answer questions, do not guess. Be sure all forms and records are up to date and completed properly.
Be sure your work area is clean and clutter free; have files, records and information readily accessible.
Know your quality policy and how it applies to your job.
If you don't understand a question, ask the auditor to clarify or repeat the question. If a question is still not clear, then ask someone to help you understand it. It could be a question that should be asked of someone else, if so tell the auditor it is not a part of your job and ask him/her to talk to ask else. Do not guess at an answer.
Answer questions honestly, clearly and concisely. Do not keep on talking after you answer the question. Be aware that whatever you tell the auditor may have to be supported by the appropriate documents or records.
Know what is done with a customer complaint (if it applies to your job).
Know what to do with any non-conforming material (if it applies to your job).
Know that we have a corrective action process and who is responsible for it.
If there are regulatory or special requirements for your job, process or product know and be able to explain them (i.e. FDA, FAA, special handling requirements; soldering; sterilization).
Know the quality objective and/or goals that apply to you.
If there are areas of which you are unsure, do not guess, defer to someone else!
DO NOT ARGUE with the auditor. Questions of the auditor are fine, but don't argue.
Remember, this is not an adversarial situation. Your company is paying the auditor to be there to do his/her job and the auditor is actually a customer. The auditor cannot fine you, send you to jail or get you fired. The auditor is there simply to insure the QMS meets the requirements of the standard.
The auditor will not tell you how to do something, but may say something like "I have seen....." Listen and learn.
Be positive. We have an effective quality system and are a good company. Talk about our successes as appropriate...just be aware that anything said could require documented evidence.

Davis M. Woodruff, PE, CMC is an internationally recognized consultant, professional speaker and author who is an expert in showing companies how to be the low cost, high quality, environmentally responsible leader in their industry. The benefits he brings to his clients include: developing leaders; optimizing resource utilization; improving processes, quality and customer satisfaction; and saving time and $$$. Since 1984 he has served clients in 35 states and on 3 continents. Davis is the author of a full length book Taking Care of the Basics: 101 Success Factors for Managers, and dozens of published articles. He is a 1972 Engineering graduate of Auburn University, a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and Professional Engineer (PE). His consulting firm, Management Methods based in Decatur, AL, is now in its third decade. Davis can be reached at davisw@managementmethods.com or for more information visit http://www.daviswoodruff.com.

IT Audits: What Are Your Clients Looking For?

When you conduct IT audits, you will want to see what you can solve for your clients. You will want to see what problems they have and what you can do about them. In this article, you'll learn the kinds of questions that they will want answered during IT audits

Questions Lead to the Needs Analysis

What are potential new clients looking for? This hasn't changed in a long time. During IT audits, they're going to ask you what they should buy. "What's the best product and platform for us?" "What's the best value?" All of these questions can be answered with a simple needs analysis with your IT audit. You go in and assess their situation, spending a couple of hours looking at what they have.

What will work together? Anyone can just go down to the store and buy a shopping cart full of stuff, but to make it work together - plug and play versus plug and pray. Integration and customization are huge needs, along with project management. Being able to coordinate things is enormous.

Other Services Your Clients May Want

Training, both formal and informal, is something your customers may want. This includes both end user training and administrator training.

Handling routine and scheduled upgrades.

Coordinating with outside vendors for an industry specific package installation

Network installation and maintenance

Customers Want One-Stop Shopping

The big picture here is that they're looking for a single point of contact. They want to trust the technology advisor the same way they have a trusted accounting advisor or a legal advisor, or a managing consulting firm or marketing consultant. IT audits can help you both determine what your customers need your role to be.

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Comprehensive Audit Framework Features

With increasingly rigid compliance laws introduced by the government, companies are also becoming stringent with their security policies and practices. And this stringency is caused by the need for survival in intense competition. The constant demands for better quality standards and value-driven performance are the outcome of vigilant and qualitative compliance methodologies responsible for ensuring safety to the overall environment.

The much talked about GRC framework sets the right parameters for enforcing and ensuring all internal and external compliance regulations. It has become a staple of IT compliant organizations that helps to administer a cohesive, effective and comprehensive process. These three functions are the prime forces that drive the value of a business upwards. Hence it is essentially necessary to ensure conformance to these standards. To ensure the sustenance of quality performance, it is equally necessary to enforce internal audits to have a clear visibility of the current status.

The use of an automated audit process facilitates high efficiency and productivity. These automated audit frameworks can be easily deployed on software-as-a-service model, or an on-premise model or a hybrid of both. It provides end-to-end automation solutions encompassing all security, compliance, audit and risk management needs. The cloud-based audit framework provides complete GRC solutions to businesses of all sizes.

Features of a Comprehensive Audit Framework

* Allows a quick view of the governance, risk and compliance status through its dashboards & provides the status of each unit of the organization, whether local or international and at each level.

* Sends reminders to people to adhere to the compliance standards so that it can detect the areas that are vulnerable and ensure remedial solutions.

* Provides customization facilities to suit business needs and creates exhaustive audit logs of actions that are directly related to compliance.

* Facilitates quick access to various reports relevant to each department such as management, auditing, consultants etc.

* Manages a centralized repository for security regulations maintenance.

* Quickly collects compliance data that gives the correct assessment report through online questionnaires with customizable features for the convenience of customers.

* Performs quick vulnerability scanning of network devices, databases, servers, computers and file systems to identify risks and provide remedial measures.

* Provides an intelligent mechanism where it suggests reporting to the correct authority for law enforcement in case any data lapse or compliance violation is detected.

* Its flexible and integrating feature helps multiple users in different divisions to quickly access solutions.

* Provides pre-canned templates and services on various regulations for compliance enforcement.

* Integrates new amendments & regulations to easily adjust with current regulatory standards.

An integrated and automated audit framework undertakes all the processes pertaining to risk assessments, planning, scheduling, preparation, reviewing, reporting, tracking issues and administration in an efficient manner. Thus it provides a complete, optimized and cost-effective GRC solution.

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vulnerability scanning

Conducting an IT Audit: Industry Compliance and Data Protection

Businesses of all sizes are vulnerable to network attacks, which can result in lost data or funds, fraud, identity theft, lawsuits, a disabled system, or corrupted files. Although small and medium-size companies and organizations are particularly vulnerable, all businesses utilizing an electronic information system for recordkeeping or offering credit card transactions need a network strategy that incorporates risk assessment and management and involves regular IT audits. Losing data can harm your business, but effective network security is also part of industry best practices standards, such as FFIEC and Sarbanes-Oxley for finance and HIPAA for health care. These industry standards require a business or organization to develop and implement a network security strategy that includes regular audits for compliance.

Hackers and online criminals continue to revise strategies for breaching network security and obtaining insider information. The recent WikiLeaks incident is a large-scale security breach, but your system can be damaged by far smaller threats. To find these weak points, also called "vulnerabilities," have an IT audit conducted on your system.

An IT audit examines network security from three angles: physical, technical, and personal. Ethical hacking, vulnerability scanning, and social engineering are common tactics used to identify these weak points. Approaching the network perimeter and interior as an outside party, a white hat, or ethical, hacker attempts to break into a system using common to sophisticated tactics.

As a full assessment of your business's security, an IT audit is conducted through penetration tests, personal interviews, vulnerability scans, examining operating system and network settings, and researching historical data, or past security breaches. A certified ethical hacking professional considers the following factors when analyzing your network:

? Company security policies and their implementation

? Passwords

? Presence of access control lists and audit logs

? Reviewing of audit logs

? Industry practices and security settings

? Removal of, updated, and custom-built applications

? Backup systems

? Data encryption tools

? Configuration and code changes

? Previous security incidents

An IT audit culminates in a report, which details all vulnerabilities inside and on the perimeter of a network. In addition to identifying them, the report provides strategies for fixing these weak areas and strengthening the network.

Audit Management Software For Your Small Business

If you have heard of some type of software that is helping companies in managing their workforce company performance, then you should include the audit management software. This software is going to be very good for higher authorities of a company to audit the companies under them.

So what does audit management software manage? This software can automate the entire auditing process. This includes automation of surveys either down internally or externally through customers. These surveys are very much good for companies as this is the medium for them to hear out their customers and their employees in order to improve their product and performance.

This audit management software will also takes care of planning for auditing throughout the year. This is because the user can easily customize depending on the workflow of the company. And what makes this software very convenient for the user is that assigning of tasks can be done immediately and automatically once the auditing plan gets approved.

And since the purpose of auditing is to check the performance and if the company is going by the set regulations by the government and the upper offices, you can use the audit management software to generate checklists. These checklists can be used in order to make sure that you are compliant with the standards set by the International Organization for Standardization or ISO. Being branded with the ISO standards will also increase the profit in your business as many clients will rely on your company.

The audit management software will also be used in order for the auditors to know if there is a need for a corrective or preventive action. This software can synchronize the information with the CAPA documents in order to know if a corrective action is needed to be revised or a new one should be implemented.

Other features of this type of software are its user friendly interface and scoring methods that will let you determine the performance score in the company. Aside from being easily configured, it also has a user-friendly interface that will really help you manage it properly.

And if you want to get audit management software, you can try checking online to find the ones that will fit your company's needs. As long as you have this software, you will surely know how your company is working and be able to do something to improve it.

With audit management software working for your company, you will surely be able to do a lot of things inside your company to improve your workflow and also the product or services that you are offering. And you will be able to increase your profits because of this.

To learn more about audit management software and quality management software and how it can help your company, you can visit MasterControl.com.