Projects
Each account can be used to conduct unlimited audit projects. When logged into the system, you can easily switch between projects from any screen. This allows for one interface to be used to manage all project, saving time and increasing productivity.
Project Features
Audit types
Each audit project is assigned an audit type. There two major categories of audit types, control-based audits and workplan-based audits. Control based audits include Sarbanes-Oxley Reviews, Internal Audits of Internal Controls, SAS 70 Audits, and Business Process Reviews. Workplan based audits include Royalty and Licensing Audits, Workplan based Internal Audits, Compliance Audits, and “Other” Audits. All accounts include access to create any of these types of audits.
Recent Activity
Inside each audit project, the Dashboard tab shows the key activity that has been going on in the audit. If you have been out of the office or away from the project, it is quickly see what has been going on in the project. It is also an excellent tool for monitoring project progress.
Manage Objectives
Objectives (or “processes” or “significant processes” depending on the type of audit) are the key areas which the audit project is broken up into for review. Each audit will have one or more objectives and all audit procedures conducted will be organized within the appropriate objectives. Each objective can be assigned to a different member of the audit team to easily organize auditor responsibilities within the project.
Project Files
Audit documentation and files can be attached to procedures throughout the project. At the project level, project files can be created where you can upload any documents necessary related to the overall project (as opposed to specific audit procedures). This is an excellent way to organize planning documents, conclusion memos, audit reports, time budgets, and any other files related to the overall project.
Review Queue
Every key step in the audit process can be signed-off by the preparer, a detailed reviewer, and a general reviewer. Each can also be assigned to a supervisor on the audit team for review. When you assign a reviewer, the reviewer receives a notification email and the item for review is added to the reviewer’s review queue. The review queue is a central place where you can see all items throughout the audit currently assigned to you for review. The review can then provide organized review notes through the To-Do feature (see To-Do Items section below).
Status Reporting
Status reports are prepared completely automatically. Absolutely no input from the auditor is needed and the project status report can be downloaded at any time in PDF format. The status screen and report provides graphs of the overall project completion to date as compared to the overall time expired based on the audit completion deadline entered for the audit. Additionally it shows the status (Not Started, In Progress, or Completed) of each key audit step inside each objective in the project. There is simply one screen to see a very complete view of the status of everything in the audit.
Manage Findings
Findings are actually added within the audit procedures inside the various project objectives. The Manage Findings tab shows an aggregated list of all findings in the project as well all the details, recommendation, management responses, status, etc. for each finding. It also provides both PDF and XLS downloads of this overall findings list.
To-do Items
To-do items in workpapers.com are the ultimate tool for effective audit team communication. To-do items can be added by any auditor, assigned to any other auditor, and associated to any procedure within the project. The To-Dos tab shows all the to-dos assigned to you, all the to-dos assigned by you, and the status (Open, Closed, or Cleared) of both. Adding to-dos triggers sends an email notification to the assignee, closing the to-do notifies the assignor it is ready to be cleared, and once the assignor reviews and marks it cleared it is removed from the to-do listings. To-dos can also be commented on to allow discussion regarding the to-do.
Request Lists
Request items can be added to the project by all auditors and the Request List tab provides an aggregated listing of all outstanding request items in the project. The listing can be downloaded in PDF or Excel and one click reminders can be sent to the person responsible for filling the request. This is the ultimate tool for managing requests and making sure the proper documentation is received timely.
Project Search
Search everything in the project from one place using a simple Google-style search box. All search results are organized by result type.
User Permissions
User permissions can be assigned within each audit project separately to make sure the right team members have the right access to the right projects. The permissions are assigned by giving each user one of four simple roles: Audit Manager role giving the person full access to the project, Auditor role giving the person update access to all audit procedures but hides audit project settings and user management, Executive role which provides complete read-only access to the project, and External Reviewer access which provides read-only access to the audit work results but hides all project management related information.