Auditing spreadsheets: With or without a tool? Simone Schalkwijk - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Auditing spreadsheets: With or without a tool?

Simone Schalkwijk BSc Dr Felienne Hermans Dr Michiel van der Ven Dr Hans Duits RA A joint student project between the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and the TU Delft University of Technology

Why this research?

— Excel horror stories — Errors in spreadsheets post a major

threat for the auditor in terms of financial damage and image damage

— Previous research showed mixed results

• n the usefulness of spreadsheet tools for

auditing in general

What did we want to know?

— R1 Are common errors recognized by

auditors?

— R2 To what extent does PerfectXL

contribute to a more efficient and effective audit?

— R3 Which functionalities should

PerfectXL possess in order to contribute towards a more efficient and effective audit?

How did we perform this research?

— Semi-structured interviews with 8

auditors of a big 4 audit firm with a working experience of over four years

— PerfectXL demo

What are the results of this research?

— Some common errors are agreed upon — Most auditors have a positive attitude

towards the visualization functionality

— Mixed opinions on the risk analysis

functionality whereas most auditors where doubtful on the impact on efficiency and effectiveness of the audit

Visualization: The most valued functionality of PerfectXL

Visualization: Some side effects

Risk analysis: Some auditors doubted the usefulness of this functionality

What did we learn from this research?

— Some common errors are recognized by

auditors

— Visualization is useful in order to perform

a more efficient and effective audit

— Results might apply to other spreadsheet

auditing tools

Suggestions for future research

— Quantitative effects could be measured

during an experiment

— Aim should not be to look at correctly

flagging errors by PerfectXL but should rather focus on differences in effectiveness and efficiency within the audit