External Auditors

The major audit firms have the medium and smaller external audit firms at a distinct disadvantage, as these firms cannot afford to provide the diversity of services that the major external audit firms can. However, this flexibility of major external audit firms comes at a price, as it requires the major external audit firms to have large infrastructures with which to service this diversity of products and office space in large high-cost buildings. The large infrastructure and high-cost office space are but 2 of the factors that impact on the costs of their services to their clients. Smaller firms are unable to compete in the same arena as these large firms, due to their inability to provide some of these value added services (click here).

Medium and smaller external audit firms may be unable to afford the cost of employing a full-time qualified IT Auditor to provide their clients with the assurance that they are adhering to various pieces of legislation, as well as the requirements laid down in the King II Report. Why not contract IT Audit out to a specialist firm that deals solely in this field. This provides the external audit firm with many advantages:

infotech

It enables the smaller external audit firms to widen the scope of the audits they can tenders for, as they have, at their fingertips, the expertise to perform the IT audits;

  • The IT audits that they will be able to offer will be at a detailed level, not just meant to provide comfort for the financials. Instead they will be able to give their clients a value added service by identifying controls that are inadequate.
infotech Furthermore it will provide the external audit firms with the ability to reach beyond auditing and provide their clients with IT Risk assessments that will identify the IT weaknesses that are inherent in their client’s business, “it is better than closing the door after the horse has bolted”.
infotech Furthermore should the client identify (as risk assessments are only facilitated by InfoTechAudit cc) that certain documentation such as policies, standards, disaster recovery, business continuity need to be put in place. InfoTechAudit is able to provide this service AT THE COST OF NOT BEING ABLE TO AUDIT THE SAID CLIENT UNTIL THEY HAVE BEEN RE-AUDITED BY EXTERNAL AUDITOR again. This is to ensure that independence is maintained.

All this is available to you at a fraction of the cost that the major external audit firms will be able to provide these services for. The reason for this, is that as indicated above, overheads are kept to a minimum.

Bringing in an IT Audit Specialist on short term contracts (per each of your audits) to perform your IT audits, will provide your clients with the comfort of knowing that their Information Technology environment is adequately controlled adding value to your services without incurring extra overheads. This cost can be included as part of the cost of your services. You still score.

MAJOR FIRMS CAN ALSO BENEFIT FROM THIS SCHEME by utilising InfoTechAudit cc when their own resources are stretched to the limit or an IT Audit Manager/Specialist needs to go on leave or is sent overseas for exposure to the international markets i.e. London, New York etc.