How Your Auditor Can Help Identify And Respond To Fraud
Corporate fraud is a risk to any business, whether it is for-profit or not-for-profit, regardless of size, and for some, it can be significant. A recent ACFE study reported that, across 2,504 cases from 125 countries, the net fraud losses exceeded $5 billion, with an average per case of $2 million. Not only can this […]
What Does Your Future As An Auditor Look Like?
For many auditing firms or divisions, now is a critical time to reassess the value, cost and risk of continuing to provide independent audit services. The emergence of new audit technology, combined with new SMSF Audit Independence Standards, has had a profound impact on the way accounting and audit firms view their services and the […]
The Great Australian Skills Shortage
The current Australian business environment is facing a number of significant challenges moving into 2022, both pandemic-related and otherwise. And one of the biggest hurdles is procuring, training, and retaining highly skilled staff. This is especially difficult during a period of historically low occupational mobility, with the rate at which employed staff are changing jobs […]
7 Key Actions To Take When Audits Become Unprofitable
Setting and managing fees for service is one of the most challenging tasks for audit professionals. When the client believes that the service is easily ‘commoditised’ and acquired, price competition becomes an issue. Hence, it is no surprise that scope creep arises when the service provider does not take due care in establishing and managing […]
The Benefits & Risks Of 6-Member SMSFs: What You Need To Know
In July 2021, the maximum number of members to form part of a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) and small APRA funds was increased from four to six. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Self-Managed Superannuation Funds) Bill 2020, which resulted in this increase in fund member sizing, is also responsible for extending the eligible age of the […]
Managing Cyber-Security Challenges within a Work-From-Home Environment
The last eighteen months have seen the way businesses work change dramatically, with a shift to work-from-home environments taking centre stage. While this has been beneficial in protecting employees from risks around COVID-19, it’s crucial we examine the impacts this shift has had for cyber-security challenges. For auditors and accountants alike, nothing is more important […]
Evolving Audit Environment resulting from the impact of COVID-19
It is likely that from late 2021, with vaccination rates exceeding 80%, Australian businesses will begin to recover from the financial toll created by COVID-19. However, as government assistance comes to an end, there will be some major issues to consider with business sustainability and profitability. The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) has already […]
NSW Local Govt release Draft Guidelines for Risk Management and Internal Audit Framework
The Office of Local Government (OLG) NSW has released an updated ‘Guidelines for Risk Management and Internal Audit Framework for Local Councils in NSW’. These guidelines, published in August 2021, are based on a previous discussion paper issued in 2019, which had over 150 submissions from key stakeholders in the local government sector. Key issues […]
Navigating a Second Year of Auditing During COVID-19
When National Audits Group was established 15 years ago, no forecasting models could have ever predicted the events we’ve experienced since 2020. Whether it’s managing changes to COVID-19 disclosure notes in our clients’ financial reports, the impact of the work-from-home restrictions on our clients or obtaining financial information and our clients maintaining adequate internal controls […]
How Eliminating Dirty Data May Transform the Role of the Auditor
When dealing with numbers it is expected that all results should be equal, however when it comes to external and internal auditing, dirty data means this is often not the case. One of the biggest issues facing auditors is dirty data – duplicate, missing, or inaccurate customer and business information. As mentioned in our earlier […]