Likelihood to Recommend Auditboard is especially useful for SOX control testing. It is very convenient having all our information on a single platform. It is easy to communicate PBC requests to clients, store control testing working papers for review, communicate deficiencies and build dashboards to provide visual statistics. Situations where it might not be useful are for organizations that are smaller in size where the templates don't fit well with their internal audit/controls program. There is a significant amount of testing required before using the platform, and adapting working papers to fit in well with AuditBoard
Read full review One example of specific scenario in [CaseWare] IDEA is the ability to run samples separately and then based off of the results, compare and contrast the values recorded and easily discern if there are any variables or discrepancies within the data itself. Also, we can test journal entries with certain parameters to check the audit for any issues that may arise pertaining to the criteria. By testing, we are able to make sure the data is accurate and sufficient.
Read full review Pros AuditBoard allows real-time collaboration between control and business owners and auditors. AuditBoard has a lot of fantastic training sessions and office hours to help users make the most of the product. AuditBoard has great customer service personnel to answer questions and troubleshoot any issues. Read full review Easy to understand and easy to use. Can use on large quantities of data and quickly analyze them. Uses logic that can be followed if one is an auditor. I, for example, could understand the logic in a number of samples, i.e how the number of samples thrown changes when risk changes from low to moderate in proportion taking in consideration the materiality. Other audit firms are using 2 software for the process that IDEA alone can do. So IDEA has a definite advantage here. Customizable by the company. Read full review Cons We used to perform our Risk Control Analysis (RCA) for each audit's planning in an Excel spreadsheet. Once we purchased the Risk Oversight module, AuditBoard helped us convert the RCA to a system function rather than a spreadsheet. At first, we lost some of the functionality the spreadsheet provided, but AuditBoard did continue to help us build and work towards a solution more similar to what we previously had. Though happy with it, it's still not perfect. As one example, I'd like to be able to link actual Ops Audit work steps that cover the risk and controls being outlined in the RCA, rather than just adding a comment to state which steps cover them. More of a preference, I suppose. I also had demoed their beta Resources and Scheduling module, but it didn't have enough functionality at the time to work for how we put the quarterly Internal Audit schedule together (using Excel). One thing I recall was that you couldn't pull in SOX controls or non-chargeable work (such as education or administration) to auditor's schedules; it was meant to schedule the Ops Audits only. It is possible they have already fixed or improved this; I just haven't seen the updated version. Read full review Bit of a learning curve for the advanced features as a beginner. Read full review Support Rating I would rate it a 9 because I never really needed support on this but if I did, there was the necessary support given promptly.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I remember there were a lot of sync issues when I used the internally developed software, but that's probably because a few people were working on the same project at the same time. I have not come across this issue in AuditBoard
Read full review I have used Microstart and would definitely vote for IDEA because IDEA combines what Microstart does with the help of one/more softwares. Where Microstart just gives a number of samples, IDEA selects the number of samples based on materiality, risk, and other factors. It selects those samples from the population leaving out line items that are invalid/ zero. I would prefer using IDEA any day.
Read full review Return on Investment Hard to quantify. It was cheaper than the tool we had and we were able to get rid of standalone tool for surveys. overall, just better user experience for all. Read full review We were able to save time by over 200 billable hours over our last busy season cycle We saved roughly 12% on costs compared to the last program we used. Read full review ScreenShots