Use of data analysis for auditing

Reality or fiction?

It is the beginning of a new year which leads to reflection and goal setting. As auditing professionals, it is important to question performance and how to keep improving in the vocation, which makes us wonder: is our firm inspired, or are we simply in the market to meet accounting, tax and legal regulations?

For this, it is necessary to evaluate the work of the firm in the field of auditing; understanding the digital shift within the workplace and society, and not resisting this change, as it leads to inefficiency when applying outdated methodologies of data analysis. Not only do the auditor’s work becomes more expensive, but it also does not provide better tools to the client for decision making.

That is why, Ecovis Colombia understands that digital transformation is not only an added value, it is a necessity. The value that it has generated for the client is infinitely superior, which has consequently differentiated us from the competition.

Moreover, based on the changes that are coming in the International Auditing Standards in relation to ISA 315 “Identification and assessment of the risks of material misstatement through the knowledge of the entity and its environment” we ratify that as of December 15, 2021, the planning of the audit will have substantial changes. These include – regarding the evaluation to the internal control – the implementation of a structured audit approach, where there will be use of data analysis to undertake risk assessments of material misstatement. This will be achieved through automated tools that establish balanced perspectives of how technologies can be used in the observation, inspection, collection and evaluation of audit evidence, without professional skepticism and sources of information being structured as problem factors.

So, if as a firm you are not in this dimension you run the risk of falling behind the competition at a regional and global level. It is not about compromising
independence, it is about each job representing a legacy for our clients to the point of winning the recognition of an “intelligent and comparatively superior audit”.
Ecovis Colombia, during the year 2019, invested time and resources in data analysis tools and changed the way of performing the internal control audit, which has already borne the fruit in the auditor’s daily work and in the experience with clients. We understand that in a changing world where nothing can be taken for granted, we must be inspired, which is evident in the hard work of our partners and the work team. The path is long and although we are at a short distance of the long journey, we are looking forward to the voyage that must be traveled along the digital transformation in the audit profession.

Isis Granados Rodríguez
Gerente de Auditoría
Miembro de Ecovis Colombia