IT environments have continued to increase in complexity with ever greater reliance on the information produced by IT systems and processes. The recent emergence of regulations aiming to restore the investor confidence has placed a greater emphasis on internal controls and often requires independent assessments of the effectiveness of internal controls.
Attention to the design, documentation and operation of controls —both application controls and IT general controls— is critical to ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of information used for financial reporting and management decision-making. More and more market players in their approach towards internal control assessment, design and implementation need embedding an underlying risk analysis approach with a focus on reliable and effective key application controls. While Risk Management in itself is moving to the top of the Board agenda due to high profile business failures, heavy regulatory pressure is increasing compliance requirements which needs to be integrated into the company internal control framework.
Our systems and process assurance (SPA) practice provides services related to controls around the financial reporting process, including financial business process and IT management controls with a clear insight on operational risk management . Serving both audit and non-audit clients, SPA provides: