White Paper - Controlling Spreadsheet Risks

Whitepaper

This is a members only resource.

Please login to access.

Author

Suzy Stamatonikolos

M.IMS, B.Bus, B.Comp, PMIIA, CIA, CRMA, CISA

Date

2023

Topics Explored

Internal Audit, Control, Data Analytics and Technology Audit

Format

White Paper

Extract/Description

As internal auditors and Audit Committees consider the highest risks facing their entities, spreadsheet risks rarely rate a mention. Yet, simple and avoidable spreadsheet errors can have a profound effect on an entity’s reputation and the community’s confidence in its operations when spreadsheets are relied upon for business-critical functions.
The incorporation of periodic reviews of spreadsheet risks into the internal audit plan will help to deliver well-founded independent opinions on the adequacy of the safeguards in managing these risks.

Key Points

1. Entity-wide surveys have revealed widespread usage of spreadsheets for assembling and manipulating decision-making information.
2. Management needs to achieve a balance between convenience and risk.
3. Internal auditors have a key role to play in ensuring that their entity has in place a suitable framework to guide spreadsheet development, usage and review.
4. A periodic review of business-critical spreadsheets ought to be considered in the audit plan.