Addressing Active Directory Auditing and Compliance challenges using ADAudit PLus

ADAudit Plus web based Active Directory Auditing and Reporting Solution arms administrators with the most necessary reports to facilitate easy access to information and proactively take any corrective action, if necessitated.

Continuous Auditing http://4topauditingandaccounting.blogspot.com/

Siemens has successfully installed automated audit and monitoring solutions in various divisions and shared service centers to address controls for segregation of duties and changes to the general ledger and to monitor controls for processes such as purchase-to-pay and order-to-cash. These proof-of-concept installations have proved successful in demonstrating the capability and value of continuous controls monitoring technology. Plans are in place to expand the use of audit automation tools at Siemens to leverage common enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms and shared service centers to improve audit and compliance. These tools are also envisioned to support other key business processes such as operational effectiveness through monitoring, assuring process conformance, real-time closed-loop monitoring of key business performance indicators and to reduce travel and improve the quality of work life for the auditors and compliance personnel.

Securing and Auditing Servers

It is as simple as the diagram spells it out for you. First, document what your standard happens to be. Then, have someone independent come in and collect data on your server instances and compare to your standards. If any changes are necessary you plan for them to happen, implement them, and then repeat the process again.

Detailed Auditing & Reporting

Several public and privately-owned businesses have strict auditing requirements that govern how their I.T. department manages Active Directory, as well as how other business units interact with this information. A main problem with today’s standard network management tools is the lack of reporting and auditing. Many companies require their administrators to maintain manual listings of all changes & updates made to specific information systems, such as Active Directory. The cost of maintaining these lists manually is often very expensive and not strictly enforced, leaving gaps in the auditing and logging processes.

FireFox JPEG Map of Etical Hacking Extensions

This picture shows the excellent FireFox extension pack for Ethical Hacking, Security Auditors, and System Administrators.  Zoom in to view the various extensions.

New Destructive auditing

When I first entered the management system audit arena, it was common practice to measure auditor skills by the number of Non-Conformance reports they managed to raise. As an unwilling newcomer I found this a disturbing feature of a business I didn't want to be in, but interestingly my efforts to extradite myself from the audit function led to a change in the responses I got from auditees. By auditing for confirmation of satisfactory outcomes, as opposed to auditing for failure identification, the results while not converting auditees into welcoming friends, did produce a change in attitude to a pending audit notification. Auditees came see audits as an opportunity to discuss their work free of fear that the discussion would be used against them to further the reputation of the auditor, and gained from the experience.

Internal Auditing/Concurrent Auditing 2011

Audit is like a back bone for every organization. Strength of audit proves healthy strength of Financial statements.

At ifians, We offer to our clients our superior range of auditing services and help them develop key enterprise strategies needed to survive in today’s competitive market. Our experienced and skilled auditing consultants have the expertise to understand the requirements of our clients and provide comprehensive analysis and translation of the business requirements. Some of the services offered by us under this section include

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Accounting Basics: Current Assets

 We've previously discussed what Assets are. In an unclassified balance sheet where you only have 3 major classifiations (assets, liabilities and owners equity) that would be in the story. A much more useful report is the Classified Balance Sheet. Here, the three major categories are subdivided to provide readers of the financial statements with much more detailed information. The first such subdivision under assets is Current Assets.

Current Assets are defined as those assets which will either be converted into cash or otherwise 'used up' by the business in a relatively short period of time (generally one year or less). On the balance sheet, they are generally presented in order of liquidity; thus cash is generally listed first.

Other examples of current assets include accounts receivable, notes receivable (which often have a current and a non-current portion) and prepaid expenses. These will be examined in future entries.

Accounting Basics: The Balance Sheet

 One of the fundamental components (for want of a better word) of accounting is the Balance Sheet. The balance sheet is often referred to as a statement of financial position. It can be described as a snapshot that shows the company's financial position at any given moment. Listed in the balance sheet are the company's assets, liabilities and owners equity.

If you view the balance sheet as a two column worksheet, the assets would be in the left column while the liabilities and owners equity would be in the right column. The two columns must be equal.

You won't be able to determine the company's profitability from the balance sheet. What the balance sheet will show is the solvency of the company. Analysts will look at various ratios (i.e. current ratio: current assets / current liabilities) to determine the company's financial well being.

Future entries in my Accounting Basics series will describe each of the components of the balance sheet.

Accounting Basics: Management Accounting vs. Financial Accounting

 This 3rd installment in my "Accounting Basics" series will discuss the differences between Management Accounting and Financial Accounting.

The private accounting field can be further divided into two sub-categories depending on how the information generated by the accountant is used.

As its name implies, Management (or Managerial) Accounting provides that information which is used by managers within the company. The information provided can be as broad as long range financial projections or as detailed as analyzing cost variances (ie budget overages). Wikipedia defines management accounting as being " concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis in making informed business decisions that would allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions."

While management accounting concerns the internal use of information, Financial Accounting concerns the external use of accounting information. Of course financial accounting concepts are used in management accounting. Financial accounting involves providing information which is useful to external users such as prospective buyers and investors, creditors, government agencies, etc. Financial Statements are the most provided piece of information. These include the Balance Sheet and Income Statement (to be explained in a future post). Wikipedia defines financial accounting as "the field of accountancy concerned with the preparation of financial statements for decision makers, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, government agencies, owners, and other stakeholders. Financial accountancy is used to prepare accounting information for people outside the organization or not involved in the day to day running of the company."

Accounting Basics: Assets

 As hinted in my previous entry, the balance sheet is comprised of three basic sections: assets, liabilities and owners equity. Assets are resources or items of value owned by the business. They are items of value which can be used or exchanged in the production or delivery of services of the business.

Typically, the most common asset people think of is cash. Cash can be exchanged to purchase office supplies, raw materials used in production, pay employees, etc.; thus it is an asset of the business. Machinery is another asset; it is used in the production of the goods or services delivered by the business.

Substantial effort is made by accountants in valuing assets; some of which may not have a clear current value. For example, a piece of equipment purchased five years ago for $100,000 and used daily in the operation of the business is not worth $100,000 today (in the same way that a five year old car is not worth the price paid for it when it was new). In this instance, accountants use depreciation to adjust the value of a 'fixed asset' such as this (to be discussed later).