The Scenario – A Complex and Poorly Integrated Software Stack
A midsized audit firm has implemented various audit software tools to capture data, analyze risk, and perform tests.
Each Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform was selected to perform a specific function, with little consideration given to how data is organized and coded to flow between the applications.
As a result, auditors are called upon to frequently move their data between various applications and use different interfaces throughout the audit process. For example, they may use Suralink to exchange financial data with their clients, then employ Caseware or WorkPapers CS as their working paper solution, perform sample selection with MindBridge, and then use Excel with a variety of plug-in applications to link documentation to transactions during audit testing.
Across these applications, auditors upload documents to cloud storage providers, download files to their desktops, and transfer data between SaaS platforms using Excel.
As the volume of data continues to grow, this inefficient approach to securely moving and managing data will not scale. Instead, audit firms need to take a holistic approach that unifies their software stacks and allows for seamless, secure and traceable data integration between tools.
The Challenge – A Lack of Integration Between Systems
Instead of gaining the benefits of the various platforms, the complexity of the audit software stack limits the speed of how auditors can collect and move data through the audit process.
Each SaaS platform has its own data schema, protocols, and interfaces. Incompatible data formats make consolidation difficult and expensive. Data must be converted, cleansed, and validated before moving on to the next phase of the audit to reduce the risk of errors and inaccuracies.
Having multiple copies of files also increases version control and security risks, while the constant switching between applications increases the cognitive burden on the auditor.
So, to maintain a grip on this reality, auditors continue to turn to Excel as the primary interface and formatting tool between systems, creating a highly manual process that adds to the time and cost required for the audit.
Key Challenges
- Lack of integration between audit software tools limits throughput
- Over-reliance on Excel to transfer data
- Multiple copies of the same files in numerous systems
- No centralized handling and tracking of sensitive client data
- Greater risk of errors and omissions
- Highly complex and inefficient software stack
The Solution – An Intelligent Data Management Platform
Vizschön by Vigilant AI is an intelligent data management platform that enables the data-driven audit of the future.
The platform serves as the foundation of a more effective and integrated audit software stack. A fully contextualized data lake streamlines data integration and provides auditors with a single source of truth for all client financial and business process data.
Data can be collected in various formats from diverse sources. Raw data is automatically contextualized to enhance its meaning and relevance, allowing auditors to identify and understand the relationship between data points.
The unified system centralizes client data security and prevents sensitive financial data from being duplicated and spread across multiple systems or desktops.
Open APIs can then be used by any of the major software applications to allow audit firms to architect a coherent approach to data management.
Key Platform Features
- Consistent and unified data interfaces throughout the audit
- Open APIs to link to third-party SaaS tools
- Centralized and secure data architecture
- Reduced dependency on Excel for testing and data transfer
- Streamlined data throughput
The Results – A Unified Audit Software Infrastructure
Embracing a data-driven methodology means rethinking how data is collected, analyzed, and stored throughout the audit.
Instead of relying on Excel, an intelligent data management platform unifies audit software infrastructure and allows for seamless data integration between audit applications.
With less time spent moving files around and switching between platforms, auditors can focus on enhancing audit quality. The result is faster, more complete audits delivered to clients.
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