Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/382390
TECHNOLOGY IN PRACTICE sary personnel scheduled to review the work before leav ing the client site, which can be again be managed with a digital work fow tool. One of the key tenants of LSS is to do quality control at each step of t he process mea n i ng super v isors and managers need to manage the engagement st at u s d a i ly, rev iew completed work , a nd ver i f y t hat work is done right the frst time. A ll frms know that pick ing it up later over and over again vastly expands the hours on the engagement as the a u d i t o r s h a v e t o "r e - l e a r n" t h e engagement each time because they have already moved on to another engagement. W h e n b e g i n n i n g f i e l d w o r k , auditors should plan to start with the most dif f icu lt components of the aud it so t hose pa r ts ca n be com- pleted before wrap up to allow for a ny u n foreseen i ssues, a nd t hen schedule to do the lower risk, more sta nda rd ized items at t he end of f ieldwork, while the super v isor is doing the onsite review. Usi ng l ive col laborat ion tool s such as Microsof Lync or Skype will a l low t he aud itor to a s k t he i n- charge or another partner to review any complex issues, again while they are still in f ield. Work ing w ith all fles centrally on the frm's ser vers either via Citrix/Windows Terminal Ser ver (W TS) or through another cloud-based engagement application w ill allow client workpapers to be reviewed when they are completed and will ensure they are done with a minimum amount of rework as the information will still be fresh in the auditor's mind. Using Citrix/W TS also reduces tec h n ic a l i s s ue s e x per ienced by frms that check out binders to local workstations and set up f ield net- works, which ofen cause IT prob- lems for audit staf f at the star t of each day. A not her L SS pla n n i ng component includes transferring the trial balance to the ta x return and hav i ng t a x person nel rev iew t he information to answer any questions while the engagement information is still available. Finally, one of the most important diferentiators that LSS provides is to high l ight those items that add value from a client perspective. Part of any engagement outcome should be to have all personnel proactively look for and document value-added improvements as feld work is being done so t h at t he se item s c a n be considered for client discussion at delivery, opening the door to future value added services. WRAP UP and DELIVERY A nother one of key tenants of Lean Six Sigma is promoting and adhering to a frm standard for all fnancial statement del iver y, wh ich ca n be documented and personnel trained on. W hen staf have to adjust their work to the preferences of individual partners, efciency is lost causing rework. Engagement wrap up and delivery shou ld be foc used on t he second pa r t ner/Qua l it y Cont rol Rev iew and require minimal additional staf t i me i f t he pla n n i ng for t he f ield work was adhered to. One common m ista ke f ir ms ma ke is t hey over- schedule work when clients don't meet their agreed upon deadlines, leaving the audit staf to scramble to complete mu lt iple engagement s simultaneously. Firms need to also schedule days to wrap-up engagements (and have the partners respect those days), to do the preliminary tax return, and to have agreement on footnotes, so a l l that is lef t is the physica l cos- metics of the report for delivery. A fnal contribution of LSS to the e n g a ge me nt i s s c he d u l i n g t i me du r i ng t he w rap up for t he aud it team to discuss specifc opportuni- ties they have identifed for client improvement. A fer delivery of the fnancial statements and discussion of a ny i nter n a l c ont rol req u i re - ments, the audit team should pro- v ide high level ideas for improve- ments and schedule a time to follow up w it h t he cl ient du r i ng t he of f sea son, t hus add i ng va lue to t he engagement and diferentiating the del iver y of t he c l ient 's f i na nc ia l report from other commodity pro- viders. CONCLUSION T h e s u m m e r p r o v i d e s a g r e a t opportunity for frms to step back and ta ke an objective look to see how " lean" principals can improve their audit processes as well as add value to client engagements, which is one of the key goals of Lean Si x Sigma (LSS). Focus on reducing waste and its drivers throughout the organizaton Results in faster creaton of value at the lowest possible cost SIX SIGMA LEAN Contnually improving processes in relaton to customer requirements September 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 29