Towards an Intelligent Audit: online reporting, online audit, and other assurance services

This paper examines the evolving scenarios of data processing, networking, financial reporting, assurance services and electronic commerce. Integrating some of these points it advocates a view of atomistic progressive intelligence in systems. This view uses new technologies, and an aggregation of simple and more complex algorithms to provide some form of intelligence. Within this scope it proposes a series of new views on corporate reporting and assurance within the focus of the basic intelligence function and increasing complexity of data rich and overlaid processes. 2 Towards an Intelligent Audit: online reporting, online audit, and other assurance services Vasarhelyi Rutgers University 3BIntroduction Over the last five years we have witnessed critical change in technology and financial practices that will substantively change our view-of-the-world. While technological change does not per-se change financial practices and the need for verification, some forms of technological evolution require changes in audit processes. Technological tools create, change, and eliminate audit risks and opportunities, from very pedestrian issues to complex new audit exposures. Most of all new technological capabilities change the feasibility of certain reporting practices and the ensuing cost x benefit tradeoffs. Prawitt and RomneyD PPD state a series of new and increased risks evolving from emerging business technologies. These are listed in Table 1.