The Continuous Audit of Online Systems

The evolution of MIS technology has affected traditional auditing and created a new set of audit issues. This paper focuses on the Continuous Process Auditing System (CPAS) developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories for the Internal Audit organization. The system is an implementation of a Continuous Process Audit Methodology (CPAM) and is designed to deal with the problems of auditing large paperless database systems. The paper discusses why the methodology is important and contrasts it with the traditional audit model. An implementation of the continuous process audit methodologyis discussed. CPAS is designed to measure and monitor large systems, drawing key metrics and analytics into a workstation environment. The data are displayed in an interactive mode, providing auditors with a work platform to examine extracted data and prepare auditing reports. CPAS monitors key operational analytics, compares these with standards, and calls the auditor’s attention to any problems. Ultimately, this technology will utilize system probes that will monitor the auditee system and intervene when needed.