Pwc Audit Transformation White Book

Simplifying the audit through innovation

2 Simplifying the audit through innovation

Simplifying the audit through innovation

New performanceSmoother workflows and stronger collaboration

New clarityConsistent execution and greater visibility

New perspectivesDeeper insights and advice

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TechnologyApproachPeople The PwC Audit

Innovation is imperative to managing the complexities of a business and being successful in any given environment. At PwC we’re doing just that—investing in leading-edge technology, significant process improvements, and leadership and performance development for our people. We are ushering in a new way of auditing that’s delivering high quality and unique insights to our clients. Vin Colman | US Assurance Leader


Flexible talent networkLocal teams Global delivery centers

Leading with the relevant skills

Performing standardized routine tasks

Plugging in during peak periods and supplementing teams by

delivering tailored knowledge

Simplifying the audit through innovation: People

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We are on the cutting edge of how to develop and deploy our people. This creates a model enabling us to better manage our staff—who performs the work, when and where. And we also connect you with experienced professionals who add to audit quality and deliver tailored business and industry knowledge.


Bringing skills you value: PwC Leadership Development Experience framework We’ve moved from an evaluative to a developmental framework for our people, focused on: leadership; relationships; and global, business and technical acumen. We build high-performing, responsive teams by providing in-the-moment feedback.

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Rewiring our staffing model to include shared services and a flexible talent networkUsing our shared service centers—what we call our Global Delivery Model (GDM)—means local teams spend less time on standardized/routine functional tasks and more time on analysis, understanding your business processes, and complex judgments, which leads to more insight for you. And when seasonal resources join the team at peak periods, it results in more traditional full-time resources who have better work/life balance and more engaging work with the objective of enhanced staff continuity— for your benefit and ours.

Shared services(GDM)

Local engagement team

Flexible seasonal talent

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After

The difference in our staffing mix


WhereHow When

More standardization with time for transparency and insights

Earlier, off-peak, better phasing

More centralization while tapping into the firm’s network

Simplifying the audit through innovation: Approach

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Moving the timing of our work earlier and more evenly throughout the year means smoother workflows for you and us. Continuously improving project management and transparency results in increased monitoring that we’re staying on track throughout the engagement.


Better sequencing the audit: Phasing and smart planningAs a firm, we’ve adjusted the timing of when we plan our audits, perform testing, and train our people to better align our process with your deadlines.

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Understand stakeholder expectations and

processes

Have a continuous improvement mindset

Identify inefficiencies

Measure results and adjust

Improve processes, standardize and eliminate waste

Determine root cause of process inefficiencies

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Building continuous improvement into the audit process: Engagement Performance and Quality (EPQ) frameworkFor individual engagements, we developed EPQ to apply Lean/Six Sigma techniques to continuously improve audit processes, with earlier identification and resolution of matters, smoother workflows and less stressful work conditions in peak periods.

Our Engagement Performance & Quality (EPQ) framework


ConnectAura Halo

Our global audit platform driving global quality

and consistency

Leading-edge technology designed to provide deeper

insights from data in real time

A collaborative workflow tool allowing fast, secure

information sharing

Simplifying the audit through innovation: Technology

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We are at the forefront of the profession by innovating the audit with three unique technologies — Aura, Halo and Connect.


Aura

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Aura, our global audit platform, is used by our 87,000 auditors worldwide on every PwC audit. It helps to make sure that things are done the right way—consistently and efficiently, globally and locally. The intended result is all of the elements of our audit fit together seamlessly—no duplications, no omissions.

Aura. Our global audit platform driving quality and consistency.

Aura’s key benefits:

Single instance global software with embedded industry IP enabling consistency, synergy and scale.

A systematic risk-based approach, meaning we focus on the things that matter.

Workflow technology that allocates audit procedures and individual tasks on personalized dashboards, enabling the timely execution and review of work.

A workshare interface for upload so shared service centers and audit teams can work more collaboratively.

Real-time monitoring of engagement progress—any time, anywhere, on any device to keep things on track.

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Consistency checks Aura includes built-in consistency checks, helping teams determine the right audit approach

Intelligent risk assessment Risk settings enable teams to tailor Aura to specific scenarios, taking into account risk levels, controls reliance and substantive testing

Risk libraries that help identify the right risks by industry sector

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Innovative interfaceEnables teams to work with the technology efficiently and intuitively

Automated workflowAura’s workflow technology allocates audit procedures and individual tasks, tracked on personalized and team dashboards

Aura workflow technology. Facilitates efficient review and supervision of audit work.


Access on the goAura Now provides a pulse on the progress of work across engagements while on the go

Aura Now. Real-time monitoring of engagement progress.

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Focusing effort With just a few clicks on a smartphone, tablet or laptop, progress is visualized, highlighting areas where we need to focus


Halo

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Halo is transforming the way we audit and unlocking a wealth of insight. It is leading-edge assurance technology that provides deeper real-time insight from data, allowing us more visibility into your business.

Anticipated audit areasJournal entries

RevenueReceivables

InventoryFixed assets

PurchasesPayables

Payroll

Halo’s key benefits:

Large volumes of transactions can be interrogated and analyzed. This helps us more efficiently assess risk and focus on items of significance to the audit.

Halo is designed to be able to work with information from multiple systems. This will make elements of Halo applicable to most of our clients.

Testing can be performed off-site and throughout the year, reducing surprises and facilitating a smoother process.

Halo’s built-in algorithms and visualizations help our teams understand your businesses and more efficiently provide meaningful insights.

Halo. Leading-edge technology designed to provide deeper insights from data in real time.

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Insight on usersMetrics provide a profile of users, highlighting unusual activity

Built-in knowledgeOur global knowledge and experience have been leveraged in building the algorithms embedded in Halo

Leading indicatorsFor example, a high volume of manual journals may indicate inefficient system usage or process complexity

Halo for Journals dashboard

A snapshot of your businessKey metrics and visualizations deliver valuable audit insights

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Why are there an unusually high number of postings just below your authorization limits?

Why are there unexpected journals posted to key accounts?

Halo for Journals. Helps us ask the right questions.

Are people posting entries twice, or reversing them?

Is someone outside of the finance department posting journals?

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We are building a number of Halo applications for different industries and risks. Here are a few examples.

Halo for SAPWill automate the testing of SAP configuration, and end-to-end process and underlying transactions, providing powerful insight into both the control effectiveness and operating efficiency of the business


Halo for Bank Interest IncomeWill test and recalculate interest income for retail banks and certain other financial institutions, to identify unexpected items or anomalies such as negative interest rates, zero balances or incorrect inception dates

We are building a number of Halo applications for different industries and risks. Here are a few examples.

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Halo for PerformanceWill analyze and benchmark key public market indicators and drivers of business performance to assess risk and help identify trends, insights and outliers


Connect

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Connect is our collaborative workflow tool, providing faster, more efficient and secure information sharing at each stage of the audit. It streamlines and monitors the PBC process on a real-time basis. It allows both you and us to check progress any time, anywhere.

Connect’s key benefits:

Access wherever you are. Connect is available worldwide, meaning PwC and clients can access and view information for their respective locations.

A secure web-based tool. With Connect, teams can request, access and exchange audit documents and deliverables, and review the status of information requests securely.

Workflow management. Connect provides better visibility into real-time request statuses, built-in tracking to help drive accountability, and much more.

Connect. Faster, more efficient and secure information sharing at every stage.

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Key activitiesNotification of up and coming activities and deadlines is shared with all team members

Real-time trackingThe Connect personalized dashboard allows you and audit teams to track status at an overall engagement and individual level

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The PwC Audit

We are constantly investing in new solutions to simplify the audit process. It is the blend of outstanding people with leading-edge technology and an innovative approach that makes the PwC difference.

The PwC Audit

© 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the United States member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. MW-15-1458

www.pwc.com

Pwc Audit Transformation White Book

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