Auditing for Managers: The Ultimate Risk Management Tool
Member reviews of the latest professional texts.
Auditing for Managers: The Ultimate Risk Management Tool
By K. H. Spencer Pickett and Jennifer M. Pickett
Copyright 2005
ISBN: 978-0-470-09098-5
Paperback, 366 pages
John Wiley & Sons Publishing
REVIEWED BY
Deniece Brittingham, CFSA
As many auditors and managers are well aware, the current business environment has created a demand for skilled auditors that far outreaches the availability of talented staff to meet an organization's needs. Auditing for Managers: The Ultimate Risk Management Tool addresses this problem and aims to be a resource for managers who may not possess specialty knowledge of internal auditing. Authors K.H. Spencer Pickett and Jennifer M. Pickett have taken an educational, jargon-free approach to informing managers about how valuable an internal audit review can be for their organization and how they can implement such a program.
The book's format is easy to follow and flows smoothly from topic to topic. Each chapter begins with scenarios that many managers will easily relate to, provides examples of a variety of reviews that can be used to evaluate the scenarios, and identifies pitfalls or drawbacks that may be encountered during the process, such as making assumptions at the beginning of the review that you will work to support or overlooking a weakness because you "know" the control works. Each chapter ends with a "check your progress" quiz that helps illustrate covered concepts, allowing the reader to determine what concepts are fully understood or areas that may need to be revisited.
The authors provide wonderful examples of "old thinking, new dimensions, and suitable examples," as well as enlightening charts and graphs. I especially appreciated the humor written into the examples, which can help managers realize that auditing does not need to be left solely to the audit experts, but rather requires a change in mindset of how things are interpreted. For example, the authors point out that a change in management style can be beneficial in getting results where the old ways of invoking change left employees believing their manager was a "monster" who enforced rules or the "joker" who made life easy. The new methodology is perceived as a middle road known simply as a "manager." Unlike a technical book on the subject, Auditing for Managers: The Ultimate Risk Management Tool informs and amuses. However, don't be fooled by its lighthearted approach; this book is a great learning resource.
I recommend this book to managers and auditors alike who are attempting to implement or enhance their organization's risk management processes. As an internal auditor with a small nonpublic company starting its first formal audit function, I'm sure I will refer to my copy many times in the future to help reinforce my selling skills during internal training classes.
Deniece Brittingham, CFSA, has more than 10 years of experience in audit and compliance within the financial services industry and the public and government sectors. Brittingham currently serves as the chair of the Certification Committee for The IIA's St. Louis Chapter.