Microsoft collaborates with AICPA using Audit Data Standards with Dynamics
One of the challenges that management and auditors face is obtaining accurate data in a usable format following a repeatable process. Seeking to increase audit efficiency, the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee’s Emerging Assurance Technologies Task Force developed voluntary, uniform audit data standards to help address this challenge.
While collaborating with the AICPA, Microsoft has developed a demo of how Dynamics ERP customers can use Management Reporter to help share their data with their auditor, following the Audit Data Standards.
The following video walks you through an example, using Microsoft technologies to ensure that the collaboration is secure at all levels. This solution can be implemented for Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP or Dynamics SL. We’ve also included suggestions on how to use features in Management Reporter to make the process easily repeatable each month. And, the process can be implemented by the Finance Department, not requiring technology requests into IT.
Before you watch the video, please note that the accountant would already have set up a few things in Management Reporter:
- Created reports that become the basis of their ADS data files. We’ve published templates of these reports below and they can imported using the Management Reporter process to import files
- Put the reports that need to be compiled for the audit into an Management Reporter report group so the reports can be generated together, and later downloaded to Excel as a single file
- Published the report group to a SharePoint document library and created an alert on the library to be notified when new items are added
You can view more details of this in the video below.
Microsoft Dynamics and AICPA Audit Standards
Collaborate securely
As you saw in the video, we’ve suggested using a password encrypted Microsoft Excel file, posted to a secure Microsoft SkyDrive location that has been shared with your auditor. SkyDrive also allows you to set up an alert to notify the auditor when a new file is available. Keep in mind that you do have alternatives to using SkyDrive, such as directly emailing the encrypted Excel file or posting it to an FTP site.
Download Management Reporter templates
Attached below are the Management Reporter templates that map to the Audit Data Standards. These templates will help you create the files for the AICPA General Ledger standards. The templates can be updated to include data for your company, such as your specific chart of accounts. The templates for Dynamics AX and Dynamics GP are slightly different, due to variances in the GL data structures in each product.
I hope this helps…
Until next post!