Audit Department Strategy for Responding to the Current Pandemic Crisis

Anand Bhakta is the Sr. Director of Risk Solutions at AuditBoard, a cloud-based software platform to help streamline and automate internal audit and compliance activities and a Principal at SAS, a boutique firm focused on Information Technology (IT) Controls and advisory services. He has over fifteen years of IT audit and consulting experience. Anand specializes in risks and controls related to the implementation of ERP systems, and he has helped various multinational companies evaluate and/or implement application controls in ERP systems including Oracle Financials, SAP, and PeopleSoft. Anand is recognized for his ability to develop and implement auditing and data analysis tools. Additionally, he has assisted clients comply with Sarbanes-Oxley from both an advisory and attestation perspective. Anand graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a degree in Accounting and Information Systems. Previously, Anand was an executive at Ernst & Young LLP in the Technology and Security Risk Services (TSRS). In his role at Ernst & Young LLP, he designed and developed procedures and tools to help clients perform continuous monitoring, as well as evaluate Segregation of Duties controls. Anand is an experienced trainer and has designed and conducted multiple technical training sessions including Oracle application controls, data analysis, Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance, and IT general controls.

Scott Madenburg is a Market Advisor at AuditBoard, supporting organizations, both large and small, transforming their audit, SOX, and risk management through best-in-class technology solutions. Scott has over 20 years of global experience in the areas of audit, risk, and compliance. Beginning his career at Arthur Andersen, Scott transitioned to internal audit with Fox Entertainment & News Corporation and then spent several years at Rovi Corporation, where he helped lead operational and IT audits, SOX compliance, consulted on business process improvements, and participated in multiple ERP implementations and M&A activities. Prior to joining AuditBoard, Scott was the Chief Audit Executive at Mobilitie, where he built the internal audit function from the ground up to a six-person department focusing on agile audits, SOX readiness, risk management, and cyber and IT security compliance.

As many forward-thinking and contemporary auditors are aware, business continuity issues won't stop with the Coronavirus. These process breakdowns will result in new negative risk events being triggered, which will have a compounding effect on your organization's ability to increase market share, drive revenue, create new products and services, manage human resources, and maintain costs. Now more than ever, our organizations will need to rely on internal audit departments to provide assurance on the organization's critical processes and departments responsible for managing and mitigating key risk events.