Wow, I can’t believe this is going to be my last entry! The past couple of months have flown by so fast. A lot has happened and continues to occur at the firm. We are continuing to do planning for clients which we will be going out to in the next couple of months. This is one of the most important parts of the SOX world. Usually a month before we are scheduled to start testing we must go out to the client and assess their current controls. Part of this is updating any narratives or flow charts that the companies may have. This allows us to see if processes have changed within the accounting and information technology functions.

Currently, I am working on assessing controls for a new client for 2009. Since it is a new client we must first start looking at the company’s controls from last year and see if we agree that the controls were adequate. If there are gaps between controls, we will identify them and talk to management about how they should put the control into place. We will create risk assessments and control matrixes which are large tables that give detail about the controls. Also test plans which give the auditor a plan on how to test the controls will need to be created. Along with test plans, document request are created using the test plans. We will try to leverage the detail of how the controls were tested prior but will also create things according to the SMART methodology.

I will be going out to a weight-loss company, which I have worked at for the past two summers, next week. We will also be starting to assess the controls and update the narratives which we have created. This client is a good client overall. So for most of the summer I will be out at this client testing SOX controls. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be very busy, which I am happy for! It will definitely keep me out of trouble!

Well I guess that is enough about the accounting world. I hope everyone has a great summer and look out for me next fall on campus during recruiting events!