In the world of auditing, data is at the heart of making informed decisions and identifying potential risks. With the rise of big data and the increasing complexity of business processes, traditional auditing methods alone may no longer suffice. This is where Alteryx, a powerful data analytics and process automation platform, comes into play. In this article, we will explore various use cases of Alteryx for auditing and how it can revolutionise the way audits are conducted.
Alteryx Use Case 1: Alteryx for Finance Professionals
Reference: https://www.alteryx.com/solutions/department/tax-audit-office-finance
In today’s dynamic business environment, the value of data in the Tax, Audit, and Finance functions cannot be overstated. Rapid changes to regulation and an analytically literate workforce drives significant innovation in areas as diverse as general ledger management, cost-centre controlling, payroll, and accounts payable. This is where Alteryx comes in, providing invaluable support to finance professionals in streamlining their data-driven processes.
One of the significant challenges for finance professionals is the time and effort spent on manual data gathering and reconciling business and legal entities. These tasks are often accompanied by the generation of internal and regulatory reports. Alteryx helps address this challenge by offering a solution that reduces the reliance on spreadsheet-driven data manipulation and allows for more repeatable, collaborative analysis and insight.
With Alteryx, finance professionals can shift their focus from mundane data manipulation tasks to more strategic activities. The platform enables users to automate data gathering and reconciliation, eliminating the need for laborious manual processes. This automation not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors that can occur during manual data handling.
Alteryx Use Case 2: Alteryx for External Audit
Reference: https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Community-Lounge/Using-Alteryx-in-External-Audit/td-p/429798
Professionals in the realm of external audit are increasingly turning to Alteryx as a powerful tool to optimise their tasks. With its versatile capabilities, Alteryx streamlines and enhances various aspects of the auditing process.
Alteryx proves invaluable for simplifying tasks such as filtering transactional data to generate listings based on specific GL codes. Additionally, it serves as a reliable platform for formatting, data cleansing, and merging system-generated reports, ensuring consistency throughout the audit.
Additionally, Alteryx effectively leverages its capabilities in Journals testing. By utilising a join operation on the opening and closing TB, professionals can easily search for new GL codes. Alteryx then performs a completeness cheque by summing all the debits and credits from the transactional data and reconciling them with the closing TB.
You can find more examples at Alteryx. For example, one user @IK123, has built a workflow that automates reconciliations through optical character recognition (OCR) on reports and documents. This workflow is particularly useful for bank reconciliations. Another user, @cgoodman3, has created a workflow that utilises OCR to search through a large number of documents downloaded from Companies House using specific search criteria.
By harnessing the power of Alteryx, professionals in the field can revolutionise their auditing processes, achieving greater efficiency and accuracy.
Alteryx Use Case 3: KPMG Netherlands: Improving Audit Productivity with Alteryx
During audit reporting periods, the Digital Assurance and Innovation (Dani) department of KPMG Netherlands faced challenges in delivering high-quality results to clients within tight deadlines, as well as handling data in various formats.
To address these challenges, the department turned to Alteryx as a robust solution. They developed customised Alteryx solutions packaged as macros, allowing users to configure them according to specific requirements. Notably, one solution automated the reconciliation process for bank statements and general ledger data. By leveraging optical character recognition (OCR) technology, Alteryx extracted and structured data from PDF bank statements. The extracted information underwent validation, comparison with the general ledger, and preprocessing and data cleansing steps. The final reconciliation results were exported and visualised through business intelligence (BI) tools, enabling accessible insights for auditors.
Alteryx empowered the department to meet tight deadlines, deliver high-quality results, and handle diverse data sets efficiently. Its integration streamlined pre-processing tasks, reduced manual errors, and enhanced overall efficiency. By leveraging Alteryx’s automation capabilities, the department achieved significant time savings and improved productivity.
Conclusion
Overall, Alteryx is a powerful platform that enables auditors to harness the potential of data and unlock valuable insights. With its automation capabilities, advanced analytics features, and collaborative tools, Alteryx revolutionises the auditing landscape, enabling auditors to deliver more accurate, efficient, and impactful audits. As a trusted partner of Alteryx, equalOne is here to help businesses unlock the power of Alteryx and complete their digital transformation. Discover the benefits of Alteryx and embark on your journey towards enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in auditing with equalOne today.
