AUDIT ANALYTICS AUDIT

ESSAY 2
The Current State of
Continuous Auditing
and Continuous
Monitoring 1
Paul Eric Byrnes, CMA
Brad Ames, CPA, CISA, CRMA
Miklos Vasarhelyi, PhD
INTRODUCTION
The AICPA Assurance Services Executive Committee’s Emerging
Assurance Technologies Task Force is drafting a series of white papers to
serve as an update to the 1999 "Red Book" project entitled Continuous
Auditing (CICA/AICPA 1999). The primary purpose of this introductory
white paper is to facilitate an understanding of the extent to which the
applications of CA/CM have changed during the previous 12-year
period. In addition, this paper is designed to briefly explore related issues
and set the stage for associated white papers that will be subsequently
developed.
Data for this undertaking was collected using a two-phase approach.
First, a comprehensive, open-ended questionnaire was formulated and
distributed primarily to the Big 4 accounting firms in an effort to assess
variables pertinent to CA/CM usage and perspectives. Second, follow-up
interviews were conducted both to clarify survey responses as well as to
1 First published in October 2012 from the AICPA Assurance Services Executive Committee
(ASEC) Emerging Assurance Technologies Task Force.
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