A web-based decision support system for the allocation of audit resources

Abstract

Internal auditing is a crucial business process, as it ensures that an organization’s operations run effectively and that the organization’s business documents are creditable. However, as auditing is an intensive process, the resources available are usually insufficient to conduct complete audits. It is therefore necessary to allocate audit resources in such a way that the overall risk to the organization is minimised. Furthermore, because large organizations can have a large number of departments that are separated geographically, it can be difficult to obtain input from all of the applicable role-players, such as auditors that have working knowledge of the departments and whose input can help reduce the risk faced by the organization. In this study a web-based decision support system is proposed that utilises various techniques, such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Method of Lagrange Multipliers, in order to determine audit resource allocations. The study also introduces a consensus technique that was specifically developed for use with the AHP. These techniques were implemented in a web-based system that produced repeatable, reliable results during testing. The system was also demonstrated to an industry representative that has experience with audits, who found the system to be highly usable and very versatile. The study makes several contributions to the fields of Auditing and Risk Management, and in a broader respect to the field of Information Security, as it proposes improvements to an existing audit method that is used to safeguard an organization’s crucial business information. The study follows a positivistic design and create approach, which includes a literature study, the development of a new web-based system, and the testing of said system