An International Meeting of the American Accounting Association 2005 Annual Meeting August 7–10, 2005 San Francisco, California Come to the City by the Bay!

Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Monday, August 8, 2005

Session 24
Process Auditing: Welcome to the Real World!

Presenters:
Brad S. Trinkle, The University of Alabama
Marco Lam, The University of Alabama
Amelia A. Baldwin, The University of Alabama

Description:
We explain an assignment used to expose students to a "real world" internal control process audit. Accounting information systems, audit, and internal audit instructors can use this active/service learning case to measure students’ ability to apply, in a practical setting, the wide range of skills they have developed. We describe the case, student experiences, and results.

Through the exercise, senior accounting students use the teamwork, presentation skills, as well as written and verbal communication to gain a better understanding of the systems audit, flowchart and documentation processes, and the interpersonal skills required for conducting an audit. Students have completed an internship and are in their last month of undergraduate study.

Students select a process from a business to audit. This process may be any process involving the flow of cash or paperwork. The students pretend their audit firm has been hired to perform a process audit for the client and to offer suggestions for improvement. The students develop their own audit plan, perform the audit, create the documentation for the system, and write up and present their results without further formal instructions. Thus, students use their creative abilities and skill sets to solve an actual "real-world" problem.

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