A Standardized Financial Statement Auditing Framework for the CLOUD Ecosystem: Vol. 1

By: Robert Llewellyn Kilby, CPA, CITP, CCSK

The fact that you are reading the back of this SKYBLUE BOOK means you are well on your way to discovering how CLOUD computing has impacted business in the 21st century. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the sale of CLOUD technologies is increasing astronomically, revenue reaching $175 billion in 2015 and investment expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2020. Businesses and government agencies are increasingly moving their information assets to the CLOUD ecosystem, as CLOUD services are more robust, economical, cost effective, and agile than traditional data centers.

However, this shift to a new computing paradigm demands a change in the financial statement auditor's mindset. Because business transactions and financial controls no longer exist in traditional paper-based environments and because significant segments of business operations are outsourced to third-party service providers, it is challenging to conduct financial statement auditing in the CLOUD ecosystem. The agile, complex, and distributed nature of CLOUD technology exacerbates auditors' challenges.

Imagine being a financial statement auditor engaged to audit a client who has outsourced its online sales, benefits management, payroll, data warehousing, direct payroll, and tax deposits to third-party CLOUD service providers.

Imagine being an accounting professor with textbooks that barely cover CLOUD auditing. You find yourself constrained by resources that are not designed for the 21st-century business environment.

Imagine being an accounting student and paying hundreds of dollars for accounting materials that cover little, if any, information about auditing financial transactions in the CLOUD. Consider also that the smartphone you use for course registration, online purchases, tax filing, and online banking are all connected to computer systems in the CLOUD. When you venture into the business world, you will be faced with the challenge of auditing these and many other automated business processes.

Imagine being a chief financial officer who oversees the internal audit of your company's e-commerce transactions, electronic tax filings, and online banking, all of which have been outsourced to multiple CLOUD providers and financial institutions.

This SKYBLUE BOOK - the first of a three-volume series - will inform your understanding of the dynamic and agile nature of CLOUD technologies and will teach you how to navigate the nuances involved with auditing financial statements in the CLOUD. The book provides the knowledge and hands-on training needed to navigate the nuances involved with auditing in the CLOUD ecosystem and includes topics such as "Constructing Accounting Cycles in the CLOUD," "Testing Segregation of Duties in the CLOUD," "Constructing Transaction Cycles in the CLOUD," "Continuous Auditing in the CLOUD," and much more.

Whether you are fresh out of college with a degree in accounting, an auditor in public or private practice, a tenured accounting professor, a chief financial officer, or an accounting manager of a government agency, you will find the SKYBLUE BOOK series an invaluable tool in your daily work.

About the Author

Robert Llewellyn Kilby is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA and a Certified Technology Professional (CITP). Kilby is a former writer for the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA) CPA exam and the (AICPA) Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) exam. Having 25 plus years of experience, Kilby has spent time auditing for federal and state government programs and Fortune 500 Companies in the U.S.