4 hours CPE!!

Topics

Data Analysis - Excel 2007 and ACL

Speakers

Patricia McCarthy (Excel 2007) and Michele Schaeffer (ACL)

Location

Crowe Horwath, LLP

3815 River Crossing Pkwy, Suite 300

Indianapolis, IN 46240

Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010

Time: 10:00AM to 2:30PM (Lunch from Noon to 12:30PM)

Lunch provided by: Sahm’s Restaurant

Price: $60 for Members and $75 for Non-Members

Registration will be limited 40 individuals so register now!  Registration deadline is Tuesday, November 9, 2010 @ Noon.  

Speaker Bio

Patricia McCarthy

Patricia McCarthy has been in software training for over 16 years.  Many know her as the Excel Diva because of her popular blog entitled “Chatting About Excel and More” which can be found at http://excel-diva.blogspot.com. Her client list includes the Indiana CPA Society, where she was recognized with the Outstanding Discussion Leader award, as well as local companies such as Cummins, Delco Remy and Star Bank.  She is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and holds a M.B.A. from Babson College.  Patricia’s experience includes 12 years in industry in various internal audit and finance positions as well as a full-time lecturer in Management Information Systems at Butler University’s College of Business.  She has also lectured at other Indiana universities.

Patricia, in addition to being a software trainer and consultant, also writes CPE self study courses on software topics. She has just finished co-writing a course entitled “Audit and Analytical uses for Excel Filters and Tables”. Patricia is also a partner in CPASelfstudy.com, a CPE provider site that focuses on technology self study courses.

She has been a contributor to the Journal of Accountancy and has published articles in other magazines including The Account, a publication of the Indiana CPA Society as well as for other state society’s such as Missouri and Arizona.  She is a certified as a MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) expert in Excel.

Patricia joins us from Noblesville, IN and can be reached at 317-507-6834.

Topic Description – Excel 2007, Features from an Audit Perspective

Excel is a versatile tool and everyone recognizes that it can significantly increase your productivity; however, one overlooked feature is its ability to allow you to slice and dice your data to find anomalies in financial statements and other data.  

Patricia is first going to show you some simple shortcuts to increase your productivity.  She will then demonstrate the new Remove Duplicates feature that many of you will find helpful as you conduct duplicate payment audits.  The focus of this presentation is on data management and Patricia will overview how to effectively filter your data so that you see only what you want.  Features include: Efficient subtotaling, sorting by color and sorting by chronological month and how to apply conditional formatting to variances.  Pivot Tables and how to use them to rank the Top 10 or Top 50 Vendors will be demonstrated.  Finally, she will cover some simple functions and how they can be used in conjunction with Benford’s Law.  Patricia will reserve time for questions on these specific topics or others that may be of interest to you.  A link to self study course that covers much of this material will also be provided for those who want to walk through it at their own speed and at their convenience. 

Speaker Bio

Michele Schaefer, ACDA – Manager, ERP Control Specialists

Michele is a technology manager with over 9 years experience in supporting financial statement risk-based audits through the use of data analytics in Fortune 500 companies. Previously with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Michele has assisted both internal and external audit teams address SAS-99 requirements as well as coordinate efforts to provide for a more effective and efficient audit through the incorporation of technology for audit scoping and detail testing. She has presented and taught to various audiences on how to use technology platforms (including ACL, Microsoft Access, Excel and SQL) to perform process and query reviews, unusual transaction testing, process automation, data conversion accuracy and other ad-hoc data analysis.  

Topic Description – ACL, Getting the Maximum Value from ACL

The presentation will cover the importance of and ways to utilize the ACL software technology platform to perform data analytics with a focus on Fraud Detection and Cost Reduction.  It will also cover recommended steps for building a solid foundation to allow an internal audit department to move toward Continuous Auditing and Continuous Controls Monitoring. This two hour session is appropriate for all skill levels and will consist primarily of classroom instruction with real world examples provided by Michele. No computer required.