IT Audit & Types of IT Audit

The word ‘Audit’ coined from the Latin word ‘audire’ which means ‘to hear’. From the time of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, the practice of accounting and auditing existed. Auditing was executed in ancient India. Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’ existed in 4^th century BC in Mauryan period and carries great importance. He stated that the head of finance and audit should independently and individually report the king.

The Comptroller and Auditor General Of India was formerly called the Accountant General to the Government of India in 1858 and later labelled as the Auditor General of India in 1860. The Constitution Act, 1950, re-designated the Auditor General as Comptroller and Auditor General. It is understood that the first practice of a computerized accounting system was at General Electric in 1954. The industry soon recognized that they needed to develop their own software and the first of the generalized audit software (GAS) was developed. Information Technology Auditing (IT auditing) began as Electronic Data Process (EDP) Auditing and developed basically as a result of the rise in technology in accounting systems.

In 1977, the first edition of Control Objectives was issued. This publication is now identified as Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (CobiT). CobiT is the set of commonly accepted IT control objectives for IT auditors. In 1994, Electronic Data Processing Auditors Association (EDPAA) reformed its name to Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

IT Audit is defined as the procedure of collecting and evaluating evidence to decide whether a computer system safeguards assets, maintains data integrity, allows organizational goals to be achieved effectively and uses resources efficiently.

Let’s look at various types of IT audit that are conducted in software companies in India:

• Financial audits

A third-party inspection of a company's financial records and reporting initiates. Its objective is to review the financial statements; and to state whether these statements offer factual view of transactions performed by an organization.

• Operational audits

A future-oriented, systematic, and independent assessment of organizational activities of asp.net software companies in India. Financial data may be used, but the key sources of evidence are the operational policies and accomplishments related to organizational objectives. Internal controls and efficiencies may be assessed during this type of review.

• Integrated Audit

This is a grouping of an operational audit, department review, and IS audit application controls review.

• Forensic audits

An investigation and evaluation of a firm's or individual's financial facts for use as evidence in court. A forensic audit can be conducted in order to accuse a party for fraud, misuse or other financial claims.

• Investigative audits

This is an audit that takes place as a consequence of a report of unusual or doubtful activity on the part of an individual or a department of c# software company in India. It is usually engrossed on specific aspects of the work of a department or individual.

• Compliance audit

A compliance audit is an all-inclusive review of an organization's adherence to regulatory guidelines. Independent accounting, security or IT consultants assess the strength and thoroughness of compliance. For example, you may decide whether the business is complying with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards on the clearance of toxic waste. Or you may look at whether a credit card company is ensuing federal law with regards to charging its cardholders permissible fees and interest.

IT Audit helps ASP DOT NET software companies in India in numerous was such as:

• Protecting assets-h/w, s/w, people, files
• Preserving data integrity
• Letting organizational goal to be accomplished effectively and using resources efficiently
• Obeying the Compliances of Regulatory and Legal requirement
• Nonstop improvement