The importance of IT audits performed as part of an accounting audit continues to grow. As organizations increasingly rely on automation to manage their financial data and reflect it in their ERP, and as they move to the cloud, IT audits will become increasingly important. An IT audit performed as part of an accounting audit evaluates the systems and infrastructure associated with financial data to ensure that the integrity of the financial data is intact. They comprehensively assess an organization's policies and operations and internal controls to ensure that the controls over financial data are secure, compliant with industry regulations, and functioning optimally. An IT audit has the advantage of significantly reducing the amount of time spent in an accounting audit if the data produced by the system or infrastructure is assessed as adequate for the extent of IT reliance.  

Understanding IT audits

A systematic evaluation of an organization's information technology operations and infrastructure, with an emphasis on system security, compliance, and internal controls, is known as an IT audit. An IT audit's main aims are to find potential security issues or fraudulent behavior, pinpoint areas for improvement, and offer confirmation that the organization is accomplishing its goals. 

The importance of IT audits

IT audits play an important role in protecting organizations from unauthorized data access or misuse, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations and standards such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). They also help organizations identify areas for process improvement, which contributes to achieving organizational goals. IT audits also ensure that systems are operating securely and effectively.

The IT audit process

A risk assessment is usually the first step in an IT audit, and it assesses the APP/DB/OS/NW Layer for the size of the hazards that have been discovered. IT auditors examine the organization's policies and processes relating to information technology infrastructure and operations with the goal of discovering any hazards to data security or compliance. System configuration, security settings, user access rights, admin privileges, modification processes, and backup procedures are all included in the review's purview. After this assessment is finished, the auditor offers suggestions for making processes and procedures better correspond with the objectives of the business. 

IT audits frequently reveal inadequate user access privileges, subpar backup procedures, a lack of documentation, inadequate training, outdated software, unpatched vulnerabilities, and weak passwords. Based on these observations, organizations might alter their practices in order to ultimately achieve their goals more successfully.

A process and technique linked with an organization's IT systems are evaluated as part of an IT audit to identify areas that can be improved. Also, it evaluates the efficiency of a company's internal security controls, which can assist a company strengthen its control environment and enhance resource management. 

As such, an IT audit performed as part of an accounting audit serves to provide reasonable assurance that the financial data disclosed is free from manipulation and, to the extent that it is IT-dependent, has the advantage of being more cost-effective than an accounting audit. This can provide stakeholders with confidence that the organization is achieving its goals.