Auditing Softwares: IDEA and Teammate

Purpose
IDEA is a data analysis software tool that accelerates performance when analyzing data,
guarantees data integrity, and enables effective, faster, and accurate audits. The purpose of IDEA
is to help make sense of massive amounts of data. It ensures that organizational data is gathered
and imported from various sources without compromising it. It is thus a replacement of
traditional manual audit methods (IDEA, 2020). IDEA makes it easier and better to manage data.
It is a powerful and comprehensive data analysis tool that efficiently and quickly analyses any
amounts of data. Teammate, on the other hand, is an audit management platform that allows for
the implementation of integrated analytics in the identification of risk, creation of assessment
reports, allocation of resources, creation and management of audits, capturing expenses, and
other resources as well as scheduling projects.
Capabilities
The software has many capabilities. First, it enables one to perform many tests in a fast
manner. Such tests include gap detection, Benford’s law and summarization (IDEA, 2020).
Through IDEA, an auditor performs deep mathematical analysis of data. The software performs
mathematical equations on massive sets of data through scripting and python-based analytics. It
allows for easy access and installation of other applications that further assist in data analysis.
Thousands of professionals working in different organizations rely on IDEA in analyzing
data because the software is flexible; it allows for the importation of data from any source since
it has data conversion capabilities. Besides, the software’s power is exceptional; it allows for
100% analysis of data and the use of audit routines that are specific to a particular industry
(IDEA, 2020). The software has tens of functions that are audit specific, and this enables
professionals to get deep insights concerning the data being analyzed. These functions make it an
ideal audit tool preferred by accountants, auditors, data analytics, and finance professionals.
Teammate is integrated software that can be used to manage all areas of the audit process.
It is a flexible tool that can be configured to meet the needs of any company regardless of its size
(Teammate, 2020). It is scalable, thus can manage small or massive data depending on whether
the size of the audit department. The software provides user-defined and customizable
dashboards; thus, the user has a view of all the key data and using the drill-down option, can
access any underlying details. It is thus user-friendly. The software has user-defined fields, and
this allows the user to control calculations and risk weightings to ensure that they align with their
specific risk assessment methodology. Through the software, the audit department can identify
risks and come up with assessment reports.
Benefits
IDEA presents several benefits to the user. First, it makes it easy to connect and
consolidate data. It is safe to use as it protects data integrity. Through its read-only access
function, the tool ensures that data accessed is not altered in any way (IDEA, 2020). It provides
many different functions that allow for robust data analysis and thus provides deep insights to the
user. It makes it easy to explore and visualize data through visually pinpointing trends, patterns,

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and outliers. The audit tool also records every step of the analysis process, thus making it easy to
clearly see the audit trail in case repetitive analysis is necessary.
Teammate has various benefits to the user. First, it is extensively integrated with
Microsoft office thus very easy to use. It contains a variety of functions and content, and this
allows the professional using the software to build their own audit programs depending on the
needs of the company. The tool’s interface and design are easy to learn and use. It rules out the
possibility of duplication of testing since it has shared risk and control libraries. Teammate is an
integrated software, thus making it seamless to collaborate between knowledge sharing, audit
and compliance, efficiency as well as driving productivity (Teammate, 2020). Through
teammate, professionals are able to perform tasks that could not have been accomplished any
other way; thus, it provides value to the company. It enhances efficiency and saves up to twenty
hours each month. The software is similar to IDEA in that it also provides deep insights to the
user, making it easy to add value to decisions made based on data.
Application
Different companies have used IDEA to perform different audit functions. For instance, a
CPA firm in Houston used the tool to analyze a huge volume of data. They used data from eight
different companies and brought together more than four thousand intercompany transactions
(Caseware, 2020). They used the tool to match up the data and filter the transactions through and
were able to reach a comprehensive and cohesive conclusion. The business was a Ponzi Scheme.
IDEA helped the auditor track money from investors that were not legitimately being used for
business, but rather to pay out money in the form of dividends to other already existing investors.
Also, the software tool is used by small businesses to track transactions and know their profit
margins. Thus, the tool does not only handle huge and complex data, but it also performs simple
performs but is more efficient and helps save on time.
Teammate is used by auditors across the world to conduct their audit work faster,
accurately, and efficiently. The software is used to share audit information with key stakeholders.
Through the software, the data is made accessible to them and thus enables the management to
track objectives and progress of the company using the audit results (Kluwer, 2020). It makes it
unnecessary to prepare reports for presentation to the management for decision-making purposes.
In institutions of learning, Teammate is used to providing internal audits, consolidate data from
different departments. Also, these institutions use the software to train students taking audit as a
career. They are trained on how to use computer-aided audit tools as they are prepared for their
professional roles once they get employment.
IDEA would also be useful in the company to perform calculations. When compiling data
reports, it will help test for duplicate items or missing items. Besides, I would use the audit tool
to collect data from different departments and consolidate it for the generation of a complete
report on the performance of the company. Further, I would use a teammate to make my work
easier when using excel. I will use the software to perform functions such as manipulating and
cleansing data to ensure it is ready for analysis. Further, I will use the tool to analyze receivables,
payables, expenses, non-current assets and inventory. These are areas that are hard to analyze
manually, but it will be easier using the software. Overall, using teammate, I will process
predefine analytic results that can be understood by other users who do not necessarily have
knowledge on how to use codes or scripting language.

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References

IDEA. (2020). IDEA Audit Software | IDEA Data Analysis Software | IDEA. Retrieved 26 June
2020, from https://idea.caseware.com/products/idea
Caseware. (2020). Why this CPA firm uses IDEA instead of Excel – IDEA. Retrieved 26 June
2020, from https://idea.caseware.com/why-this-cpa-firm-uses-idea-instead-of-excel
Teammate. (2020). TeamMate. Retrieved 26 June 2020, from
https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/teammate
Kluwer, W. (2020). Teammate Audit. Retrieved 26 June 2020, from
https://chapters.theiia.org/newfoundland-
labrador/Events/ChapterDocuments/TeamMate%20Solutions%20Overview.pdf