Personas

External Auditor

Testing whether Northfield's controls over financial reporting operated effectively, and whether sampled balances are supported.

Day in the life

Six weeks after close, works through a sample. Opens a certified reconciliation, checks the preparer and reviewer were different people and that role assignments at the time of approval support that, opens the attached evidence and agrees the balance, then follows a reconciling item to the correcting entry and on to the ERP document number. Where any link is missing, extends testing.

Frustrations

Evidence attached but wrong. Approvals timestamped before submission. Being told a preparer has left and nobody can explain an entry. Role histories that only show current assignments.

Success measure

Completing testing without extending scope, and finding what she expected to find.