Working Bees, Aren’t We?

When the fiscal year-end is approaching, I am always amazed with what our chapter has achieved each year since 2007. True is the fact that we have a small group of people. However, it seems we keep buzzing among ourselves, and secretly to others sometimes, delivering training events and useful information to our members and non-members alike.

I would think the chapter delivers the most CPE credits in town compared to other local chapter of other professional associations. If I am mistaken, I am waiting for a challenge. My satisfaction of being involved with the chapter’s board is to see many people attending our events and saying about our events in a positive way. We just try to do the best we can, not just getting by. There are several working bees, indeed, within our group. With different roles and duties, we together are doing great.

One may say “are you self-proclaiming?”. Well, this year we have achieved ”Gold Chapter” status informally already. Something I am always proud of even though it is always on the radar but actually it is never our real focus.Last year among 12 Canadian chapters, 11 chapters achieved Gold Chapter status, including our chapter. Quite a few achieved “Platinum Chapter” by retaining their Gold Chapter for over 10 years consecutively.  We are at the half way of that (my) dream. How exciting! 

It is motivating to see ourselves as working bees. There are times I feel tired, less motivated with the work required and group dynamics. But when I see other bees buzzing and producing honey, my “bee instinct” is refreshed.  I wonder if real bees ever feel the same. Buzzzzzzing away!

“Adding Value to Your Organization”

On Wednesday March 14, 2012, it will be the first chapter luncheon that has a three-speaker panel to participate and share their experience and insight to our members and other participants. Thanks to the leadership of Offfice of Auditor General of BC  (OAG BC) that kindly offers this opportunity to local professionals. 

A panel of senior executives from the Office of the Auditor General will discuss adding value to your organization through financial, performance and information technology audits. The panel will speak about control environments, risk management, governance practices in the performance audit environment, and other matters.

I only hope that other fellow professionals, not limited to auditing field, will be interested in this learning opportunity and join us in this luncheon. OAG BC has been active in sharing its leadership and knowledge through our chapter in the past, including the Auditor General himself, and several directors, on various intersting topics.  I really look forward to attending this event.

 

IT Audit Course – Interesting?

In the next two days, our chapter will deliver the IT audit workshops which we have not had anything like this program since….ever. Yes, this will be the first time that our chapter deliver the IT audit training. I was so excited and was probably the first participant to register.

Well, based on our member survey last, this topic was on top of the radar. For some reasons, the turnout may not be so great but at least the chapter keeps it going. Thanks for the instruction for helping this event happen.  When I thought the last time I had an IT audit workshop which was around late 2005 or so, there were over 30 people attending that program.  The majority of attendees were from the internal audit shop for the government. I thought it was such a good idea to have all auditors get some IT background on general and transaction controls since they are so useful when we do most of the internal audit projects.  This is always part of information systems and that is where general auditors should know those basic controls, I believe.

Anyhow, I am so looking forward the training tomorrow. There will be some non-auditor attendees which I think it is always a pleasure to see non-members attending our events. I just think whether this kind of course would work for finance/ accounting professionals if we deliver in Nanaimo….  I will have to check with our potential audience.

The Unforeseen Benefits

Almost five years ago when I was interested in being part of the chapter board, I only expected that I would get to know more fellow internal auditors in town. I subsequently met lots of people. I also enjoyed helping the chapter get going with chapter newsletters, website and later PD program. Given the size of our chapter, it was great to see how fast we grew even though along the process the chapter needed to do a good amount of work in setting up and rolling the program and etc. Then, I found some other unforeseen benefits.

What I did not expect was the exposure to how each chapter worked with the IIA HQ. I only realized the fact that the IIA organization was driven by volunteers – starting right from the local chapter level. I met with other Canadian chapter leaders and the representatives at the national level. Some of them totally impressed me in the level of their involvement and drive for the betterment of our professional. In my view, and you would agree, in a volunteer organization, it is much harder to steer all efforts to the same goals with an ideal pace. It was an eye-opening experience. It was inspiring to see how many others worked together for our profession.

Now that Canadian Council is working on establishing the Canadian Institute of Internal Auditors, it is another great opportunity to see how the initiative has been evolved. Not all steps would be considered perfect and it is moving ahead gradually at the outset but more quickly at the moment as all milestones are set. Local members have opportunities to get involved at the national and international levels through being part of the local chapter. Attending a Canadian National Conference is another venue that we can connect with other fellow internal audit practitioners.

I would encourage IIA members to get involved with their local chapter or attending a Canadian National Conference (this year in Montreal – you may need to persuade your employer a bit more.) or other IIA conferences. It is always motivating attending that type of events. We will never know what benefits we would get from the decision to be a bit more involved with your profession’s organization.

Oh! Holidays Were Gone. What’s Next?

Believe it or not that the first half of the fiscal year has gone and so have long holidays. No more carol singing but Rose Carousel at Butchart Gardens is still open, I suppose.  

In the past, December was always a quiet month. No event. No board meeting. Nothing much went on. The last December was different as we had the fraud conference held on Dec 2. The Program team was busy, organizing all logistics and making a great event happen. Thanks to Nijjy, Graham and Tanya.  I hope I can get some pictures to share over here.  Our program team also worked hard over the holidays season to ensure we ensured we would have PD events lined up nicely in Winter months.

Now we have three events ready for January to March. We will shortly finalize the events to be held in Spring. I hope this year we will be able to do get input from members and plan for the next fiscal year events earlier, perhaps before the AGM in June. Looking back, we actually had several very good sessions this year. I am sure we will have some more!

Change Is Good Except That Kind of Change!

Our chapter’s leaders love changes - not those changes in the picture but those that make our members gain more benefits or enjoy greater convenience from our events.

In the old days (several years ago), we collected registration fees in cash or cheque at the event. All manual receipts were prepared and you could imagine how busy it was for the organizers and lining participants alike.  Now we process all payments through the registration system which provides greater convenience for fee payments and automatic confirmation and payment receipts. Registered participants presently just come in, sign up, and enjoy the event without having to worry in getting their receipt. Our pre-payment process also ensures the chapter’s pocket would not have a hole if there were no-shows.

Another change we made was the location of the IIA-Certification Exam site. Prior to 2010, our chapter members had to travel to the mainland for their exam. The costs of traveling and accommodation were probably more expensive than the exam registration fees.  Candidates also likely felt more stressful than they would have been if they could take their exam in town. We relentlessly communicated with the IIA-HQ and tried to find our way to get an exam site in Victoria. Finally, we found one. Now candidates would have less costs and stress to go through for their pursuit of IIA certification.

There were other changes in the back-office operations that makes sure our financial reporting are more transparent. Since last fiscal year, we have had an accounting system in place and the F/Ss were properly prepared for the presentation in the AGM meeting.

All changes are good in my view except one kind of change - a last-minute change in out-of-town speakers.. You have experienced this sort of change from time to time. Every time we had one, it made us nervous, particularly a full or multiple days event. Fortunately, we were able to deal with such changes.

Lots of thanks to our local speakers who normally help us out!

The Ultimate Fraud Awareness Program in Town is Coming on Dec 2, 2011

I am confident that I am not exaggerating this blog title on our 4th annual fraud awareness program which will be held at the Union Club of BC on Dec 2, 2011. Whether or not it is really the ultimate one does not matter. What we care is to ensure it is a quality one, equally or better than the past year events.

The previous fraud conference, which now we call it differently for a purpose, received the warm welcome from both local IIA members and other professional association members who were interested in fraud related topics. Our chapter is the only association who delivers this type of fraud awareness program in Victoria over years as far as I am aware of. ACFE does not have a local chapter on Vancouver Island. They usually co-host with IIA Vancouver Chapter for a 2.5-day fraud conference in Vancouver.

I am delighted that we will have a very strong group of speakers to participate in our event. First of all, Ross McGowan is a partner from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Ross participated in our event in 2008 and 2009. Although he did not join us in 2010 in Victoria, he presented a great fraud related topic in the 3rd IIA National Conference in Vancouver. He was evaluated by our participants as one of the top speakers and he is back this year!  We will also have Dan Peck from The Provincial Government of BC. Dan is a very experienced investigator and his presentation, I am sure, will blow your mind away. To prove it, register for your seating. Another speaker who is back by demand is Jerome Malysh from Malysh Associates Consulting Inc.  Last year was the first year he participated in our event and we cannot wait to listen to his presentation this year. Lastly we will have Jeff Burton, a highly experienced detective. How did we find him to speak for us?  Confidential information.

We probably have over 50 participants this year and that is a great opportunity for all participants to mingle, exchange conversations, and get some networking connected. You would not believe how great our registration fees are. That really makes this event the ultimate fraud awareness program in town!!!

To register or for more info (the registration deadline is Nov 25, 2011) http://www.gifttool.com/registrar/ShowEventDetails?ID=1902&EID=10782

Promotion Tactics? Of Course, We Always Need Them!

In the early days of our chapter back to 2007, it was so hard to get a good number of our members to attend our luncheon or workshop events. Why? We only targeted our members – a pool of less than 100 members, assuming there would be a sufficient number of registration. We bombarded them quite a few emails of the same message and hoped that the number would improve. No, it did not work out well, not until we aimed for other potential audience – non-members.

As a small chapter, we began to look for allies for event information exchange. The first stop was the Alliance of Professional Associations inVictoria. The relationship worked out okay for a while but unfortunately faded away. We then looked for specific contacts to other professional associations, particularly the local chapter of accounting bodies in addition to IT auditing organization (ISACA).  To some extent, it worked. We knew that we needed to reach out more audience. Otherwise, our operations would never be financially sustainable.

We also searched our potential audience based on a presented topic through the government’s directory system. This was a tedious task and I am glad we no longer do this.  Fortunately, this tactic worked quite well with a careful design of event notices and speaker selection. People heard more of our events. At our fraud conference in 2008, we had almost 70 registrants for a two-day event. Wow, that was something.  I still remembered lots of details and the atmosphere of that event. Later, we started to have returning attendees who were a good mix of members and non-member.

The range of attendance in the old days would be around one digit number to less than 20 participants. Now we consistently have about 20-30 participants over the past year.  What I am grateful is that we have had good speakers/ instructors (mostly) for our events. We do our best to ensure the quality of speakers and relevant presented topics as we can. We tried new topics a couple times. Mostly it turned out good.  Now we only focus on maintaining our attendee bases and being more progressive for particular events.

Going forward, our chapter has marketing work to do.  We have thought to organize events up the island. Our Membership Chair went to Nanaimo to promote IIA and membership benefits. In the next year or two, we should be able to work with the local professional chapters over there as we have established some contacts with a couple of them. We also wants to do more of advocacy effort – something that we have to think really hard how to, given our little resources.  Any ideas?

Professional Relationship – A Delicate Matter?

Lady Gaga once said if there was no love, there was no trust. How can internal auditors like us …. build love so that our clients can put their trust on us? There is no doubt that this is a delicate matter. We must pay attention to details of what we do and the tone and nuance of what say (verbally or in writing) not only from our dear audit work but also from our relationship building with those who we are professionally fond of i.e. audit committee and senior management.

I feel there is a curse being an internal auditor (It would be the same case for external auditors, I believe.). Auditees tend to be cautious, concerned or even intimidated. This may be evident by their nervousness, hesitation or defensiveness to our visit or even a conversation with us. Very few would open their arms to auditors at the first place. Thinking harder, well it might as well be like our personal relationship. Very few of us may had “love at first sight”. Most of us probably had to work hard on it before love was earned. Some said persistence is the key. The thing is that we hardly think this way and plan ahead to work harder if our professional love has not been cultivated to trust.

How about our audit committee’s relationship? It is supposed to be a functional relationship. meaning more important than others. If dual (reporting) relationships can be effectively achieved, it must be in a perfect environment, I guess.  Dim lights, exceptional culinary delights, wine, flower scents, etc… If not, I believe love can still be achieved. We would need to find a way to make a connection and go from there strategically. 

Trust is always hard to earn. When we earn it, it will be worth wide in whatever relationship.  Make a move!

iReal World of Internal Auditors

Imagine. Your internal audit world has a clear line of independency. Your audit committee is equipped with high calibre members asking right questions to all management, external auditor and you, the internal auditor.  You are provided with the full authority necessary to assist them discharge their fiduciary duty. 

Your management supports strong corporate governance and considers you as one of the key players in the business – adding values through assurance and consulting assignments and being part of the company’s strategic goals. Your auditees keep asking you when your team will come back to provide audit services in their area. Your report gets management’s response in two weeks and the audit committee is happy to see your audit’s results and management responses.  The Chair of the committee annually pays a visit to your internal audit shop, causally talking with each staff member about the organization, people and your reports.

Yes, we are part of the corporate governance. We serve all stakeholders. We are internal auditors. Happy ideal internal audit world.

I believe many internal audit shops in the world enjoy their time demonstrating value added and enhancing their relationship with all stakeholders.  However, some of us may be facing a challenging time at the project level (to meet deadlines), the organizational level (to increase their shop’s profile and be more independent) and at the professional level (to gain the public and stakeholder’s trust of their internal auditors and to be a professional of choice for younger generations).

I still recall a speaker from a conference saying he never saw internal auditors being rich!  (a takeaway)  Perhaps it is so true, I am not sure.  What I know is that we say what we think, with our professional and objective mind, what is right and what it should be, and we deliver our message (opinion and recommendations) strategically so that the ultimate outcomes we seek come true - sooner or later.  Happy internal auditing!