Detailed description of the project procedure regarding Continuous Control Monitoring with zapAnalytics
This article describes the structured project process for collaboration with zapliance. Each step is clearly defined to ensure successful completion of the project. Please pay attention to the provided details and references to corresponding resources for further information.
1. Kickoff
After the contract is finalized and the onboarding period begins, the kickoff meeting takes place. The aim of the meeting is to align on the following points:
- Project Process: Determining the project process.
- CCM Objective: Aligning continuous control monitoring goals.
- Project Details: Definition of the analysis scope.
- Tool Landscape: Clarification of third-party tools that need to interact with zapAnalytics.
- Roles and Responsibilities: Clarification of project responsibilities (Project Manager, IT Admin, SAP Admin).
- Timeline: Start and end dates of the audit, frequency of continuous controls.
- Workshop Dates: Alignment on workshop schedules.
2. Technical Onboarding
The technical onboarding takes place in a separate meeting with the IT and SAP Admin. The goal is to resolve any technical details and open questions related to the provided documentation. Subsequently, the IT department takes over the technical setup.
IT-related topics:
- Infrastructure Setup:
Details can be found in the KB article: Onboarding IT admin - Hardware Requirements:
Detailed information is also available in the article: Onboarding IT admin
SAP-related topics:
- Provision of the RFC User:
Information on the configuration and provision of the RFC user can be found in the article: SAP user role permissions - SAP Connection Data:
The following SAP connection data must be provided:
- Detailed information can be found in the following KB articles:
Note: The duration of data processing depends on the volume of data for the specific project.
3. Installation Including First Data Processing
Installation and data extraction will take place in a separate meeting with the IT Admin. zapliance provides you with an installation bundle which includes the software as well as the Content-Bundle file.
Prerequisites for project creation:
- Data Scope and Audit Scope: These must be defined in advance, including:
- Which accounting entities, fiscal years, and SAP clients should be extracted?
- Important: SAP connection data must be available for project creation and should be provided by the SAP Admin in advance.
Note: The duration of data processing depends on the amount of data to be analyzed.
4. Results of First Data Processing
After successful data processing, the results can be transferred to third-party tools like Power BI, CRISAM, Excel etc. Your preferred tool and the respective prerequisites will be discussed with zapliance beforehand.
If Power BI is used, the following prerequisites are necessary:
- 16GB RAM on the virtual machine (VM) or the auditor's laptop.
- Installation of the latest version of Power BI Desktop.
Detailed setup information can be found in the article: PowerBI usage
Note: To ensure the successful execution of the workshops, zapliance must conduct a pre-analysis using your tool in which the results are displayed, e.g. the Power BI report. This may require providing zapliance with access to the tool and/or report.
If Power BI is used, following approaches can be used to grant access:
- Granting zapliance User Access to the Power BI Report:
You can grant a zapliance professional access to their Power BI report, published in the Microsoft Cloud. A Power BI Pro license is required to enable this setup. - Sending zapliance the Parquet Files:
Before the workshop pre-analysis, you can send zapliance the .parquet files containing the zapAnalytics results. zapliance can then build the Power BI report internally. - Access via Dedicated Server with Power BI:
Alternatively, you may set up a dedicated server where Power BI Desktop is installed and the zapAnalytics result files are stored locally. Access can be granted to zapliance through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Citrix or similar solution. All pre-analysis will be conducted on this server. - Using a Laptop or External Storage Device:
You may provide zapliance with a fully functional laptop or external storage device containing the zapAnalytics result files.
Regardless of the method chosen, it is important to ensure all required files and software components are accessible to facilitate the pre-analysis and workshop execution.
If other tools are used, the best approach to grant access will be discussed with zapliance.
5. Workshops
Important: Before the workshops, the customer's internal control system documentation must be provided to zapliance. It will serve as a guideline for preparation and alignment in workshop 3.
During the project, zapliance conducts three workshops with you to discuss the analysis results, the underlying methods and the CCM implementation. Each workshop lasts approximately two hours.
- Workshop 1: Understanding
In the first workshop, an overall view of the company is presented, along with an explanation of the CCM context.
- Workshop 2: Analysis of Results
In the second workshop, the analysis results are presented in detail within the chosen third-party tool (e.g. Power BI). Beforehand, zapliance performs a preliminary analysis of the data to gain targeted insights, which are discussed with the client during the workshop.
- Workshop 3: Discussion of Controls for CCM
In the third workshop, parameters, frequency and other details of the continuous controls are discussed and approved to prepare the CCM rollout. This includes the alignment of the zapAnalytics controls with your internal control system.
6. Continuous Controls
After the approval, the Continuous Control Monitoring is rolled out. From this point on, data processing is carried out regularly based on the parameters and frequency discussed. The results are transferred to your preferred third-party tool (cf. Step 4).