Project procedure for Digital Audit Preparation projects

Detailed description of the project procedure regarding Digital Audit Preparation

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.
   • Audit Objective: Aligning audit goals (360 °/Purchase-to-Pay/Order-to-Cash/Accounting).
   • Project Details: Definition of the analysis scope.
   • Roles and Responsibilities: Clarification of project responsibilities (Project Manager, IT Admin, SAP Admin).
   • Timeline: Start and end dates of the audit.
   • Workshop Dates: Alignment on workshop schedules.

2. Technical Onboarding

   The technical onboarding takes place in a separate meeting with the client's IT department. 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
   • 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:
     • How to Establish Connection with an SAP Message Server
     • Establishing Connection with an SAP Application Server

   Note: The duration of data processing depends on the volume of data for the specific project.

3. Installation Including Data Processing

   Installation and data extraction will take place in a separate meeting.                                           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.

   Note: The duration of data processing depends on the amount of data to be analyzed.

4. Power BI

   After successful data processing, the Power BI dashboards can be created.

   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

5. Workshops

   During the project, zapliance conducts three workshops with you to discuss the analysis results and the underlying methods. Each workshop lasts approximately two hours.

   Workshop 1: Big Picture
   In the first workshop, an overall view of the company is presented, along with an explanation of the audit context.

   Workshop 2: Analysis of Results in the Power BI Dashboard
   In the second workshop, the analysis results are presented in detail within the Power BI dashboard. Beforehand, zapliance performs a preliminary analysis of the data to gain targeted insights, which are discussed with the client during the workshop.

   Workshop 3: Feedback + QA Session

   The third workshop can be tailored individually, for example to clarify open questions, provide feedback on the previous two workshops, etc.

   Note: To ensure the successful execution of the Digital Audit Preparation workshops, zapliance must conduct a pre-analysis using the customer's Power BI report. This may require providing zapliance with access to the Power BI report. The following approaches can be used to grant access:

   1. Granting zapliance User Access to the Power BI Report:
      The customer 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.
   2. Sending zapliance the Parquet Files:
      Before the workshop pre-analysis, the customer can send zapliance the .parquet files containing the zapAnalytics results. zapliance can then build the Power BI report internally.
   3. Access via Dedicated Server with Power BI:
      Alternatively, the customer 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.
   4. Using a Laptop or External Storage Device:
      The customer 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.

6. Deliverables + Audit

   After the workshops, zapliance provides the following documents:

   • Meeting Documentation: This overview contains all key information on the core topics and questions discussed for the audit.
     • One-Pager: A concise summary of the entire project.

   Once the documents have been handed over, the audit is carried out by the customer.