Continuous monitoring and auditing: The reality

The notion of continuous auditing and continuous monitoring carries a powerful intuitive appeal. The terms conjure the idea of a system running constantly, checking data and controls and processes in real time, 24/7, identifying issues as they crop. In fact, that more accurately describes the ideal of continuous activity. But even if the current state of continuous monitoring and auditing is not far from the old batch process concept, it is still an improvement for companies that have little in the way of regular reports on key metrics.

Here's an example from Business Finance: When a lease administrator "books a transaction into the system, this transaction may not "go live" for 24 hours. The manager responsible for overseeing lease transactions receives a daily report based on the routines the ACL continuous monitoring application runs each evening. If any issues--data mismatches, entry errors, or other internal controls red flags--crop up, the manager is informed of the problem and can correct it immediately...rather than deal with it during a quarterly review or (worse) after hearing from the controller or (still worse) internal auditor that the numbers don't add up."

For more:
- here's the article [1]--which takes a long look at the concepts and the differences between them.