Automated Audit Testing

• Design repeatable testing procedures using system data, defined criteria, and exception logic to reduce manual audit testing and focus attention on transactions requiring investigation.
  

Recurring Control Automation

• Identify repetitive monthly, quarterly, or annual control activities that can be partially or fully automated through workflows, system functionality, data analysis, or other technology.
  

Evidence & PBC Automation

• Automate recurring evidence requests, PBC workflows, reminders, submissions, review steps, and documentation to reduce administrative effort for control owners and audit teams.
  

Population & Exception Testing

• Analyze larger or complete populations using defined rules and criteria to identify exceptions rather than relying exclusively on repetitive manual sample testing.

Data & System Integration

• Connect relevant system data, reports, workflows, and GRC processes to reduce manual transfers of information and improve repeatability.
  

Automation Design & Governance

• Document automated procedures, responsibilities, data sources, exception handling, review requirements, and ongoing ownership so automation remains controlled and supportable.

If a team performs essentially the same procedure every month or quarter, there may be an opportunity to redesign the process.

That does not necessarily mean removing human judgment.

The better approach is often to automate the repetitive parts—collecting data, requesting evidence, applying defined criteria, identifying exceptions, routing approvals, tracking responses, or documenting completion—while allowing people to focus on the decisions and exceptions that actually require judgment.



The objective is not automation for its own sake. It is to spend less time administering controls and audits while maintaining appropriate oversight.

Potential opportunities may include:

★ Recurring monthly or quarterly PBC requests
★ Automated reminders and evidence collection
★ User access review workflows
★ Control-owner certifications and approvals
★ Recurring audit populations
★ Data extraction and preparation
★ Automated testing against defined criteria
★ Full-population exception identification
★ Duplicate or unusual transaction analysis
★ Configuration and access monitoring
★ Recurring control documentation
★ Audit status and issue tracking
★ Remediation follow-up workflows
★ GRC testing and evidence workflows
★ Management and audit reporting



Not every control should be automated. Schmid CPA helps determine where automation can meaningfully reduce effort without removing necessary judgment or oversight.

Traditional audit testing often involves selecting a sample from a larger population and manually inspecting individual items.

Where appropriate data is available, automated procedures can help evaluate a larger portion—or potentially the entire population—against predefined criteria and identify exceptions for further investigation.

This can allow audit and controls teams to spend more time understanding unusual activity and less time performing repetitive procedures on transactions that meet expected criteria.

Automation design should still consider data completeness, accuracy, source systems, testing logic, exceptions, and appropriate human review.

Controls themselves may also contain repetitive activities.

For example, a monthly control may require the same evidence to be requested, downloaded, reviewed, approved, stored, and later provided again during testing.

Schmid CPA can help organizations map the existing process, identify repetitive steps, determine what can be automated, and design a workflow that retains appropriate review and evidence.



The result can be a control that requires less administration from the control owner while producing more consistent documentation.

Automation does not always require purchasing another system.

Opportunities may exist within the organization’s current ERP, GRC platform, reporting tools, workflow technology, analytics environment, or other existing applications.

Schmid CPA can help organizations evaluate the current technology environment and determine how automation can fit into existing control and audit processes.



Where Optro (formerly AuditBoard) is used, automation can also be coordinated with the organization’s broader GRC workflows, testing, evidence requests, and issue-management processes.

Automating a control or audit procedure creates its own governance considerations.

Organizations should understand where the data originates, what logic is being applied, how exceptions are handled, who reviews the results, and how changes to the automated process are controlled.

Schmid CPA helps organizations design automation with these considerations in mind so efficiency improvements do not create new control problems.

Spending too much time repeating the same control or audit work?



Schedule a consultation to identify activities that may be candidates for automation and determine a practical approach.