Audit Trail

CIOP is an end-to-end supply chain training and certification program designed and developed by supply chain practitioners and consultants. The syllabus was developed in consultation with the industry, which led to Inventory Management Body of Knowledge (IMBoK v3.0). Most of the class discussions you will hear cannot be found in any textbook rather these are all the original contribution from the developers of CIOP. For example, think about the types of inventories such as raw material, work-in-process and finished goods. Out of these three, WIP is the most difficult to sell in the market and that is one of the reasons, WIP should be controlled well. The company has a built-in capability and capacity to sell finished goods, which is their business. The second easy to sell are the raw materials as you know the suppliers, who may either buy-back or at least guide you. But in case of WIP, this is custom manufactured to suit your manufacturing processes and may not well fit any other organisation, hence you may have to sell it as a scrap.

In any organization there are several important but often hidden relationships that drive the day to day operations. Audit Trail Analyzing (ATA) seeks to identify these relationships to determine what, if any, organizational change may be needed to address them. For example, if there 

are too many inefficient supply chain processes, there will be more out of pocket expenses because of inefficient manufacturing processes, and more waste because of inefficient supply chain management. This means there will be less return on investment for the company in terms of profits and/or services provided, and in turn will impact the bottom line of the company, and ultimately affect the bottom line of the economy.

One of the major roles of an auditor in any organization is to conduct an audit trail. An audit trail is basically a security-related chronological record, which, ideally, would provide documentary proof of the order of events that have occurred at any point in time and provide insight into the process, methodology, and goals of the company. It is typically used as a reference tool by management and supervisors to ascertain if an audit is being conducted and to gain an overall understanding of how the company operates. The audit trail will help managers and supervisors to determine the validity of financial statements and other internal or external reports, as well as to check the accuracy of resource data and current information within the organization. This allows managers and supervisors to make informed decisions on resource allocation, inventory levels, budgeting and cost control, as well as on fraud prevention, compliance policies and practices, among other things.

An audit trail can also provide evidence for misuse of assets, fiduciary responsibility, accounting controls, and other areas of internal fraud policy and practice. Internal fraud management includes policies and procedures for detecting, deterring, and correcting fraud and other criminal activities in the workplace. Managers, supervisors, and employees can use audit trails to detect fraudulent claims, falsification, false claims, fraudulent activity, and ineffective and wasteful management practices. If management believes that any of these actions are taking place, the appropriate personnel should be informed immediately.

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