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 HANDS-ON WORKSHOP ON ACL and IDEA

Thursday, February 28, 2008
IDEA Workshop: 7:30 AM - 12 Noon
ACL Workshop: 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Lab 106, College of Business Administration
The University of Akron
259 South Broadway Street, Akron, OH 44325-4802

Participants in this full day hands-on workshop will use two data analysis and data mining softwares that are industry standard in accounting and auditing. The pre lunch session focuses on the use of IDEA® Data Analysis Software. The post lunch session focuses on the use of ACL (Audit Command Language). The emphasis is on advanced topics in both IDEA and ACL for audit, fraud detection, data analysis and data mining. Participants can register for either or both workshops.

Each session is conducted by nationally renowned experts in their respective fields. The IDEA workshop is led by Don Sparks who is the Vice President of Audimation Services. The ACL workshop is led by Opher Jackson who is the Executive Director at Ernst & Young in the Risk & Advisory Services.

You will gain an understanding of the most effective data mining tests for finding fraud and error in many different operational and financial areas. Special focus will be on audit of accounts receivable transactions. For example, in this session participants will learn the critical information necessary to identify side-deals or under-the table agreements, evaluate the profitability of a product, conduct tests for identifying false sales, find the leaks between the point-of sale, billing, and collection, use data mining and the five-step approach to fraud detection to exceed the requirements of SAS 99, learn fundamental concepts to isolate high-risk transactions with little effort, understand ways in which accountants manipulate adjustment/reconciliation spreadsheets, detect duplicate entries, and seek patterns of unusual activity just before/after the books have closed. This comprehensive hands-on workshop will emphasize both accounting and technology issues in fraud detection and will have an applied focus.

Academics can use the knowledge acquired from the workshop for both teaching and research. Professionals can use the knowledge to implement both IDEA and ACL in their accounting and financial reporting systems. Participants will leave with a proven set of tests that they can use to locate fraud the very next day.

As fraud detection tools both IDEA and ACL can import, join, analyze, sample, and extract data files from almost any source, mainframe to PC, right on user's desktop. IDEA and ACL do not require users to be technical specialists. Instead, use of a combination of key function wizards, Windows® standard features like Right Click and Drag and Drop, extensive HTML-based Help, and a carefully designed user interface helps users to easily incorporate both IDEA and ACL into fraud detection and audit processes.