Continuous monitoring and auditing in municipalities

Tools and techniques for monitoring and auditing continuous streams of data are increasingly being used. However, adoption has only been investigated in the private sector. In this paper we examine the feasibility of continuous auditing and continuous monitoring in the public sector, specifically for municipalities in the Netherlands. A multiple case study is conducted about the opportunities and needs of continuously monitoring and assessing financial data concerning the social domain: care-related and social services, which have recently been decentralized from the national government to the municipal level. Interviews were held with representatives of six municipalities, administrative bodies, and an accounting firm. The research indicates that continuous monitoring is feasible, and that there is a need for continuous monitoring in the public domain. The ease of adoption depends to a large extent on the choice of whether and how a municipality wants to collaborate in offering social domain services.

[1]  Joris Hulstijn,et al.  Reliability of electronic evidence: an application for model-based auditing , 2015, ICAIL.

[2]  Joris Hulstijn,et al.  Governance and Collaboration in Regulatory Supervision: A Case in the Customs Domain , 2017, Int. J. Electron. Gov. Res..

[3]  Tawei Wang,et al.  An Integrated Continuous Auditing Approach , 2017 .

[4]  J. H. Blokdijk.  Tests of Control in the Audit Risk Model: Effective? Efficient? , 2004 .

[5]  M'exico City.  The Public Accountability , 2000 .

[6]  Joris Hulstijn,et al.  Design for the values of accountability and transparency , 2014 .

[7]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Putting Continuous Auditing Theory into Practice: Lessons from Two Pilot Implementations , 2008, J. Inf. Syst..

[8]  Hans Weigand,et al.  Model-based auditing using REA , 2012, Int. J. Account. Inf. Syst..

[9]  Nitesh Bharosa,et al.  Tapping into existing information flows: The transformation to compliance by design in business-to-government information exchange , 2013, Gov. Inf. Q..

[10]  J. Schols,et al.  The Dutch Long-Term Care System in Transition: Implications for Municipalities. , 2015, Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)).

[11]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Embracing the Automated Audit: How the Audit Data Standards and Audit Tools Can Enhance Auditor Judgment and Assurance , 2014 .

[12]  Roel Wieringa,et al.  Design Science Methodology for Information Systems and Software Engineering , 2014, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[13]  M. Korstanje.  The Risk Society: Towards a new modernity , 2009 .

[14]  P. Best,et al.  Design and Implementation of Continuous Monitoring and Auditing in SAP Enterprise Resource Planning , 2015 .

[15]  Catherine A. Hardy,et al.  Continuous Auditing and Monitoring in Practice: Lessons from Metcash's Business Assurance Group , 2015, J. Inf. Syst..

[16]  J. Bryson.  What to do when Stakeholders matter , 2004 .

[17]  Joris Hulstijn,et al.  Providing Continuous Assurance , 2017 .

[18]  Mike P. Papazoglou,et al.  Formalizing and appling compliance patterns for business process compliance , 2016, Software & Systems Modeling.

[19]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Continuous monitoring of business process controls: A pilot implementation of a continuous auditing system at Siemens , 2006, Int. J. Account. Inf. Syst..

[20]  James E. Hunton,et al.  Potential Functional and Dysfunctional Effects of Continuous Monitoring (Retracted) , 2008 .

[21]  Liisa von Hellens,et al.  Qualitative Research in Information Systems , 2007, Australas. J. Inf. Syst..

[22]  Vernon J. Richardson,et al.  Examining the Potential Benefits of Internal Control Monitoring Technology , 2009 .

[23]  Kishore Singh,et al.  Continuous Auditing and Continuous Monitoring in ERP Environments: Case Studies of Application Implementations , 2014, J. Inf. Syst..

[24]  Continuous monitoring and continuous auditing From idea to implementation , .

[25]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Science in Information Systems Research , 2004, MIS Q..

[26]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Feasibility and Economics of Continuous Assurance , 2002 .

[27]  Nitesh Bharosa,et al.  Continuous Control Monitoring-Based Regulation: A Case in the Meat Processing Industry , 2011, CAiSE Workshops.

[28]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Innovation and practice of continuous auditing , 2011, Int. J. Account. Inf. Syst..

[29]  Jan vom Brocke,et al.  The missing link between BPM and accounting: Using event data for accounting in process-oriented organizations , 2014, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[30]  Stephen Flowerday,et al.  Real-time information integrity [ system integrity D data integrity D continuous assurances , 2005 .

[31]  Richard B. Dull,et al.  An exploratory study of the adoption, application and impacts of continuous auditing technologies in small businesses , 2016, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems.

[32]  Joris Hulstijn,et al.  Control Automation to Reduce Costs of Control , 2012, Int. J. Inf. Syst. Model. Des..

[33]  Agustí Verde Parera,et al.  General data protection regulation , 2018 .

[34]  Maria Wimmer,et al.  Integrated Service Modeling for Online One-stop Government , 2002, Electron. Mark..

[35]  Jaap Gordijn,et al.  Control patterns in a health-care network , 2007, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[36]  Carol E. Brown,et al.  A Review and Analysis of the Existing Research Streams in Continuous Auditing , 2007 .

[37]  J. Maarse,et al.  The policy and politics of the 2015 long-term care reform in the Netherlands. , 2016, Health policy.

[38]  Julia Lutz.  Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission : Internal Control ; Integrated Framework mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Änderungen in der Neuauflage 2013 , 2015 .

[39]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  The development and intellectual structure of continuous auditing research , 2014 .

[40]  G. Governatori,et al.  Measurement of Compliance Distance in Business Work Practice , 2009 .

[41]  Steve G. Sutton,et al.  Continuous Auditing in ERP System Environments: The Current State and Future Directions , 2010, J. Inf. Syst..

[42]  Robert A. Simons.  Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis , 1987 .

[43]  Oliver Thomas,et al.  Transferring continuous Auditing to the Digital Age - the Knowledge Base after three Decades of Research , 2016, ECIS.

[44]  Shazia Wasim Sadiq,et al.  Measurement of Compliance Distance in Business Processes , 2008, Inf. Syst. Manag..

[45]  Miklos A. Vasarhelyi,et al.  Principles of Analytic Monitoring for Continuous Assurance , 2004 .