Risk_Assessment

Risk Assessment

The key ingredient to risk management is a thorough understanding of a company’s audit universe and a consistently applied methodology to obtain an understanding of the auditable units that encompass that audit universe.

Our risk-based internal audit methodology utilizes the broad definition of internal control as described in the COSO Internal Control Framework, the standard of internal control. This is an integral component of our risk assessment and internal audit approach and is built into our methodology. The COSO framework allows us to identify and focus our approach on the relatively higher risk activities of the Company and the related control structure. It also results in value-added insights to your company including operational improvements that reduce cost, enhance revenue, and improve customer service.

How we can help

Our professionals have extensive experience working with and for financial institutions. Our risk assessment methodology is a top-down approach that effectively allows our team and the company to partner in identifying and addressing risk. Our methodology addresses business risk in relation to your critical success factors and strategic business objectives. This ensures that the audit plan reflects the relative importance of risk factors within your company. A risk assessment provides many benefits to a company including identifying areas of significant risk and creating an internal audit plan to ensure that resources are focused on those areas with the most significant risk.

The risk assessment:

Encompasses the company’s complete audit universe;
Benchmarks risks and controls within the company;
Uses a consistent methodology for measuring risk across all business and service lines; and
Is fluid and easily updated, and provides metrics to identify when internal audit coverage should change.

The risk assessment is typically updated on an annual basis; however, in the event of a major event such as significant management changes, corporate restructure, acquisition or disposition of major segments, etc., the risk assessment and audit plan may be easily updated to reflect the changed risk profile of the company.

Why Harding, Shymanski & Company, P.S.C.

We offer a customized, flexible approach to our risk assessment services. Our internal audit professionals have many years of experience working with financial institutions, regulatory agencies and trade associations. They have managed the internal audit function of financial institutions, and understand the key role those positions play in a successful organization. As a result of this strong background, we are able to provide cost-effective risk assessment solutions to our clients.

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