- Turn Around – The do’s and do not’s
- Process Mapping - Administrative processes
- Management Information – Ensuring that you get decision making information
- Due Diligences – Aquismart performs opportunity due diligence
- Due Diligences – Tracking and measuring
- Financial Year Ends – Preparing for the audits
- Policies and Procedures – Ensure your company is protected
- Bonus Audits – the Aquismart approach
- Aquismart performs two stock takes in Tanzania.
Bonus Audits – the Aquismart approach
“Internal audit on bonuses – just another waste of good money” - This is the approach that companies take when faced with this dilemma. Until such time that they get forced to do an internal audit, they will keep postponing it.
Aquismart believes that combining internal audit with consultative management adds a lot more value to a company. Our approach is to take the concepts of internal audit and apply it together with the advising role of our consultants. We therefore do not only indicate to our client what is wrong or right, but we also evaluate the performance and the effect of the area that we audit and supply the client with the knowledge and skills to implement the improvements.
Our approach was implemented at a client a few months ago and the following is an example of the issues raised in our report as well as the remedial action taken by the client.
“Due to the inherent risks involved with the payments to employees and suppliers in a company, the control environment for bonuses should be just as strict as for any other payment made by the company. However, we found a number of concerns with the control environment, the accuracy of data and the integrity of the calculation of bonuses in the company”
“Manual adjustments are made to the bonus models without approval and without reasons being provided for the adjustments – Ensure that the bonus models are effective and efficient and that all the necessary controls are built into the models;
“Rates are adjusted without formal approval - Any adjustments made to the bonuses must be approved by the Group Financial Manager or the General Manager;”
The benefits of our approach to our clients are that they do not only receive a professional review of their internal controls, but they also get input into the bonus schemes and adjustments that will improve the schemes. Our consultants have been involved in the evaluation, development and implementation of bonus schemes for a number of years and bring this experience to the table when performing an internal audit of bonus systems for our clients.
