Improve your audit results and extend your capabilities with IDEA's powerful functionality.
With IDEA®, you can lower your cost of analysis, add more quality to your work and
meet the new professional requirements regarding fraud and internal control by putting
the power of IDEA to work for you. IDEA can read, display, analyze, manipulate,
sample or extract from data files from almost any source - mainframe to PC, including
reports printed to a file.
Improve your auditing performance
With IDEA's powerful functionality you can improve your results and extend your
capabilities. Designed by auditors for auditors.
Gain the professional respect you deserve
Identify control and transaction issues before they become a problem for your employer
or clients. Nothing improves your career prospects better than finding anomalies
not previously detected!
Increase your value
You know how to plan and conduct an audit. Let IDEA help you get more work done
in less time. IDEA has a combination of functions and features, not found in any
other product, to help you work more efficiently, effectively and add more value
to your organization or clients' organizations.
Meet current audit standards
International audit standards and standards in most jurisdictions require the auditor
to test system controls and examine supporting documentation. With the increase
in transaction volume arising from computerized records, auditors are not able to
properly perform their work without using some form of software tool for analysis.
Improve risk assessment
Use the Pivot Table, Summarization and Stratification analysis functions to obtain
greater insight into your clients' businesses. Use Correlation, Time Series and
Trend Analysis techniques to analyze business activities.
Uncover fraud and money laundering
Use the Benford's Law, Correlation, Time Series, and Trend Analysis functions to
identify unusual transactions (round numbers, odd transaction dates), matches across
files (e.g. payroll and vendor addresses), and the circumvention of approval policies
(large number of transactions just below approval thresholds).
Recover costs
Avoid penalties and overpayments by identifying duplicate payments, missing invoices
and tax compliance issues.
Identify control issues
By performing simple-to-construct exception testing you can spot internal control
weaknesses and provide recommendations to your clients or employer for improvements.
About IDEA
IDEA is used in 16 languages in over 90 countries, by major accounting firms, federal,
state, provincial and local government, corporations in all industry sectors and
by universities as a teaching tool. The power and functionality of IDEA have attracted
users who are financial and internal auditors, forensic accountants and fraud investigators,
financial managers, general and systems consultants, information systems professionals,
educators and statisticians.
Our distributor network is dedicated to providing you with top quality service and
support. Distributors provide extensive training programs including customized in-house
training.
About IDEA Licensing
IDEA is licensed using a very flexible model. You can choose from single user licenses
for individual auditors or network licensing which provides for concurrent users.
IDEA – an Industry Leader for Over 20 Years
Since the first commercial release of IDEA in the mid 80s, auditors have enjoyed
unmatched ease-of-use and functionality. IDEA continues to be the leading data analysis
software through innovative development, high quality support and service and an
enthusiastic user community.
What You Can Do with IDEA
Import and Export Your Data
IDEA allows you to import your data from a multitude of formats, including files
originating from large mainframe computers and accounting software.
Import Assistant
Import easily almost any file type from almost any source, using IDEA’s Import Assistant
to guide you. Import various types of data coming from legacy mainframes, mid-range
accounting software and big ERP systems. IDEA allows you to read data from:
- text (fixed and variable length) and delimited (csv, del) files
- as-400, microsoft access or excel files
- xml, dbase, or sap ais databases and more…
ODBC
Connect, using ODBC, to all major relational databases such as Oracle, DB2, SQL,
Sybase, SAP or AS-400.
Report Reader
Create reports using system tools, save the reports to files (PRN or PDF), then
use Report Reader to describe and capture the data in IDEA. Define the reports by
using simple "point and click" tools to identify the data you need.
Export your data and results out of IDEA in multiple formats like Excel, Access,
HTML, XML, Text, RTF (Microsoft Word), PDF and more.
Protect Data Integrity
IDEA protects the source data by allowing read-only access to your clients' data
to avoid any unwanted changes and maintain data integrity. This functionality, in
conjunction with the automatic audit trail creation, allows you to easily document
and review your work.
Manage your Data
IDEA allows you to easily manage your files and results by grouping all of them
in a single Working Folder. All results, macros, databases and definitions are automatically
stored in this central folder. To back up your project, simply back up your Working
Folder.
Organize your Data
Explore your data by adding additional fields and grouping and ordering your data
before starting deeper analysis.
Sort your records in a specified order
Create a new database physically sorted in the specified order. You can also simply
display your data in any order without creating a new database by clicking on a
column or using the Indices task.
Group matching records together
Use the Group Records task to organize matching records in indexed fields (keys)
into expandable/collapsible groups.
View your results in graphical format
Graph values in a database or test results in line, bar, stacking bar, curve, scatter,
pie or area charts.
Add, delete or change field properties
Change the type, the name, the description or add tags for IDEA Smart Analyzer.
Create “virtual” calculated fields
Create Virtual fields based on calculations or create Editable fields that allow
you to enter your own information, such as inserting your audit findings directly
in the database.
Perform complex calculations and conversions
IDEA provides almost 100 @Functions which can be used to convert formats, manipulate
text or to compute numeric, financial and statistical data. Create your own custom
equation functions using Visual Basic in a rich interface. Use your Custom Functions
in the Equation Editor just like @Functions and share them with your team.
Link related fields
Click on a value in a field and assign an action based on this value. This field
type allows you to set up relationships across multiple databases. For example,
create an action field on “Customer Number” in a customer database to link to related
invoices. Action fields can also be used to run IDEAScript macros (see below) or
other applications.
Profile your Data
Have a quick look at millions of transactions and view your data in a comprehensive
and summarized representation.
Display statistics
Statistics can be generated for all Numeric, Date and Time fields within a database.
Statistics can also be used in equations to compare individual records to the statistics
for the whole database. Click on any statistic to view the associated records.
Profile your data
Stratify on a Numeric, Character, or Date field to categorize records into bands.
Summarize your data and total numeric values for each unique key; you can summarize
your data, calculate the sum or average, and then turn your results in to professional
looking
charts in seconds (see Figure 1). Age a database from a specified date for up to
six user-defined intervals. For example, the outstanding accounts could be aged
at the year-end in order to determine provisions required against bad debts.
Create multi-dimensional, multi-variable analysis of large databases
You can drag and drop required data fields onto a pivot table to create powerful
analysis.
Analyze your Data
Perform powerful tasks designed especially for audits and analysis. Thanks to IDEA's
ease-of-use, accountants, auditors, systems and financial professionals can easily
create their own analysis.
Extract specific records
Extractions, or exception testing, are the most frequently used functions to identify
items which satisfy a specific characteristic, such as payments more than $10,000
or transactions before a given date. The extraction criteria are entered using the
Equation Editor. You can perform up to 50 separate extractions with a single pass
through the database. The Equation Editor in IDEA allows you to create simple or
complex extractions using an intuitive interface.
Extract top records
Extract the top or bottom records. For example, you can extract the top ten transactions
for every account.
Identify missing and duplicate records
Identify duplicate items within a database, e.g., duplicate account numbers, duplicate
addresses or duplicate insurance or benefit claims. Duplicate Key Exclusion (also
known as Same-Same-Different) identifies duplicates but only where a specified field
is different. Search for gaps in numeric, date or alphanumeric sequences, such as
invoice numbers.
Identify possible fraud
Detect possible errors, potential fraud or other irregularities using Benford's
Law. Benford's Law states that digits and digit sequences in a dataset follow a
predictable pattern. The analysis counts digit occurrences of values in the database
and compares the totals to the predicted result according to Benford's Law.
Search
Find text easily within multiple fields of a database without using an equation
to specify the criteria. By entering the text you are looking for and by using wildcards,
locate and isolate quickly the transactions you want to find.
You can search not only in all the fields in a database but also in more than one
database simultaneously.
Summarization Correlation, Trend Analysis and Time Series
Developed in conjunction with Dr. Mark Nigrini, IDEA allows you to analyze historical
data and to predict values into the future. Forecast the current data and identify
the difference between the predicted and actual data. Measure the relationship between
two variables like sales for one branch compared to the sales for the whole company.
Detect groups with higher potential of fraud or erroneous transactions.
Sample your Data
IDEA offers five sampling methods together with the ability to calculate sample
sizes based on parameters entered and to evaluate the results of sampling tests.
Systematic
Extract a number of records from a database at equal intervals by entering the required
number of records or specifying the selection interval.
Random
Enter the sample size as well as the range of records from which IDEA will automatically
generate random samples to be extracted. Optionally, extract a number of random
samples for each band generated by the stratification.
Attribute
Determine the number of samples that you are required to randomly extract in order
to extrapolate (in the evaluation step) the errors found in the samples to the whole
population.
Monetary
Predict the total error amount in a database (population), based on the error found
in a sample of the database using sophisticated sampling methods including cell
or fix interval, Multiple Samples Evaluation or classical proportional to size sample
evaluation.
Classical variables
Select samples based on particular characteristics like mean or difference estimation,
combined or separate ratio and combined or separate regression. This sampling method
allows you to stratify (based on the monetary value), plan, extract and evaluate
your samples.
Use Multiple Data Files
Whenever you need to cross-match, validate or add information from different sources,
IDEA has many tasks you can use to achieve your goal.
Create a visual connection between multiple databases
Generate a single database from several other databases that share common or “key”
fields. To create a visual connection between databases, select a primary database,
and then connect databases that contain matching records.
Visual Connector supports one-to-many and many-to-many relationships.
Combine two databases into a single database
You can test data which matches or does not match across databases. You can also
compare information between databases from other sources like employee records to
a supplier database using the address or the phone number.
Append two or more databases into a single database
For example, you may append 12 monthly payroll databases to produce a database of
all payroll transactions for the year.
Rapidly identify differences in two databases based on a common field
For instance you could compare a Numeric field from different systems, e.g., the
quantity on the inventory master database versus the quantity on the inventory count
database.
Process your Data
IDEA can read and process millions of records in seconds. There is no limit to the
number of records that IDEA can process.
Automate your Processes
Automate repetitive tasks and create special tests and/or functions.
Create your own macros
IDEAScript is an object oriented programming language, compatible with Microsoft's
Visual Basic for Applications™.
IDEAScript macros can be created either by recording a series of steps, by copying
from the History or the Project Overview (see below), by typing into a Macro Window
or a combination of these.
No need to know programming
Now you can build your own automation macros without any programming experience.
Simply record some common tasks and then choose to create Visual Script. You can
edit your macro by adding or deleting tasks from a simple menu and using the familiar
IDEA dialogs.
Report and Review your Data
IDEA creates a record of all changes made to all the databases in a project and
maintains an audit trail or log of all operations carried out on each database.
Review an audit trail or log of all operations carried out on a database
Presented in an easy-to-use expandable list, History shows you all the details on
every task conducted on a specific file. Each task performed automatically generates
IDEAScript code, which can be copied to the IDEAScript editor for reexecution.
Review a graphical audit trail for your entire project
Project Overview provides you with a graphical audit trail for an entire working
folder (see Figure Below). You can also view the databases and results in your project
in a tabular view. You can even create Visual Script or IDEAScript directly from
the Project Overview.