The Development of Embedded Audit Modules to Support Continuous Monitoring in the Electronic Commerce Environment

Abstract

An important developing area of assurance is continuous audit. Because of the real‐time, computer‐to‐computer characteristics of electronic commerce, the development of continuous audit techniques is even more critical. Proponents of continuous audit point to a future where auditors monitor entity's accounting information systems in real‐time or in quasi real‐time. A predecessor technology to continuous audit is the Embedded Audit Module (EAM). This study investigates the challenges in developing EAMs. These challenges are analyzed by the development of ten examples of EAM alerts in a fraud environment. The alerts employ stored database procedures and triggers to monitor the internal control environment. The alerts are complementary to the strengthening of a firm's internal control system by monitoring and reporting the irregularities in the control environment. The study provides guidance on the construction of EAMs and points to a number of limitations in their development. These limitations raise a number of issues that must be considered before continuous audit can be widely adopted. The study sets out a number of issues for future research.