An Internal Audit Mystery: The Big R, An Internal Auditing Action Adventure. . - Readings - book review

Internal Auditor, Feb, 2002 by James D. Cashell

D. Larry Crumbley

Douglas E. Ziegenfuss

John O'Shaughnessy

ISBN: 0-89089-728-X 2000; 280 pages; Paperback; $25.00 Published by Carolina Academic Press

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ISK IS INHERENT IN ALL major-league sports operations, and it's the auditor's job to help mitigate those risks. But no one was prepared for the risk of murder that struck a New York Yankees fan. In The Big R, An Internal Auditing Action Adventure, Fleet Walker, internal auditor for the Yankees, uses his auditing skills and knowledge of baseball history to track a serial killer who is threatening the national pastime.

The Big R is a teaching novel designed to supplement course materials to help introduce basic internal audit concepts to students and audit trainees. As the reader advances through the pages, it's apparent that the authors -- all university professors -- have a solid understanding of the profession. Larry Crumbley, CPA, DABFA, CFSA, has written several accounting-related teaching novels under the pen name of "Iris Weil Collett." Douglas Ziegenfuss, CIA, CPA, CFE, CMA, CGFM, was the 1996 recipient of The IIA's Leon Radde Educator of the Year Award. And, John O'Shaughnessy, CIA, CMA, CPA, worked for several years in public accounting firms and as a corporate controller.

Using murder as the hook, the authors provide a wealth of historical data about baseball as well as internal auditing, serial killers, and scuba diving. This information alone is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.

Although actual coverage of internal auditing constitutes less than 10 percent of the book, each chapter typically provides an overview of some aspect of the profession, usually veiled as a musing of Walker's. In Chapter I, for example, Walker is asked if moving from external to internal auditing is similar to being demoted from the big leagues to the minor leagues. To dispel this notion, Walker states that he enjoys auditing more as an internal auditor and proceeds to explain the organizational importance of operational and compliance audits.

The authors provide a fairly good overview of several internal audit topics. They begin with the difference between the internal and external auditing and describe operational, compliance, and financial statement audits. They also discuss the audit process, the need for value-added audits, risk, risk assessment, internal control, fraud, forensic accounting, sampling, analytics, and evidence. In Chapter 4, Walker digresses into a discussion of risks faced by the Yankees, and how he, as the internal auditor, must be able to identify and focus on the crucial risk, or the "Big R."

In addition to the internal audit discussions woven into the story, each chapter begins with a quote about internal auditing. These quotes, though not a part of the novel, are succinct and memorable and provide insight into many current internal audit issues. Chapter 10, for example, begins with a quote by Joseph Wells, founder and chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, about fraudulent disbursements accounting for about $300 billion in annual losses and why it is important for internal auditors to verify the authenticity of company vendors.

The book, by design, does not provide in-depth coverage of any internal audit topic. Although it serves its purpose as a useful supplement, it would not suffice as a stand-alone source for teaching the subject. The authors suggest assigning the book near the end of the course to reinforce the audit concepts learned. However, it may be more valuable to assign the book at the beginning of the course, because its strength is that it helps readers relate to and understand basic internal audit terms and concepts. Gaining this understanding early may help students learn at a more advanced level as the course proceeds.

Although not its target market, experienced internal auditors may find The Big R an amusing read. Throughout the book, the authors present an accurate and complimentary view of internal auditing and internal auditors. After all, when is the last time a book featured the internal auditor as the hero?

JAMES D. CASHELL, CPA, is a professor of accountancy at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.