Part Four in a Series: Managing Risks of Technologies Emerging as Business Opportunities: Robotic Process Automation

你是否厌倦了每周都发同样的邮件? How about 搜索ing for information from past audit documents? Lucky for you, a resolution for these work woes (and many more) has arrived.  Companies are taking efficiency and cost saving to another level thanks to an emerging digital technology called Robotic Process Automation (RPA), 更非正式的说法是:机器人.

RPA通过使用基于规则的软件机器人来工作, 或机器人, to automate business processes to increase efficiency, 减少人为错误, 并节省人力成本. 此外, RPA can work with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in order to automate a plethora of business processes.

例如, bots can take information from the aforementioned weekly email and insert it into an ERP system to be used companywide across various systems. 根据CIO的说法.com文章“什么是RPA ?? 业务流程自动化的革命,” some of the biggest names in the game such as Walmart, 德意志银行(Deutsche Bank), 国歌, 沃尔格林, 先锋, AT&T and American Express Global Business Travel are among the many companies already seeing the benefits of using bots.

然而，RPA可能并不适用于每个公司. 随着我们进一步进入数字时代, technology seems to be slowly taking over jobs once managed by thousands of employees. 因此, management must grapple with the decision of potentially saving on staffing costs versus eliminating jobs for its employees. 另外, proper installation and set-up of bots can be highly complex and take significant resources. At this point, the long-term economic effects of implementing RPA is far from certain.

尽管RPA可以为公司提供效率, they also come with additional risk considerations for internal auditors that span across every risk area. 这些风险考虑因素包括:

• 管理’s identification of fraud risks associated with the implementation of RPA
• 对RPA的监督和治理
• Ineffective change management and security controls over  the RPA
• Compliance or regulatory risks associated with using RPA
• Inadequate enterprise risk and control methodology; inconsistent monitoring as a result of employing RPA
• Ineffective employee training on RPA which can result in inefficient use of the RPA and/or non-compliance with company policies
• User access abilities and segregation of duties related to the RPA
• RPA对财务报告和披露的影响

While RPA may seem to be solely the IT department’s territory, it is critical that internal auditors engage in discussions with company management regarding their implementation of RPA and become aware of the potential risks posed to the company in order to properly plan and execute auditor responsibilities.

如果您有关于RPA的其他问题, we welcome the opportunity to discuss and advise on risk assessment.  请浏览我们的 风险咨询bet9平台游戏页面.

资料来源:Boulton, C. (2018). 什么是RPA? 业务流程自动化的革命. (在线)首席信息官. 可在:http://www.首席信息官.com/article/3236451/business-process-management/what-is-rpa-robotic-process-automation-explained.html.

新兴技术. (2018). 审计委员会的监督工具.