01 September 2008

Apart from the political protests ongoing here in BKK, there is one more glitch we have to deal with in this trip. Just like any other audit undertaking, there will always be resistance. Some people are just not comfortable having their work strictly scrutinized for any deviation from policy. It is how our first morning at the Thailand office was welcomed. We were warned beforehand by the testing manager that we should prepare for the resistance. Not only because of the scrutiny but because we are having the testing parallel to the kickoff of an integration project. The key people involved in our testing will be busy with another critical activity.

This morning we were told that these people cannot come to our scheduled opening meeting. And it was tough going through the control points without the testee’s around. We had to make do with the available resources. So what I did with my testing buddy was to identify the required reports where we will extract our samples and communicate this thru email to the responsible people. It was a headache going through the controls, it’s my first SOX testing experience and I had to refer to previous testing done to be able to somehow come up with something tomorrow.

The documentation tool is another story altogether. It’s good that I was exposed to this during the recently concluded FICUS project so going through the previous data was a breeze. The only problem is if we could get feedback from these people tomorrow and be able to start on the documentation in the tool. Oh well, we’ll just take things as they come. I preferred to test the Customer Team controls as I needed the exposure to be able to replicate this in the Phils. but was also asked by the Asst. Regional Controller to assist her in the Country Finance & Control testing. Which I find an equally challenging opportunity. Although my exposure as an accountant for the Philippines has somehow made me a bit adept to the F&C controls.

I was told that there will be more SOX testings done by November this year or May next year and I can participate as long as I have my Boss’ go signal. I could even try the other regions not only in Asia Pacific since most of the time they are short of SOX testers. Well, right now I have to focus on learning as much as I can and being able to apply this to my role as the Phils Sox Coordinator. I know much is expected of me and I wouldn’t want to fall short of that expectation.