A giant global oilfield service company had about 50,000 manual journal entries each month, a concerning situation flagged by the company’s auditors. We were brought in to conduct an in-depth analysis to identify and resolve underlying problems and minimize the volume of manual entries.
We reviewed and categorized approximately 240,000 manual journal entries and evaluated supporting documentation for a sampling of entries. We then built a database to compile that data, which was used to generate progress reports and share findings.
We identified possible modifications to policies and controls to decrease the client’s reliance on manual journal entries—among them, we suggested adjusting materiality thresholds as a strategy to reduce the monthly volume of manual entries.
