Real-Life Decision Making
As an auditor working for a large corporation, you've been asked to audit the communications department's travel expenses. Senior management is concerned about the amount of money being spent in this area. The costs are higher than what they've budgeted for, and the year is only half over.
If this trend continues, travel costs will well exceed the budget, resulting in almost double the travel costs of the previous year. Management is concerned that the flights are costing more than is necessary.
Senior management has asked you to audit this area and send in your report by Friday afternoon. Today is Wednesday. That means you have two days to analyze all of the travel documents, booking procedures and ticket costs. Plus you'll need to talk to staff members, the travel agent and write a full report to explain your findings.
Lately, less time is being given to complete audits. While accurate information is still required, management is asking auditors to review their own procedures in hopes of becoming more cost- and time-efficient. From what you've heard and read, this is becoming a common trend. However, it hasn't really affected you until now.
Two days is not enough time to examine every travel document in the department, let alone to talk to the staff and travel agent. You're worried that you won't be able to meet the timeline, or worse yet, your information won't be accurate.
You're usually very precise in your work. Ideally, you'd like to be sure the information you present to senior management is perfect.
The communications department manager is also worried about the timeline. He thinks you need to look at everything to present a report that is fair to the department.
You decide to take one hour and look over some documents so you have a better idea of what you need for time. You soon realize that many of these documents, although accurate, are almost identical. Perhaps you won't need to look at every single travel-related item to give an accurate evaluation on the department's travel costs.
But the department manger is pressuring you to be thorough. And senior management is pressuring you for a report. You won't feel comfortable signing off on the audit until you're sure the results are accurate.
What do you do?