"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence." Bertrand Russell
More than any other business activity, controls assurance has at its heart the avoidance of damage and loss. Knowledge of control weaknesses and their possible consequences is critical to avoiding those losses. Controls assurance exists to identify where a business is operating outside of acceptable boundaries of risk management and control.
Controls assurance performed properly has four major characteristics:
- It identifies actual facts about the state of business controls.
- It supports those facts with enough evidence to convince decision makers of the need to take action.
- It drives action in the areas which make the most difference to reducing unwanted business risk.
- Its costs are low enough to make return on investment strongly positive.
Controls assurance can have a regulatory driver, but in most cases it exists to achieve a business benefit, and it needs to justify itself as a value adding and value protecting service. Kingston Smith Consulting understands that this can only be achieved with the right combination of experience, insight and highly efficient delivery which are the hallmarks of our service. As a result we are able to consistently deliver the highest standards of controls assurance support across the full range of business needs.
We recognise that different organisations have very different preferences for both the quantity and style of controls assurance work. We can flex our service as required, whilst always advising you on best practices and added value techniques used in other organisations.
