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Thank You Denver!

Practical Governance and Risk Management Seminar Sold Out!

The February Practical Governance and Risk Management seminar was completely sold out! We had a great time. Thanks to everyone who attended.

The Way We Think About Controls

Please click here to understand our approach to controls in the business world.

Not all CPE is the same and accepted by all groups!

There is nothing worse than arranging to attend a seminar for your required CPE only to have those credits declined by your professional association at the last minute with no time left to attend other classes. Your professional certification may be at risk!

We are noticing an increasing number of instances where a professional organization's CPE credits are not accepted by other professional organizations. Some people assume that all CPE will be recognized by all professional associations. This is incorrect.
The OSTERIO Group is National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) approved for all our seminars. Basically this means that all accounting, risk, control and audit associations will accept The OSTERIO Group issued CPE credits.

It is important to consider who accepts the CPE credits that you plan to claim BEFORE you attend any training seminar.

Changes to Risk Based Integrated Auditing™ and Practical Governance and Risk Management™ Public Seminars Announced:

The OSTERIO Group's two most popular public seminars - Practical Governance and Risk Management™ (PGRM) and Risk Based Integrated Auditing™ (RBIA) - are now being held concurrently.

The two day PGRM will focus on the Governance, Management, Performance and Assurance concepts and case studies that are critical to controlling business operations and reducing costs at the same time. The PGRM seminar for business vice presidents, managers and auditors will be held on the first two days of the week. The first day will discuss the Governance, Management, Performance and Assurance concepts. The second day will consist of a complex process case study where participants will be required to reengineer a process to improve controls, efficiency and reduce costs at the same time.

The first two days of RBIA will include the PGRM seminar. RBIA will expand back to a full 5 days with the following 3 days focused on the RBIA audit approach and case studies.

The changes will allow auditors to invite their business manager counterparts for the first two days to obtain the Governance, Management, Performance and Assurance concepts and a full day of business process related case studies. Reducing the PGRM seminar from 3 days to 2 days will better accommodate busy executives' schedules. For the auditors in the room, the full day of business process control case studies will be an additional benefit to their RBIA training and the one change that has been requested above all from RBIA seminar evaluation forms.

The remaining 3 days of the week will be exclusively for auditors (RBIA).

The OSTERIO Group's seminars are certified by NASBA for CPE. NASBA has recently changed the classification of CPE and the changes to the structure of our public seminars reflect this change. The PGRM seminar will qualify as 16 hours of the new Business Management category. RBIA will qualify for 16 hours of Business Management and 24 hours of Audit and Accounting CPE.

In house PGRM seminars will be customized to suit the specific requirements of each company and remain 3 days in duration. In house RBIA seminars will remain 4 days in duration. Audit Fundamentals will not be offered as a public seminar and will be available in a web based format.

Please call (770)536-2898 or e-mail admin@osterio.com if you have any further questions.

May 7-11, 2007 - Atlanta, GA

September 17-21, 2007 - Atlanta, GA

December 3-7, 2007 - TBD

To register, click on the links below or call (770)536-2898. Please note that all dates and locations are subject to change.

Practical Governance and Risk Management™ (PGRM) Seminar -

This two day seminar is designed to assist vice presidents, directors, managers and auditors understand the specific activities and organizational components that must be in place in order to create an effective Governance structure over business operations, projects and processes. By applying the Governance, Management, Performance and Assurance concepts, executives can balance the concepts of empowerment against micro managing and better deploy resources to accomplish business objectives.

PGRM provides a common sense approach to risk management that doesn't involve proprietary methodologies designed to sell the next consulting project. The PGRM approach to risk management will result in focusing risk strategies to ensure business success.

PGRM will also enable the right amount of control to be implemented to manage risk and deliver on business objectives. Unlike most approaches to internal control, the PGRM concepts will allow you to quickly identify over control and cut costs!

PGRM consists of one day of advanced business control concepts and one day of case study work. Participants will be required to reengineer a broken process to increase efficiency, improve controls and cut costs at the same time.

PGRM is NASBA Certified for the new Business Management category and 16 CPE hours. Click for more information and to register now.

By now, most auditors are coming to the realization that SOX404 (after the initial year certification) is turning internal audit control assessment work into nothing more than a compliance, form filing exercise. Since this can, and will, be completed by minimal cost outsource firms, you are running a huge risk if you strategically place your internal audit group as your company's SOX 404 experts.

The reality of the business world is that internal audit is an overhead cost function and must create value greater than cost! Failure to do so will place you at risk. Despite politically correct public statements, the business world absolutely detests SOX 404, its cost and those associated with it! To survive you need an audit framework that will position your audit group as a strategic resource to the business that delivers value greater than its cost.

Referred to as "the MBA of internal auditing" see how Risk based Integrated Auditing can help you to position your audit department as a valuable asset to management in the post Sarbanes-Oxley world. More importantly, see how RBIA can prevent you from being an outsourcing victim in the post SOX 404 world!

See demos of our Risk Control Manager SOX 404 software, our Audit Team Management System (ATMS) software, and our Business Case Manager (BCM) software at this seminar. NASBA certified CPE = 40 hours. Click for more information and to register now

Clearly emerging as one of the premier seminars for audit and assurance, The Conference That Counts in Albany NY, sponsored by the Albany Chapter of the IIA, the Hudson Valley Chapter of the ISACA and the New York Capital Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants just completed its 10th anniversary conference with record attendance. We are humbled and proud to accept their Outstanding Speaker Award.

Congratulations to all the organizers on your outstanding results!

After the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance rush is over, internal audit departments will need to face the increasing realities of the business world - cutting costs! The irrefutable reason is simple - average hourly manufacturing labor rates:

United States - $17.50 per hour
Mexico - $2.80 per hour
China - $0.85 per hour.

Internal audit is an overhead cost. All overhead cost functions will come under ever increasing pressure to justify the value they create for the costs they consume. Suppliers of services (with labor rates considerably higher than the above averages) will face even greater cost reducing pressure in order to survive.

You cannot do more with less people without changing the fundamental way you do work. You cannot cut costs and increase value without changing the fundamental way you do audits. Traditional audit approaches are devoid of any consideration of cost and value. The Risk Based Integrated Auditing (RBIA) approach is designed to deliver increased value and productivity for less cost to the company.

If you are not sure about how you would answer the inevitable, basic question of "What value do you create for the cost of running the internal audit function?" attend the May 15-19 RBIA seminar in Buckhead, Atlanta. See below for details.

The massive increase in the number of internal audit departments that have been outsourced in recent years indicates that there are some fundamental problems with the way internal audit departments operate.

The screen play for our upcoming CD "Straight Talk about Internal Audit" is posted in our General Auditor's suite. It contains a frank assessment of the pitfalls and problems of internal audit departments that leads to their outsourcing. Based on our constant and extensive interaction with business executives, it deals with the realities of internal audit as an overhead cost function in a world where overhead costs are being increasingly scrutinized, downsized, or outsourced. Essential reading for every General Auditor. Click on General Auditor's Suite on the left.

Available Now for RBIA Customers - We have prepared an insert for your audit procedures manual covering the RBIA process. The insert will meet the IIA Quality Assurance requirements for a description of the way an RBIA audit is performed. Call (770)536-2898 for a copy. There is no charge for RBIA audit departments.

If you need help in pulling a team together to work on a Quality Assurance review, please call us. We have taken several steps to update team leaders in how the RBIA audit approach works. Your life will be considerably easier if the people performing your review actually understand how the value generating RBIA process works.

Developed in response to requests from companies to help them build more discipline behind the political game playing that is often associated with capital investments, Business Case Manager 2.1 (BCM) manages the development, submission, approval and post mortem analyses of multiple and diverse business cases. FULL STORY

Dates are filling up for our "Reconnect with the Business" one day seminar series for audit, accounting, quality, project management and IT chapters. Choose from our popular Audit Executive Development, Governance Auditing, Risk Based Integrated Auditing and Practical Governance and Risk Management seminars. We will also help you market your seminar on our site.

Call (770)536-2898 for details.

Our Downsizing Staff the Right Way briefing paper is now available in the Chief Executives Suite. Save money through downsizing while ensuring Sarbanes Oxley compliance. Click on Chief Executives Suite on the left.

USA 770 536 2898
UK 01799 540186

The Best of the Best for 2006

RBIA Gold Medal
Ms. Martha Mimica, Florida Power & Light

RBIA Silver Medal
Mr. Bill Egan, Scotts Company

RBIA Bronze Medal
Mr. Dan Ashley, Qwest Communications

Congratulations!
prior year winners

SOX 404 RISK CONTROL MANAGER 2.1 SOFTWARE


a cost effective way
to document controls

AUDIT TEAM MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (ATMS) SOFTWARE


best value available for
small audit groups

Updated: March 14, 2007