Ethical Audit

An ethical audit measures the cultures and behaviours of an organisation, and determines the extent to which its values are embedded across its people and across its processes.

Unlike financial audits which are designed to dig deep into Organisation records to ensure reliability and accuracy in areas like accounting systems, financial reporting and legal compliance. Audits generally deal with quantitative, measurable data. Ethical issues, on the other hand, are more often qualitative or subjective in nature. A number of qualitative research techniques make an ethical audit possible, but an ethical audit still necessarily functions differently from any kind of financial audit. Considering multiple perspectives to gain a big-picture understanding of a company's commitment to ethics is the key to an ethical audit.

Ethical audits can prove to be beneficial in the growth and sustainability of any Organisation. Some of the benefit of the Ethical audit has been listed below:

• Identify potential risks and liabilities and improve legal compliances.
• Can be key in improving organizational performance.
• Improved relationships with stakeholders.
• Plans to respond to and recover from disasters that can disrupt operations, destroy organizational reputation and erode shareholder confidence.
• Provide a benchmark of overall effectiveness of ethics initiatives .
• Can demonstrate the positive impact of ethical conduct and social responsibility initiatives on the firm’s bottom line

An ethical audit if effectively done can help in building a positive environment across Organisation . It will with all other benefits will promote that the Organisations concerns for the overall development and conduct of the business not just achieving some financial targets.

At Dishtayate, we provide you with a qualified team who understands finance and non finance requirements of the business and who can partner with you for the ethical development of your Organisation.

Social Audit

Social Auditing is a process which, enables organisations and agencies to assess and demonstrate their social, community and environmental benefits and limitations. It is a way to measure the extent to which an organisation lives up to the shared values and objectives it has committed itself to promote.

Social Audit is a framework which allows an organization to build on existing documentation and reporting and develop a process whereby it can account for its social performance, report on that performance and draw up an action plan to improve, through which it can understand its impact on the community and be accountable to its key stakeholders.

Simply put, Social Accounting systems analyse the Social, Economic and Environmental impact of an organization and report upon it. This report is then presented to and verified by a representative Social Audit Panel, which then certifies the social accounts.

Most importantly the framework allows an organisation to work through, step by step, the three ingredients which are key to any social accounting system:

• The Organisational Objectives and behaviour.
• Organisational interactions with the Society.
• The result of Organisations Behaviour on the Society.

Social Audit is suitable for all Organisation. It requires a sense of responsibility towards society and no business can run without giving back to the society, so Social audit is your assessment how well you are doing it and how can it be improved for a improved acceptance of your business by the society at large for the long term growth of your business and society at large.

Management And Control

The purpose of management and control activities is to produce and use financial and support information to inform , monitor, and instigate operational actions to meet organisational activities. This will also play an important part in refining or redefining those Organisational objectives.

It includes various activities but major activities can be classified as under:

• Management Information Generation
• Information analysis and application
• Internal Audit
• Management Accounting

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION GENERATION

It includes development , production and analysis of the information used for management and control purposes. It may include financial as well non financial information. It covers planning, forecasting, budgeting, target setting, analysis and reporting. The content and scope may vary from Organisation to Organisation as per the need and requirements which may require aggregation of both past and future data. A strong and reliable information generation is very crucial in the overall process of decision making and management as this data forms basis of all other analysis and reporting.

INFORMATION ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION

This activity primarily includes how information is used for Management and Control. Sound application of data is very important for management and decision making. Following four are the major application areas of information:

• General Management and Control of Operational Activities ; generally with an implicit focus on profitability or value for money goals .
• Cash and Treasury Management ; It has two main performance dimension , first Impact on Company Valuations as it is based on the net present value of future cash flow and second as an asset class to be managed through treasury activities
• Investment Appraisal; seeking merits of investment options using both cash approaches ( Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return ) and Profit based appraisals.
• Tax Management : It involves the consideration of range of factors such as decision on transfer pricing , legal entity structure, operating locations, and financing structures. Generally Organisations focus on minimising tax liabilities However , progressive and bottom-line focussed managements have realized that taxes (both direct and indirect, domestic and international), should be viewed as a dynamic item of cost rather than a passive charge on the profits.

Indeed, an effective tax-cost management provides a distinct competitive advantage. This requires the application of appropriate tax strategies proactively identified and surgically implemented

INTERNAL AUDIT

In the current scenario, when business processes are getting complex, regulatory involvement is increasing , it is important to have a continuous review of the processes to ensure that they are in line with Organisations established procedure and working towards achieving the Organisation's goal and objectives.

A sound internal audit will help management to have a look at current progress, identify gaps and take timely decision to fill those gaps and proceed for implementation of decisions for improved Organisation's performance.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

Management accounting involves partnering in management decision making, devising planning and performance management systems, and providing expertise in financial reporting and control to assist management in the formulation and implementation of an organization's strategy. It may be regarded as a partnering with the management in the overall decision making .The activities in management accounting includes forecasting and planning, performing variance analysis, reviewing and monitoring costs etc.

Strategy And Risk Management

The Purpose of Strategy and Risk management activities is to inform and influence from a financial perspective the development and implementation of strategy and to manage risk. It includes following key areas:

STRATEGY

Finance is firmly integrated in the strategy process for three main reasons:

• Financial Resources: The effective implementation of strategies requires sufficient financial resources.
• Success measure : For commercial entities in particular a key measure of Organisational Success is Financial Performance.
• Cross Organisational Visibility : Financial Information provides a uniform measure of performance across the Organisation and is a key means of making Organisational Activities visible and thus understanding the business.

STRATEGIC AND ANNUAL PLANS

Organisations tend to be more successful if they are led against the backdrop of a strategic direction, rather than via reactionary response to short-term and immediate changes in circumstances.

Setting a strategic direction allows longer-term planning to be effective and enables senior leaders to determine and plan to achieve future business opportunities.

We can support senior leaders through the process of setting the organisation's strategy, bringing an external independent perspective to the discussions.

Having set the strategy and agreed the organisation's goals or objectives, we are also experienced in supporting the translation of the appropriate elements of the strategy into the annual business plans, ensuring "line of sight" between the strategy and operational activities.

• Corporate governance framework.

Directors of an organisation have personal responsibilities for their actions in respect of the organisation's business. Our framework outlines the key responsibilities of accountable executives and Boards, their powers of delegation, the conduct expected of the Board and its proceedings. It reflects principles that have been adopted by the Organisation demonstrates its commitment to openness and public accountability.

• Business performance measurement.

Having determined an organisation's strategy and its key objectives, reviewing progress towards achievement of the intended goals is central to the activities of the Board and senior leaders. We offer assistance to clients in identifying the critical success factors that underpin achievement of strategic objectives, and the range of performance indicators and associated measures against which to review progress and to support strategic decision-making. We are also able to advise on formats for the reporting of performance measures, review and escalation responsibilities and processes.

• Process review and alignment to strategy.

When an organisation agrees a new strategic direction, it is important that all processes support the efficient and effective realisation of the Corporate goals. Often, processes will have been designed to deliver against an earlier and different strategic agenda. Optimizing business process through alignment to the new strategy is a crucial activity if the business is to operate efficiently and we offer support and advice on process review and alignment to strategy.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk management is an integral part of business management today. For effectively managing the risk it is equally important to first assess the risk. Risk management is an on going process and the range of activities can get very broad as per the needs and requirements of the business. Setting of risk policies, identification of risk across the organisation and monitoring of action plans designed to manage such risks.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

A specific element of the strategy process is mergers , acquisitions and divestments. Financial considerations are central here including Financial Due Diligence , Valuations and Price Negotiations. The decision of merger and acquisition is crucial as it is a long term decision so has to be taken after due care .

Finance Function

A successful business is the result of effective functioning of different internal processes and departments like production, marketing, sales, administration, finance, human resources etc. For the success of any business it is important that all the function not only perform well individually but also collectively .

All functions are undoubtedly important and interrelated but one function at which each and everyone looks upto is ' Finance Function'. Finance Function over the period of time has evolved to a great extent. Traditionally expected to handle the accounting and reporting of transactions , now it includes lots of responsibilities without which no business can un smoothly.

The Finance Function primarily consist of 5 interrelated activities. Each of the activity originate from the Organisational activities and focus on production and use of information to primarily meet the following purpose

• Accounting: To record financial consequences of Organisational Activities
• Compliance : To meet the requirements of governmental and other regulatory bodies
• Management and Control:To produce and use financial and related information to inform, monitor and instigate operational actions to meet Organisational Objectives
• Strategy and Risk: To inform and influence from afinancial perspective the development and implementation of strategy and to manage risk.
• Funding: To inform and engage with investors and funders both current and potential to obtain and maintain necessary financial resources for the Organisation.

At Dishtayate, we work together as partner with the Organisations to ensure smooth functioning of the Finance function and provide our quality services for each of the five activities of finance function individually and collectively as a package.

Funding

The Purpose of Funding activities is to inform and engage with investors and funders, both current and potential , to obtain and maintain the necessary financial resources for the Organisation. Engagement includes the provision of Information , relationship building and negotiation.

The Provision for Information enables investors and funders to appraise Organisational performance , actual and projected, in relation to their financial interest in the Organisation. Funders include those providing loans , asset finance, grants etc.

At Dishtayate, we provide our services primarily in two sub domains of this activity:

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Investor Relations is largely concerned with the equity investors including individuals , fund management, institutions , hedge funds and private equity Organisations . Their Objective is generally to achieve a financial return . Their interest are met by providing guidance on the financial prospects of the Organisation, how plans will be achieved and the risks involved.

Debt Financing

Debt Financing still holds a major source of funds for many organisations. From the lenders perspective they want their loan is paid along with interest and other fees on time and to be sure that there will be no defaults , lenders ( Banks ) need lots of information, data, presentations. Our services include preparing the data, negotiating with the debt funders who are aiming to protect their position by negotiating terms and lending covenants that set minimum performance criteria which if met are intended to ensure repayment.

Business And Management Audit

Management Audit is a systematic examination of decisions and actions of the management to analyse the performance. Management audit involves the review of managerial aspects like organizational objective, policies, procedures, structure, control and system in order to check the efficiency or performance of the management over the activities of the Organisation.

Management Audit is an assessment of methods and policies of an organization's management in the administration and the use of resources, tactical and strategic planning, and employee and organizational improvement.

Major Objectives of Management Audit are:

• Establish the current level of effectiveness
• Suggest Improvements
• Lay down standards for future performance
• Increased levels of service quality and performance
• Guidelines for organizational restructuring
• Introduction of management information systems to assist in meeting productivity and effectiveness goals
• Better use of resources due to program improvements.

Management Audit could serve as foundation to the overall conduct of the business. Our team while designing and conducting the audit will ensure that the solutions and suggestions are aligned with the overall objective of the business , in other words, our suggestions will only add to the overall effectiveness of the conduct of the business keeping in tact the reason for existence and the business objective of the Organisation.

Internal Audit

Internal audit is a process which helps organisations achieve their objectives. It is concerned with evaluating and improving the effectiveness of business processes, risk management, internal controls and governance processes in an organisation.

The essence of the internal audit lies in its very nature and an effective internal audit can not help business processes to improve it can also add considerable value in the growth of any organisation by aligning the existing systems and processes with the organisational growth objectives.

At Dishtayate, we design all our solution with a value addition approach and our methodology for conducting internal audit confirms our ideology towards providing quality service solutions to our clients.

It is a 'Value Addition based' approach that focuses on our clients’ objectives and impediments to achieving those objectives. Our methodology has been developed for consistent execution in every internal audit practice across all clients. The process is scalable and is underpinned by our risk assessment methodology. Solutions offered through our methodology include :

• Setting up of Internal Audit function
• Undertaking internal audit risk assessments
• Developing assurance plans based on our assessment
• Identifying and monitoring Key performance indicators for every process
• Data analytics
• Audit and reviews
• Identifying gaps between the existing performance and the key performance indicators
• Developing solutions to fill those gaps in close consultation with the process owners and those involved in decision making
• Assisting in implementation of the suggestions
• Follow up and review.

We understand the importance of this function and also that every Organisation expectations may vary from the internal audit , so our methodology has been designed in way that gets customised in line with the requirements of our clients.

Data Quality Audit

With the increasing reach of Organisations to different parts and sections of the country. Quality of data collection and reporting is very significant as this not only affect the current impact and assessment of the business operations but also lays foundation for future planning , focus areas and strategy development.

At Dishtayate, we provide quality data quality assessment services through our developed tool which covers each and every aspect of data quality management system.

The data quality audit would:

• Examine the effectiveness of the current data quality systems in improving program effectiveness by ensuring the authenticity, reliability and validity of data being used for decision making and
• Will help to identify areas in which data quality needs to be strengthened further.
• The process would involve beneficiaries and checking of registers/forms/ progress reports, the audit is critical and would provide important feedback for rectification and improvement of quality of reporting and recording. Overall this would help us to gain greater confidence on the system and increase beneficiaries, partners and donor satisfaction.

The Data Quality Audit will be conducted in 6 Phases Chronologically .Assessments and Verification will take place at every stage of the reporting system M&E Management Unit, Intermediate Data Collection Levels (State, Districts), and Service Delivery Sites.

Our system assessment as a part of our audit process covers following key areas:

S.no	F unctional Areas	Key assessment area
1	M & E Capabilities, Roles and Responsibilities	Whether the Key M& E and Data management staff identified with clearly assigned responsibilities
2	Training	Whether there is adequate training procedure for the new and as well as existing staff members of the M& E and Data Management
3	Data Reporting Requirements	Whether there is clear documented reporting guidelines communication what, in what form, when and whom to report.
4	Indicator Definitions	Are there operational indicator definitions meeting relevant standards and are systematically followed by all service points.
5	Data Collection and Reporting Forms and Tools	1. Whether there are standard data collection and reporting forms and are systematically used at all levels. 2. Whether the source documents for the data is preserved and made available.
6	Data Management Process	Whether clear documentation of collection, aggregation and transfer of data is prepared and preserved.
7	Data Quality Mechanisms and Controls	Are data qualities challenges identified and are mechanisms in place for addressing them? Whether there is a designed system and procedure to identify discrepancies and in the reports Whether the designed system has a procedure of periodically reviewing the data and report collection mechanisms and source data
8	Links with National Reporting Systems	Whether the Data Collection and reporting system of the project linked to the National Reporting System.

Our Assessment form basis for our overall assessment and we help Organisations build stronger and reliable data management system.