Ep 210: Terrible Audit Recommendations w/ Jennie Wallace (Melody Advisory Services)

This week's episode, we're joined by Jennie Wallace, CEO and Founder of Melody Advisory Services. Jennie brings a wealth of experience, having worked across the first, second, and third lines of defense in audit and risk management. In this episode, Jennie shares how management views audit from her experience on both sides of being an audit and helping with risk management. She highlights the importance of understanding and empathizing with management to strengthen auditor-client relationships. Jennie also discusses avoiding "dumb findings" that cause unnecessary friction and the importance of using good judgment when escalating issues. We wrap up by revisiting the topic of audit independence.   Be sure to connect with Jennie on LinkedIn.   Also, be sure to follow us on our new social media accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.   Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel.   Timecodes: 5:16 - Music and Melody Advisory 5:58 - Learning Excel with ChatGPT 9:11 - What does Risk Management Think of Audit 12:28 - Developing an Auditor's Judgment 26:55 - The Flow Chart Story 34:33 - What does Independence Look like in 2024 40:55 - Co-source vs. Outsource 43:34 - How not to be a Trusted Advisor 47:48 - Final Thoughts   *   This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics, the services firm that helps auditors leap-frog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype.  Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.