- Audit Committee
is a subcommittee of the board of directors, majority of members are independent directors of the company as well as the chair.Similar to the Germany so-called "Rechnungs- und Prüfungsausschuss" as a subcommittee of the "Aufsichtsrat".
- Audit Trail
is a term of IT Audit, describes a Processing- and Reportingtool built in a program that establishes the completeness of the processing. I.e. that all input data is processed and can be found in output files.
- Basel II/ Basler Accord
The so-called Basler Accord recognizes all recommendations of the Basler Committee that refers to a new regime of the minimum requirements of own capital of banks and financial institutions. It establishes an agreement that was negotiated between the regulators of the important economic countries. The Basler Accord only is a recommendation and not a binding rule or act. However, this recommendation was transferred into national law of each sole country.
- Benchmarking
compares products, services and especially processes and methods of business objects of different companies on a regular basis. Objective is to accomplish transparency of the differences of other companies, deductions of reasons for these differences, clearance of improvements, and establishing of objectives for competiveness.Costs, quality, consumer commitments and time could be subjects of that comparison.
- Blind spot
psychological term, refers to items and structures that a person represses because it dissonances to its self. Other persons recognize this blind spot shortly when items and structures are mentioned occasionally and the person reacts uncommonly. This blind spot also exists in groups and organizations. Therefore learning persons, groups, and organizations ask for feed-back to get it consciously. One can say IA is an institutional feed-back mechanism of a company.
- CGU
Cash generating unit is a business unit (real or virtual) of an enterprise that gets its own results and can be evaluated separately. With the method of CGU IAS 36 looks for the need of an impairment testing whether the aggregated sum of discounted cash flows reflects the book value of the assets which are summarized in the CGU.
- Change management
comprises an organizational framework for identification and use of chances deliberately. Behaviour, organisation, development and implementation are all different parts of the change management process. That these are similar parts one can see in risk management processes.
- Closed user group
a group of people that can access to the same data. These data is only available for these people.
- CO
Compliance is one of the four types of Auditing FA, OA, MA and CO. It deals with the implementation and observance of all legal laws within an enterprise targeting at safeguarding and correctness. Some companies understand the objective safeguarding as a term for safeguarding assets against fraud and theft.
- CoBiT
(Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology): a framework for IT as well as IT Audit established by the ISACA
- CoCo
(1998: Criteria of Control; RMG: 2001: Risk Management and Governance): Internal Control initiative established by the organisation of Canadian external auditors.
- Cooling-off period
The time-period during that an external auditor are blocked to move into specific positions -Chief Accountant or member of the Audit Committee- of the company audited. In Germany the DCGK (Deutsche Corporate Governance Kodex) recommends this for example for former CEO`s not to move into the Aufsichtsrat within 2 years after resignation.
- CG
Corporate Governance all defined, implemented, and controlled measurements of the board that enhances the company to accomplish its targets. The Board is the ultimate body of CG, external and internal audit address their items to it. The DCGK recommends a catalogue of measurements to be implement by the company (comply) and acknowledge the don`ts in its Annual Reporting and on its website (explain).
- COSO
(Committee of Sponsoring Organisation of The Treadway Commission): standardized framework for Enterprise Risk Management (COSO II) and Internal Control (COSO I).
- Covenants
term used in enterprise finance and describes targets with thresholds to be observed when using bank facilities and corporate bonds. Rating agencies also ask for complying with covenants. Ratings could be worsen when breaking the covenants. This worsening a can be predefined as a step-up procedure -for example an increasing interest rate- coming into place when breaking the covenants. Examples for covenants are ratios free cashflow / net debt or free cash flow/ own capital.