The SAPsters

The SAPsters. I define my IT Audit Team as individuals who are tasked to do research on SAP, the accounting system used by our upcoming client. We are originally composed of five IT audit associates who work inside the IT room, but one was assigned to go to CDO to perform internal audit. Each one of us was given a job to familiarize with the business processes in SAP and that includes doing the "Should Be" flowchart for revenue, expenditure, payroll, inventory, warehouse management, and financial statement closing process. The said flowcharts shall be used in identifying the gaps between the ideal and the actual process flow.  

Doing research on SAP is fun. I get to learn more on how to operate the system. However, after four weeks of research, I could say that this job gets to be boring. Well, I'm not complaining about it since this gives me an opportunity to be widen my knowledge on SAP. I started to identify the necessary controls and the possible risks when using the system. But facing reality, there are times when one will just stare blankly on the screen (mental blocked) after doing the same thing every single day. One loses the momentum and starts a conversation with his/her teammates who are more than willing to listen on the latest gossip in town. One finds him/herself guilty of not being productive as the day progresses by. One simply surfs the net trying to find something that could enlighten him/her to work again. 

That being said, research is not an easy task. Being a dedicated SAPster is hard unless that person is really devoted to SAP research.