INFORM Applications, Inc., an application service provider specializing in Insurance and Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS) software, is pleased to announce that it has recently completed a service auditor’s review, commonly known as a SAS 70 audit, of its INFORM solutions.  The audit was performed by a nationally recognized independent auditing firm, and was completed in January 2008.  Included in the scope of the audit were INFORM’s data input and validation controls.  The general controls that support these activities were also examined. 

SAS 70 is an acronym for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS) No. 70, titled “Reports on the Processing of Transactions by Service Organizations”.  SAS No. 70 defines the professional standards used by a service auditor to assess the internal controls of a service organization and issue a service auditor’s report. 

In order to complete the audit, INFORM management developed control objectives for the significant areas of internal control that support the INFORM solutions.  The control objectives in the 2008 report addressed each of the following areas: 

·          Control Environment

·          Physical Security

·          Environmental Protection

·          Computer Operations

·          Information Security

·          Application Change Control

·          Data Communications

·          Data Input and Validation 

INFORM’s service auditor performed extensive testing of the control activities that have been implemented by INFORM to help ensure that our control objectives are met.  The service auditor’s testing allowed the service auditor to opine on the following: 

·          Whether the description of the controls prepared by INFORM presents fairly, in all material respects, the relevant aspects of the INFORM’s controls that had been placed in operation as of January 17, 2008;

·          Whether the controls were suitably designed to provide reasonable assurance that the specified control objectives would be achieved if those controls were complied with satisfactorily.

 

 Following this rigorous examination, the auditing firm was able to issue an unqualified opinion regarding each of the areas described above. 

INFORM management recognizes that Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has placed an increased focus on the internal controls of valued business partners.  The SAS 70 audit report is designed to provide clients with a certain level of assurance regarding the controls that are maintained by INFORM management.  The SAS 70 report addresses all five components of internal control outlined in the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, namely the control environment, risk assessment activities, control activities, information and communication systems, and monitoring activities.  The structure of our report is intuitive and is designed to be incorporated well with our clients’ Sarbanes-Oxley compliance programs. 

Furthermore, INFORM’s management understands the ever increasing importance of corporate governance, as well as the impact of the organization’s services on our clients’ system of internal controls.  The successful completion of the 2008 SAS 70 audit is only part of INFORM’s continued commitment to maintaining a high level of internal control.  INFORM has engaged its service auditor to a long-term contract whereby INFORM will undergo a Type 2 audit on an annual basis. 

ABOUT INFORM 

INFORM has been servicing clients for 27 years as an ASP solution provider. INFORM provides top quality data consolidation services to online reporting and online data maintenance services to our clients in both prepackaged and custom systems. INFORM specializes in meeting client specific requirements in a highly responsive manner. From our inception INFORM has helped its clients with cost of risk allocations and benchmarking report tools to measure and tracking risk management program performance. 

Please contact Alan Josefsek, President, to obtain further information regarding INFORM’s SAS 70 audit.