Patent Publication Number: US-2006010049-A1

Title: Regulatory auditing methods and systems

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to methods and systems for conducting audits using a networked tool.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Government-imposed regulation is not a new concept by any means. However, the historically recent explosions of technology, industrialization and urban development have spawned the need for seemingly endless reams of new and complex regulations.  
      Whether a particular set of regulations are designed to protect worker safety, ensure the quality of the food supply, contain pollution and so on, the sheer quantity and complexity of regulations has made regulatory auditing extremely problematic due to the difficulty of tracking changes in the evolving regulatory standards and measuring compliance with these standards.  
      Despite these problems, the pool of computer-based tools available to address regulatory auditing is spartan at best, with the best of such tools being limited to software packages that must be installed onto a first computer before an audit-administrator can design an audit, then installed on a second machine before someone can actually reply to such audits. Accordingly, new methods and systems directed to conducting regulatory audits are desirable.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The advantages of using the disclosed methods and systems are notable not just for their apparent utility, but also because they transcend any other known approach which uses computers to solve regulatory auditing issues. Indeed, history shows that certain forms of government regulations have been around for millennia, communications networks have been around for over a century, the Internet with its predecessors have been around for over thirty years, computer-based auditing tools have been around for decades, and so on, yet no one has attempted a noteworthy approach to regulatory auditing. That is, despite the fact that both the problems and the basic technology were publicly known for decades, no one had previously conceived and assembled the various disclosed methods and systems in such a way to create a comparable auditing tool.  
      In a variety of embodiments, an apparatus, method and software product are described that are useful for conducting a regulatory audit. The respective method can include a computerized administrator coupled to one or more terminals via a network, such as the internet, where the administrator is configured to administer a regulatory audit having one or more questionnaires to one or more operators located at geographically distant sites from one another.  
      Such questionnaires can include any number of features never before applied to auditing, such as a control enabling individual operators to respond using any number of available language selections, the ability to apply default settings to whole sections of a questionnaire using a single selection, the ability to answer questions by electronically importing data from a previous questionnaire and the ability to incorporate any number of independent files into a response, such a spreadsheet file, a database file, a multimedia file, an audio recording, a movie file and a still photograph file.  
      Further, the methods and systems are configured to raise flags based on a particular answer submitted to a questionnaire or a failure to answer a particular question, and action plans can be automatically administered. Communications between various operators and administrators can be facilitated and reports can be generated.  
      There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described or referred to below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.  
      In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.  
      As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting a networked-system capable of administering a regulatory audit.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram depicting an exemplary client-site.  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram depicting an exemplary audit-administrator.  
       FIG. 4  depicts a first exemplary web-page generated by the audit-administrator of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIGS. 5A-7B  depict various abilities of the exemplary audit-administrator of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 8  depicts a report-generation capacity of the exemplary audit-administrator of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 9  is a flowchart outlining a first exemplary operation.  
       FIG. 10  is a flowchart outlining a second exemplary operation. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      As mentioned above, the available pool of computer-based tools useful for conducting regulatory audits is Spartan at best despite the ever-growing mountains of regulations. Accordingly, the inventors of the methods and systems described below have responded by developing a novel, network-based auditing tool containing a wide variety of new features such that the managers of various enterprises, e.g., power plants, industrial production facilities and so on, can more easily and accurately comply with such regulations and other restrictions placed upon them.  
       FIG. 1  depicts an exemplary networked-system  100  configured to enable the development, distribution and coordinated completion of audits. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the networked-system  100  includes an administrator-site  120  coupled to a network  110  via link  120 , and a number of client-sites  130 ,  140  and  150  coupled to the network  100  via respective links  132 ,  142  and  152 .  
      In operation, a number of audit-administrators at the administrator-site  120  can first develop an number of questionnaires designed to conduct an audit. In the present embodiment, the administrator-site  120  (with its various novel features) is particularly useful for developing questionnaires directed to complying with an environmental audit. However, while the administrator-site  120  can be used for environmental audits, it should be appreciated that the administrator-site  120  is useful for questionnaires in general and particularly useful for regulatory audits where the sheer mass of regulations is appreciable.  
      For instance, some particularly good examples of such regulations can be found in the various titles of the United States Code of Federal Regulations, such as workplace safety, energy, transportation, accounting, banking, internal revenue, mineral resources, emergency management and assistance, commercial practices, commerce and foreign trade, elections, commodity and securities exchanges, employees benefits, homeland security, national defense and agriculture. Appropriate regulations also can be found in the various rules promulgated by a government bureaucracies, the various standards promulgated by commercial standards-making bodies, e.g., the International Telecommunications Union, or in any other situation where regulatory compliance is necessary or desirable.  
      Returning to  FIG. 1 , once the audit-administrators have developed the appropriate questionnaires, such questionnaires can be appropriately formatted and enhanced with a number of useful features as will be discussed below. In order to appropriately format the questionnaires and enable various features, the questionnaires of the present embodiment can take the form of a number of web-pages formatted using HTML, XML, Flash or any other viable publishing standard, such that people answering such questionnaires can do so using nothing more than a commercially available web-browser. However, it also should be appreciated that the questionnaires also can take form of any number of specially designed software packages as may be necessary or otherwise desired under a set of particular circumstances.  
      After the questionnaires are prepared and formatted, the audit-administrators can send an initial message to the appropriate parties that a questionnaire is available and should be attended. Additionally, the audit-administrators can post the questionnaires, i.e., configure the administrator-site  120  to make such questionnaires available to the appropriate client-sites  130 - 150  via the network  110 .  
      In response, the operators at the various client-sites  130 - 150  can respond to the questionnaires by directly answering individual questions and/or by using any of the novel features disclosed below. One of the unique features of the disclosed methods and systems is the ability of an audit-administrator to both structure a set of questionnaires in such a way as to coordinate actions between a number of facilities and to facilitate cooperation. For example, suppose that a corporation owns a dozen coal-fired power plants having varying clean-air technologies, and the corporation&#39;s auditors wish to make sure that each plant complies with the federally mandated maximum allowed air-emissions discharge over the last quarter. Using the present system, an audit-administrator could design a question such that, if an operator at a particular plant responded that his plant exceeded the allowed pollution limit, a “flag”, i.e. a logical indicator signifying that special attention is required, can be raise.  
      For instance, assuming that two of the twelve plants in the example above exceed their allowed air-emission limits, two separate flags could be automatically raised. In response to the flags, the present methods and systems can optionally impose an “action plan” to address each of the flags. With regard to the power-plant hypothetical, such an action plan might include such steps as: determining whether the corporation can cover the two plants&#39; excesses with pollution credits from it&#39;s other plants, determining whether the corporation is able to buy pollution credits on the open market, determining whether there are technical malfunctions in the air-cleaning equipment, ascertain the available types (and respective costs) of air-cleaning upgrades that are available and making a decision whether to buy pollution credits or invest in new air-cleaning equipment.  
      In view of the hypothetical above, it should be appreciated that communication can greatly aid in the quick resolution of problems—such communication including communication between various operators and audit-administrators, communication between different operators at different plants, communication between the auditors/operators and certain designated third-parties, such as the corporations&#39; management and purchasing agents, etc.  
      In order to facilitate communication, the present methods and systems envision incorporating any number of communication systems. For example, in the present embodiment a particular flag may automatically cause messages to be sent over an existing email system while further causing special indicators, e.g., “pop-ups”, to manifest themselves on an operator/administrator&#39;s screen. However, in other embodiments automatic voicemail messages can be generated, special voice-over-IP messages can be facilitated between operators and administrators, teleconferences can be automatically arranged or any other number of communications paradigms can be used as may be convenient, necessary or otherwise preferred.  
      Once the various questionnaires have been sufficiently answered and flags and action plans sufficiently resolved, the gathered data can be compiled and the appropriate audit reports generated.  
      The exemplary administrator-site  120  is a computer-based server capable of accessing the Internet. However, it should be appreciated that the administrator-site  120  can take any number of forms, including a server, a personal computer, a mainframe etc. While administrative facilities, such the exemplary administrator-site  120 , generally are expected to be located at a management facility, such as a corporate headquarters, the exemplary administrator-site  120  can be located practically anywhere, including a location within one of the client-sites  130 - 150 .  
      The client-sites  130 - 150  of the immediate example can include a variety of industrial facilities, such as power-plants, chemical plants, food-processing plants and manufacturing facilities that are subject to environmental regulation and audits. However, it should be appreciated that the nature of the client-sites  130 - 150 , as well as the nature of the audits and type of regulation involved, can vary across a wide spectrum of activities.  
      Depending on the nature of the regulation, the client-sites  130 - 150  may be located at geographically distant locations, While the phrase “geographically distant locations” and its derivative terms are somewhat imprecise in nature, such terms generally refer to two or more sites/locations that are not within the same building or complex of buildings. For the purpose of this disclosure, it should be appreciated that geographically distant sites may refer to locations separated by a few city blocks or my several miles, locations separated by state or national boundaries or even perhaps even refer to locations separated by regulatory boundaries, i.e., locations where different standards of regulations may apply.  
      The exemplary network  110  is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) resident on a portion of the Internet. However, in other embodiments the network  110  can be any viable combination of devices and systems capable of linking computer-based systems including a wide area network, a local area network, a connection over an intranet or extranet, a connection over any number of distributed processing networks or systems, a virtual private network, the Internet, a private network, a public network, a value-added network, an intranet, an extranet, an Ethernet-based system, a Token Ring, a Fiber Distributed Datalink Interface (FDDI), an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) based system, a telephony-based system including T1 and E1 devices, a wired system, an optical system, a wireless system and so on.  
      The various links  122 ,  132 ,  142  and  152  of the present embodiment are a combination of devices and software/firmware configured to couple computer-based systems to the Internet over a wired line. However, it should be appreciated that in differing embodiments the links  122 ,  132 ,  142  and  152  can take the forms of modems, networks interface card, serial buses, parallel busses, WAN or LAN interfaces, wireless or optical interfaces and the like as may be desired or otherwise dictated by design choice.  
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary client-site  130  according to the disclosed methods and systems. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the exemplary client-site  130  includes an interface  210  coupled to a number of terminals  220 - 224  via link  232 , and further coupled to an external network (not shown) via link  132 .  
      In operation, various operators using their respective terminals  220 - 224  can communicate with an audit-administrator as required to complete a given audit. For example, a first questionnaire can be administered to a first operator at the first terminal  220 , and a second questionnaire can be administered jointly to two other operators using terminals  222  and  224 . Accordingly, it should be appreciated that, in various instances a single questionnaire may serve multiple sites, while in other instances questionnaires may be customized to individual sites and even individual operators.  
      The exemplary terminals  220 - 224  can be personal computers executing transmission control protocol (TCP) operating over Internet protocol (IP), commonly referred to as TCP/IP. However, the terminals  220 - 224  can also be any one of a number of different types of devices, such as a computer, a server, a PDA, a voice-responsive terminal or any combination of software or hardware capable of enabling an operator to communicate with a computerized system.  
      The interface  210  can be a computer based server with specialized interfaces capable of interfacing an external network with the various terminals  220 - 224 . However, it should be appreciated the interface  210  can be any known or later developed combination of systems and devices as desired or otherwise required to facilitate communication between a terminal and an external computer-based device.  
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary audit-administrator  120  according to the disclosed methods and systems. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the exemplary audit-administrator  120  includes a controller  310 , a memory  320 , a questionnaire database  330 , a display device  340 , a data management device  350 , a flagging device  360 , a communication device  370  a reporting device  380  and an input/output device  390 . The above components  310 - 390  are coupled together by control/data bus  302 . Although the audit-administrator  120  uses a bussed architecture, it should be appreciated that any other architecture may be used as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, it should be appreciated some of the above-listed components can take the form of software/firmware routines residing in memory  320  and executed by the controller  310 .  
      In operation an operator using the audit-administrator  120  can develop a number of questionnaires, such as questionnaires related to a regulatory audit, and store them in the questionnaire database  330 . Subsequently, the operator can send an initial message to the various parties responsible for answering (and monitoring the answering of) the questionnaire via the communication device  370  and input/output device  390 .  
      Next, as various parties evoke their respective questionnaires, the display device  340  can access the appropriate questionnaires, format them and subsequently cause them to be displayed on a remote terminal, such as those terminals shown in  FIG. 2 .  
      As mentioned above, the display device  340  can offer an operator a number of conveniences to an operator. In the present embodiment, such conveniences include controls that enable questionnaires to be displayed in a desired language. Other conveniences include a number of functional controls, such as a specialized control that can enable an operator to attach (or otherwise incorporate) various independent files, such as databases, spreadsheets, multimedia files etc, into his answers.  
      During operation, as the various questions within the questionnaires are answered, the data management device  350  can monitor and store the responses and various incorporated files. Should the data management device  350  detect certain anomalies, e.g., errant answers, inconsistent answers from different operators, answers outside allowable bounds or the failure of an operator to provide (or timely provide) an answer to a required question, the data management device  350  can send a signal to the flagging device  360 . The flagging device  360 , in turn, subsequently can generate a flag/alert, send a number of appropriate messages via the communication device  370  and initiate an action plan.  
      Also as mentioned above, an action plan can be a plan that includes a number of specific steps necessary to resolve an issue. However, it should be appreciated that action plans can take many forms and be process-oriented, goal-oriented or otherwise take any form useful for a set of particular circumstances.  
      Still further, it should be appreciated that while a particular action plan can take a particular, rigid form, in various embodiments and circumstances action plans can take the form of a malleable set of instructions. For instance, using the air-emissions example above, it may desirable for an action plan to start with a single first step, i.e., determining whether two plants&#39; emissions excesses can be covered using emissions credits from it&#39;s other ten plants, based on a history of this single step working well for the exemplary corporation. However, the exemplary corporation may be best served by abrogating this first step by undertaking a study as to the cost of buying newly developed air-cleaning upgrades for its errant plants and then selling its own air-emission credits on the open market.  
      Once the various flags/action plans are resolved and all necessary data collected, an operator can send a command to the reporting device  380  to automatically generate (or aid in the generation of) an appropriate report, which can take any number of forms, including a form suitable for paper as well as an electronic form having optional electronic controls useful to evoke spreadsheets, multimedia files etc.  
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary log-in web-page  410  useful for accessing an audit system. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the log-in web-page  410  includes three options  420 , the first of which can enable an operator at a client-site to access one or more questionnaires, the second of which can enable an audit-administrator to form and monitor questionnaires and the third to enable a system administrator to service the system and upgrade software.  
       FIG. 5A  depicts a first exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 5A , an operator using a first answer web-page  510  can import data from an external data-template  520  in order to fill in the various answers. The exemplary data-template  520  is derived from a previously administered questionnaire, and the process depicted in  FIG. 5A  is derived under the assumption that the present questionnaire may have many answers in common with those of a previously administered questionnaire. However, it should be appreciated that the particular origins and form of the data-template  520  can vary as desired or otherwise required for a given audit. Once the answers from the data-template  520  are imported, an operator can optionally overwrite or otherwise alter the template answers as necessary.  
       FIG. 5B  depicts a second exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 5B , an operator using the first answer web-page  510  can attach or otherwise incorporate any number of independent files  530  including database files, spreadsheets etc. An advantage to this approach is that it allows an audit to incorporate any number of existing databases, spreadsheets and media without expending the excessive effort otherwise required to incorporate the underlying data.  
       FIG. 6A  depicts a third exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 6A , an operator using answer web-page  610  can enter an answer that, in the present circumstances, causes a flag  620  to be raise and an action plan  630  to be evoked.  FIG. 6B  depicts a fourth exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 6B , a flag  650 , in addition to evoking an action plan, can generate an independent alert  660  to a predetermined set of individuals. Such alerts can take the form of email messages, messages displayed on questionnaire pages  670 , highlighted sections in pages  670  and so on.  
       FIG. 7A  depicts a fifth exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 7A , an operator using answer web-page  710  can activate one of a number of language controls  720 , which can cause the questionnaire, in whole or in part, to be presented in a particular language.  
       FIG. 7B  depicts a sixth exemplary operation useful for responding to an audit. As depicted in  FIG. 7B , an operator using answer web-page  730  can activate any of an available number of default controls  740 , which can result in whole sections of the audit to be answered according to a predetermined scheme. For example, in a particular audit an operator may wish to indicate that his facility has had no major equipment breakdowns without making a hundred separate responses. By selecting an “all&#39;s well” default button, the operator can accurately respond to the questionnaire in a fraction of the time it would take to answer all of the individual questions.  
       FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary operation where data is compiled and a report generated. As shown in  FIG. 8 , a number of client-documents  810 - 1  to  810 -N, which can include answered questionnaires with various attached/incorporated files, can be compiled to form a single master document  820  which, in turn, can be used to derive a number of reports  830 .  
      For instance, using the air-emissions scenario discussed above, the exemplary corporation can compile a number of client-documents, e.g., air-emissions reports for each of it plants, and compile the data into a single master document, which can be a database containing a detailed list of the types and quantities of air-emissions for all plants. From this master emissions document, the corporation can generate a number of documents including an official EPA report, a presentation for corporate management and a spreadsheet useful to environmental engineers to make suggestions.  
       FIG. 9  is a flowchart outlining an exemplary operation according to the present disclosure for performing an audit. The process starts at step  910  where a number of questionnaires can be developed for a particular audit. Next, in step  912 , the questionnaires can be “posted”, i.e., made available to the appropriate personnel at any number of geographic sites. Then, in step  914 , an initial message can be sent to the appropriate personnel to alert them that an audit is to be performed and questionnaires are available to be answered. Control continues to step  916 .  
      In step  916 , responses are collected. Then in step  920 , a determination is made as to whether any flags are generated. If any flags are generated, control continues to step  922 ; otherwise, control jumps to step  930 .  
      In step  922 , which assumes one or more flags were generated, a like-number of alerts are sent to the appropriate parties. Next, in step  924 , suitable action plans are initiated, and further responses are collected in step  926  until the flags/action plans are resolved. As discussed above, while an action plan may consists of a set of rigid instructions, it may be necessary in various circumstances to incorporate a flexible action plan. Accordingly, step  926  may take the form of a series of queries and responses interleaved by constant modifications to the action plan based on previously provided responses. Control continues to step  930 .  
      In step  930 , a determination is made as to whether the data collection portion of the audit is complete. If data collection is complete, control continues to step  932 ; otherwise, control jumps back to step  916  where more responses are collected.  
      In step  932 , the appropriate audit reports are generated, and control continues to step  950  where the process stops.  
       FIG. 10  is a flowchart outlining a second exemplary operation according to the present disclosure for performing an audit from the viewpoint of an operator at a client site. The process starts at step  1010  where an initial alert is received by an operator from an audit-administrator. Next, in step  1012 , the operator can perform any number of operations useful to respond to a questionnaire, including selecting a preferred language, importing past data, selecting default answers, attaching/incorporating independent files, responding to individual questions and so on. Control continues to step  1020 .  
      Then in step  1020 , a determination is made as to whether any flags are generated. If any flags are generated, control continues to step  1022 ; otherwise, control jumps to step  1030 .  
      In step  1022 , which assumes one or more flags were generated, alerts are received by the appropriate parties. Next, in step  1024 , the appropriate action plans are initiated, and further responses are collected in step  1026  until the flags/action plans of step  1024  are resolved. Control continues to step  1030 .  
      In step  1030 , a determination is made as to whether the data collection portion of the audit is complete. If data collection is done, control continues to step  1050  where the process stops; otherwise, control jumps back to step  1012  where more responses are collected.  
      In various embodiments where the above-described systems and/or methods are implemented using a programmable device, such as a computer-based system or programmable logic, it should be appreciated that the above-described systems and methods can be implemented using any of various known or later developed programming languages, such as “C”, “C++”, “FORTRAN”, Pascal”, “VHDL” and the like.  
      Accordingly, various storage media, such as magnetic computer disks, optical disks, electronic memories and the like, can be prepared that can contain information that can direct a device, such as a computer, to implement the above-described systems and/or methods. Once an appropriate device has access to the information and programs contained on the storage media, the storage media can provide the information and programs to the device, thus enabling the device to perform the above-described systems and/or methods.  
      For example, if a computer disk containing appropriate materials, such as a source file, an object file, an executable file or the like, were provided to a computer, the computer could receive the information, appropriately configure itself and perform the functions of the various systems and methods outlined in the diagrams and flowcharts above to implement the various functions. That is, the computer could receive various portions of information from the disk relating to different elements of the above-described systems and/or methods, implement the individual systems and/or methods and coordinate the functions of the individual systems and/or methods to conduct audits.  
      The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.