Kathryn Horton with Daszkal Bolton Receives 2017 US IDEA® User of Excellence Award

HOUSTON – August 8, 2017 – Audimation Services, Inc., the sole U.S. distributor of CaseWare IDEA® have selected Kathryn Horton, Audit Supervisor at Daszkal Bolton LLP, as the recipient of the 2017 U.S. IDEA® User of Excellence Award. She is being recognized for her innovative use of IDEA to streamline audit processes, identify fraudulent activity, analyze big data and expand the use of data analytics throughout the firm.
 

Daszkal Bolton is a prominent accounting and advisory firm based in South Florida. The firm provides tax, accounting, audit and a wide range of business consulting services to clients that range from multinational corporations to individuals. As a Supervisor in the firm’s Audit and Accounting Services Department, Horton plays an active role in implementing data analytics into 100 percent of audit engagements. When conducting a high-risk audit of an international corporation, Horton used IDEA to combine general ledger data from different countries to identify anomalies that indicated fraudulent activity. Horton has also earned the Certified IDEA Data Analyst (CIDA) credential, which has helped her advance in the firm and become the designated expert for high-risk audits.
 

“The use of IDEA in our work is a game changer for Daszkal Bolton,” said Horton. “You never want the data to be bigger than you are. IDEA helps us rein in big data sets to get a macro view of key areas for further analysis. It is at the forefront of audit processes and innovation, and I’m honored to be chosen as the recipient for this award.”
 

Michael Daszkal, Managing Partner of Daszkal Bolton, states, “We are so proud of Kathryn for winning the IDEA User of Excellence Award.  She has been a true leader in the implementation and use of IDEA here at the firm and we have gotten great results from using it.”
 

Horton has used IDEA in resourceful ways to perform analysis on general ledgers, calculate depreciation expenses for fixed assets, reduce sample sizes for cumbersome audit areas, Employee Benefit Plan audits and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) projects. She has become proficient in using IDEA’s Visual Script feature to streamline the audit process for clients related to data integrity checks, recalculations and reconciliations. Horton has spearheaded an internal initiative to help staff incorporate data analytics into their work. She leads internal Continued Professional Education (CPE) courses to show how to apply IDEA to audits for private and non-profit organizations, and single audits.