It is hard to find an organization that doesn’t use End User Computing (EUC) applications in some manner these days. EUC applications are owned by user groups and are not centrally supported by a company’s IT group. Without IT’s support, EUC applications are often not tested prior to implementation, secured through access restrictions, monitored for changes in functionality, or tested for compliance with a company’s control standards.

The most commonly found EUC is a spreadsheet, but they may include Access databases or other unsupported applications. Many are integral to completing financial planning, modeling, schedules, consolidations and financial closings. Given the content and use of many EUCs, there is generally a high level of risk associated with not controlling them.

Does your organization know all the EUCs that are financially significant? Does your organization have a plan to manage access, change control, and the functionality of financially significant EUCs?