What are the Consequences for a Company and their CEO/CISO/CIO if their SAP Systems fail an Audit?

If your SAP system fails an audit, the repercussions for your company can be significant. It can disrupt your day-to-day business operations, impacting production processes, supplier payments, and compliance with industry standards like GDPR.

The potential consequences of a failed audit include:

1. Shutdown of the SAP system: A failed audit or compromised data integrity, especially in critical areas such as financial, procurement, and sales data, can result in a system or transaction shutdown within SAP.

2. Utilization of Expensive Resources: Rectifying system deficiencies identified during the audit often requires immediate action and investment in external consultants. This can be a costly affair for your company. Correcting the issues identified in the audit may require investing in new technology, training, or processes, leading to additional expenses.

3. Personal liabilities of CEO/CISO/CIO: In many organizations, the leadership team holds personal liability for the accuracy of financial data. Any errors in financial data can lead to a failed SAP audit, putting personal accountability at stake. Depending on the severity of the audit findings, management personnel responsible for ensuring compliance may face disciplinary actions, including demotions or terminations.

4. Loss of trust from customers and partners / Reputational Damages : Non-compliance with standards like GDPR and SOX, which can be a consequence of a failed audit, can damage the trust of customers, partners, and suppliers whose data is stored in the SAP systems. Beyond immediate stakeholders, failing a SAP audit can harm the organization's reputation in the broader market, affecting its ability to attract talent, partners, and investors. In industries where certifications are required to operate, failing an SAP audit could result in the loss of certifications, further limiting the organization's ability to operate legally or compete in the market.

5. Increased Risk of Fraud: If system deficiencies are only addressed after each audit, your SAP systems remain vulnerable to ongoing fraud attempts until the next audit. Implementing automation and continuous system monitoring is crucial to safeguarding SAP systems against fraudulent activities.

6. Increased Oversight: A failed audit may result in increased scrutiny and oversight from regulatory authorities, auditors, or internal governance bodies, leading to additional audits and reviews.

7. Loss of Business Opportunities: Some clients or partners may require evidence of compliance with SAP standards before entering into contracts or partnerships. Failing an audit may result in the loss of business opportunities.

It is essential for your company to prioritize maintaining a robust and compliant SAP system to avoid these potential consequences.

What should organizations do in order not to fail in an SAP Audit ?

To ensure the success of SAP audits, it is crucial for organizations to take certain steps. Firstly, they should define their approach for SAP audits by establishing criteria and standardizing the procedure. Following this, they should conduct automated audit phases and closely monitor the results and any system deficiencies. Additionally, increasing the visibility of the SAP system throughout the business can help reduce audit and compliance risks, as well as enhance security. Automation plays a key role in this process, as it allows for system audits to be automated and for continuous collection and monitoring of audit-relevant SAP data. Lastly, implementing and continuously monitoring well-designed segregation of duties and a SAP system change management approach are essential processes to establish.

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You can contact SAGESSE TECH(E-mail : [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected] ), if you would like to have more information about our products or to have a Vulnerability Scanning, SAP Audit or SAP PenTest on your SAP Systems or implement a SAP Threat Detection and Monitoring Solution integrated with leading SIEM Vendors like SPLUNK, IBM QRadar.