What are the benefits of SAS 70 to a user organization?
User organizations that obtain a Service Auditor’s Report from their service organizations receive a detailed description of the service organization’s controls and an independent assessment of whether the controls were placed in operation, suitably designed, and operating effectively (in the case of a Type II report). User auditors will use this information when obtaining a sufficient understanding of controls to assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements. User organizations should provide a Service Auditor’s Report to their auditors. This will greatly assist the user auditor in planning the audit of the user organization’s financial statements. Without a Service Auditor’s Report, the user organization would likely incur additional costs sending their auditors to the service organization to perform their required procedures.
