May 2012

5 Qualities of a Strong Board

The role of the Board in organizations is one of oversight. Boards are charged with representing various stakeholder groups to ensure the organization fulfill their mission, vision, goals and objectives. A strong Board provides unparalleled guidance. A weak Board can lead (or oversee) an organization down a path to destruction. Given the significance of the role, there is much discussion about what a successful Board should look like.

As internal auditors, we support the Board by identifying, evaluating and reporting on the

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5 Practical Ways to Use Evernote During Audits

Evernote is a service “in the cloud” that helps you “remember everything, communicate effectively and get things done (www.evernote.com).” Evernote provides tools that allow you to store notes, documents, photos, web pages, voice recordings, tweets and almost anything that you can imagine. You can transfer these items from any computer and most smartphones. Additionally, you can access these same documents from any computer and most smartphones. What follows are 5 practical ways for auditors

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4 Factors to Building a World Class Audit Function

Dictionary.com defines “world class” as ranking among the world’s best. So what does that really mean for an internal audit department? The scope and nature of an auditor’s job varies by organization, size and region. As a result, “world class” is difficult to clearly define. However, there are a few characteristics that can enhance the value an audit function delivers to an organization. I believe these characteristics surround the Personnel, Practices, Perception and Partnerships

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The Issue with Audit Exceptions

The issue with audit exceptions is that many audit functions include exceptions as the primary theme of audit report reportable items. Okay, there I said it. Now to provide an example.

I was recently reading an internal audit report from a governmental agency in which the auditors reviewed the bank reconciliation process. The report read as follows:

During a

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External Auditors to “Assess” Internal Audit Functions?!?

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) recently released International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 610, Using the Work of Internal Auditors, which addresses the external auditor’s responsibilities when using the work of an internal audit function. It requires external auditors to “evaluate” the internal audit function. Specifically it states

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