How important is completing the audit plan? For many audit departments, it is a key performance measurement used to determine the department’s effectiveness. But wait, I thought the goal of internal audit was to evaluate the operating environment to provide stakeholders with “reasonable assurance” that risk are identified and mitigated to an acceptable level. So […]
The Best Audit is Sometimes the Audit You Never Start Read More »
The audit report is a critical part of the audit process. It, at a minimum, formally communicates to stakeholders the state of a control environment. The reporting phase is oftentimes troublesome. Many auditors spend hours arguing with clients about report content and distribution. Three major complaints i hear from auditors are that the client Is
2 Reasons Your Audit Report Fell Flat Read More »
Within every profession, there are certain characteristics, traits, and tasks that mark great professionals. Internal auditing is no different. Professionals can make the transition from good to great by following these 5 steps. Experience the products/services A few years ago, Domino’s pizza did something daring. Well, not really. They asked customers what they really thought
5 Things Great Internal Auditors Do! Read More »
The war for audit talent is very competitive. Finding, developing and retaining talented professionals can be very difficult. Oftentimes, bad auditors remain at organizations because managers are either too lazy or too afraid to develop or let go of slackers. If you are confused about what a slacker looks like, here are three types of auditors you should fire immediately.
Three Auditors You Should Fire Now Read More »
Every person (regardless of age, gender, ethnic background, appearance, intelligence level, whatever) deserves a basic level of respect. It is unfortunate that many work environments do not understand this and operate under an unofficial “class system”. Within this system, some individuals can say what they want, when they want and to whom they want without
What to do when audit clients cross the line Read More »
Asking questions (observation and inquiry) is one of the most critical internal auditing skills. It allows auditors to gain an understanding of processes, objectively evaluate the function and reach logical conclusions regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. It is important, but often times difficult to remain objective when attempting to understand a client’s process.
Three Killer Questions for Internal Audit Clients Read More »
Several years ago while building a new relationship with an audit client, I mentioned that it would be ”fun to audit” Carnival’s cruise ship operations. She responded, ”Why, so you can catch them doing something wrong.” At this point, we had a candid conversation about her perception of internal auditing and what we really do. I explained that it is never our intention to “catch” someone doing something wrong. We are charged with evaluating processes to determine if risks have been identified and are appropriately managed via effective and efficient controls. Fortunately, this client was very open to learning about internal audit. We audited several of her areas with success. She would occasionally joke about our initial interaction by commenting that it would be “fun” to audit process a, b or c in our organization. Except her definition of “fun” was not really all that exciting. it was typically coworkers that were a pain in the but for her. Then one day she asked me, what was the
It would be fun to Audit… Read More »
I recently interviewed for an Audit Committee position. As a walked into the room, one of the interviewers said that based on my resume, he expected someone older. He did not say this with malicious intent and I was not offended. It did, however, remind me of
Internal Audit Talent Management – Experience is Overrated Read More »
A client recently asked me why or how did I choose internal auditing as a career. The question got me to thinking, why did I choose internal auditing as a profession? I mean really, who chooses to place him/herself in position where you are:
Constantly learning something new
Continuously interacting with various people across your organization
Helping improve your organizations products/services
I think I chose audit and
Why did you choose internal auditing as a career? Read More »
By now, many stakeholders realize the value of an empowered and effective internal audit function. These functions provide stakeholders with independent evaluations of an organization’s operating environment. Management also benefits from these independent evalutions, however, global acceptance by management is not as consistent as stakeholder acceptance. I firmly believe some of this has to do with the fact that internal audit functions are often mandated. Few of us like to be told “what to do”. New York Stock Exchange listed organizations are required to have audit functions. NASDAQ recently proposed mandating audit functions for its listed organizations. So if you must expend time, money and efforts on an audit function, why not utilize it to benefit the organization? Thankfully many organization do just that. However, there are some organizations that make a conscience effort to stifle internal audit functions. Moreover, many stifle the activity under the guise of support. Here are three ways a management team can stifle internal audit
Boards Beware – 3 Ways to Stifle Internal Audit Under the Guise of Support Read More »
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