Auditing

Introduction: Independence vs. Relevance Early in my career, I was told something every auditor hears sooner or later: “Stay independent. Don’t get too close to the business.” At the time, it sounded noble. Independence was our badge of honor. The principle that gave internal audit its credibility. But in practice, it meant I sat in […]

Power, in its various forms, can be a double-edged sword. While it empowers individuals to make decisions and exercise control, it also has the potential to blind them to alternative perspectives. When individuals hold positions of power, they may feel a sense of pride and confidence in their abilities. However, when confronted with advice that

Outside of boxing or mixed martial arts, internal auditing has to be one of the most contentious careers around. After all, you hardly ever a department saying, “Let’s invite the internal auditors to our next staff meeting.” But I don’t think we’re destined to be the bad guys that everyone hates to see coming and

I am an internal auditor and I love it. Most outside of the profession believe that internal auditors sit behind a desk all day with a 10 key (remember those?) or a spreadsheet verifying numbers. Boy is that far from the truth. But most of us in the profession already know that. And for those

  I recently hired a new employee.  One of the first things I wanted to do was make him comfortable with the people performing the processes…our audit clients.  So I hustled him from department to department introducing him to our clients.  Our clients were cordial to the new employee and openly disclosed their thoughts about

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

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

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.

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.