Reading Time: 4 minutes It started in 2005. I was the director of Sarbanes Oxley and Internal Controls Assurance for a financial institution. As a budding banking professional, I had climbed the ranks and could foresee a future in …
Reading Time: 2 minutes Finding talented internal audit professionals seems to be a common problem plaguing audit functions regardless of country, industry and function maturity. Even in this down economy job websites are full of internal audit opportunities. I have spoken with colleagues who have received literally hundreds of applications for one job opening. However they have also commented that
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Have you ever read an audit report that contained issues that seemed to ramble on forever with no clear thought process or unnecessary language that expands a simple item into a small booklet? Why do some auditors do this?
The distribution list for audit reports
Reading Time: 3 minutes I am Still amazed by the number of audit functions that produce audit Reports without providing opinions about the control environment. After all, Internal Auditing is an objective assurance function. There is no way one can provide assurance without a formal Concluding opinion.
December 2012. I had the privilege of authoring an article for the IIA magazine titled “‘Your Opinion Matters”. It is presented below in its entirety with permission from the I IA.
The power of opinions has forever changed the way we purch
Reading Time: 3 minutes Most audit clients understand that the purpose of an audit is to perform an independent evaluation of functions to determine if operations are effective and efficient. It is a strenuous process on clients. In many instances, it may not be enjoyable, however, most clients tend to respect the process. Occasionally, there are clients who exhibit behavior that is less than mutually respectful. I have said it before, being audited is just as stressful as auditing. I have personally seen clients scream, curse and toss items. While some clients are simply wired to be difficult (see related article on audit client types), I truly believe that a majority of clients are mature enough to
Reading Time: 3 minutes In a recent article titled Internal Audit Leaders Must Be Readers (part 1 of 3), I discussed the many benefits of reading including increased intelligence, improved communication skills and stress relief.
None can deny the positive impact of reading. Time is probably one of the biggest obstacles to more and better reading. Before the digital revolution, it was necessary to subscribe to many different publications and hope that at least one contained enough items of interest to warrant your time and monetary investment. Thanks to modern technology, there are tools and services that allow you to find, store, sort and filter content for immediate online viewing or later perusal. This article is part 2 of a 3 part series discussing tools to help you become more efficient readers. So, without further ado, the tools:
Reading Time: < 1 minutes The internal audit profession is comprised of Certified Public Accountants (CPA), Information Technology professionals, engineers, lawyers, nurses (remember the medical auditors) and more. In general, we ensure risks are appropriately mitigated. But how would you explain what you do to your grandmother. Here’s what I told mine:
Reading Time: 3 minutes Internal Auditing is a profession that is open to quite a few different types of individuals. What I mean by that is, auditors can derive from varied background including accounting, finance, computer science, science, English, literature, biology, chemistry, social services, etc. As a result, it can be difficult to nail down the skills necessary to succeed. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) developed an Internal Auditor
Reading Time: 3 minutes Internal Auditors are charged with evaluating control environments and providing solid conclusions on the effectiveness and efficiency of processes. This requires a substantial amount of observation and inquiry. This means we must ask great questions and be effective listeners. Listening, however, is one of the most
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Social media is a dominate customer engagement tool. It presents great opportunities for organizations. But with these great opportunities come great risks. I recently led a webinar about social media risks, remedies and governance. I believe social media has a huge impact on financial statements, compliance, and reputation. The slide deck below is