Internal Audit Awareness

Internal Audit Awareness Month

• Being a vital part of strengthening organizations and protecting stakeholders in both the public and private sectors
• Helping to identify and manage organizations' risks and ensuring that policies, procedures, and controls are in place and working appropriately
• Being an increasingly sophisticated and complex activity that requires specialized knowledge, training, and education
• Being an established profession, led by the Institute of Internal Auditors, with a globally recognized code of ethics and International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing

Common Internal Audit Myths

• Internal Auditors are Accountants by training. One of the most common misperceptions about internal auditing is that the auditors are all Accountants who focus solely on financial records. While a solid audit or accounting background can be helpful for a career in internal audit, internal auditors commonly address fraud risks, compliance issues, and a myriad of operational issues that are unrelated to accounting.
• Internal auditors only focus on compliance. A common myth is that internal auditors are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with policies, laws, and regulations. While compliance is an important aspect of internal audit, the function’s scope extends beyond that. Internal auditors are also responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of risk management processes and making recommendations for improvement in operational efficiency.
• Auditors are nit-pickers and fault finders. Internal audit’s focus is on major risks rather than on nit-picking details. Audit resources are limited, and when auditors focus too much attention on minor issues, they are limiting the time available for addressing the major risks and controls that are at the heart of internal audit. Any auditor would rather report on a $6 million cost savings than on a $6 error!
• It’s best not to tell the auditors anything unless they specifically ask. Audit clients are sometimes given this advice by well-meaning friends, but it results in less efficient audits and wastes everyone’s time. If auditors believe their clients are purposefully hiding information, whether by omission or commission, they normally will increase the scope of the audit to determine whether other important information has gone unreported. The purpose of internal auditing is to add value and improve an organization’s operations, and hiding information is against everyone’s best interests.
• Internal auditors follow a cycle in selecting their audit “targets” and use standard checklists so they can audit the same things the same way each time. Our professional standards require risk-based plans to determine our priorities, both in developing audit plans and in planning individual audits. In general, internal auditing is a dynamic profession that can change any time an organization’s risks change.

Awareness of internal audit is important to dispel misperceptions about internal auditors.