Where, exactly, does responsibility lie in a modern corporation for ensuring that risks are being identified and managed? It may seem like a simple question, but the answer is far more complex. In fact, a long-used model to define such responsibilities, the “Three Lines of Defense” model, is in the Read More
Auditors of all stripes—internal and external—have long faced a bit of a catch 22: bring to light problems that cast management in a bad light and risk retaliation, or look the other way and suffer a loss of integrity and jeopardize the organization. Good auditors, of course, generally go the Read More
The United Automobile Workers union has announced that it is revving up its internal audit function in response to a federal investigation into its finances. The UAW’s former president, Gary Jones, resigned earlier this month as a federal corruption probe into bribery and other wrongdoing at the major autoworkers union Read More
The Institute of Internal Auditors has issued new guidance on auditing social media. The paper, “Auditing Social Media: Adding Value by Improving Governance,” examines internal audit’s involvement in the implementation and evaluation of social media strategy. Audit executives can assess organizational social media capabilities and social media’s role in the Read More
GUEST BLOG The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) recommends that a quality assessment of the internal audit function be made at least every five years, but most chief audit executives want to know how well they are doing every year. When I became a CAE, I started by benchmarking internal Read More
As organizations continue to collect customer and employee data, chief audit executives are becoming increasingly concerned about how their organizations govern and protect it, according to a new report from research and advisory firm Gartner. According to Gartner’s annual Audit Plan Hot Spots Report, data governance has risen to the Read More
The U.S. Justice Department has announced the formation of a new unit to combat fraud in government procurement and in grant and program funding. The unit, labeled the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) will focus on deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting antitrust crimes, such as bid-rigging conspiracies and related fraudulent Read More
Toy company Mattel announced this week that has completed an independent investigation, led by its audit committee, into the allegations by a whistleblower of accounting improprieties and a lack of independence by the company’s external auditor. The investigation determined that income tax expense was understated by $109 million in the Read More
GUEST BLOG Congratulations! You’ve landed your first job as an internal auditor, either as a young person starting your career in an exciting profession or as someone who is transitioning into internal audit from elsewhere in the organization. Either way, you are about to embark on an interesting and rewarding Read More
Ever since Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002—a response to major accounting scandals at such companies as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, and others—internal auditors have been wringing their hands over their role in assuring compliance with the complex law. SOX, as it has come to be known, created radical Read More
