The Coronavirus Crisis has changed how internal audit operates in many ways, but it is the speed required to keep up with rapidly moving developments that may have the most lasting impact on the profession when the pandemic has passed.
As Richard Chambers, president and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), explains in a newly released video, the shelf life for relevant audit reports has decreased dramatically during the current environment and the typical time to complete a traditional audit of six weeks is too long. “Given the speed that risks emerge and can wreak havoc, internal audit departments should have zero tolerance for slow reporting processes,” he says. “Failure to deliver a report before it’s too late for results to avoid further impact is not an option.”
Chambers offers several strategies for internal auditors to ensure more timely reports in the current high-risk environment, including incremental sharing, reducing layers of review, increased collaboration, and more streamlined reports.
Incremental Sharing
Most internal audit shops wait until an audit report is completely finished before sending it to stakeholders. Chambers, however, suggests sharing results with the client of an audit throughout the auditing process. “Client pushback against an audit report can be intensified by the shock effect of seeing all the results at once,” he says. “Providing the results incrementally can help.”
See related article: “The Pros and Cons of Including Ratings in Audit Reports”
He suggests that the internal audit team keep the client updated as soon as they find reportable information either informally or through an interim memorandum. This practice not only prevents conflicts at the end of the report, but also allows faster corrections.
Reduce Layers of Review for Drafts
Chambers also asserts that multiple levels of review within the internal audit function can cause delays in reporting. “Streamlining the review process and reducing the number of reviewers can shorten that process,” he says.
Collaboration
Chambers suggests bringing the audit team together with those who will edit and review the draft to have one single editing session. This can dramatically reduce the reporting cycle time and heighten efficiency.
This practice of collaborative team editing can allow information exchange without endless back and forth of the usual editing process, as people can communicate directly. The internal audit team and upper-level supervisors can discuss and propose changes to the draft report in one session.
Reimagine the Audit Report
According to Chambers, internal audit reports have not caught up to modernization. They look as if “we banged them out on a typewriter,” he says. He believes that internal reports are dated and encourages creativity with the intention of presenting information swiftly and concisely.
The typical internal audit report goes way beyond conveying the facts and has a lot of unnecessary embellishment that is unnecessary, he says, which can delay reporting. He suggests streamlined results and only putting essential information in the report. Internal auditors should weigh the timeliness and the impact the report over arbitrary word counts and numbers of findings that are irrelevant.
As the coronavirus pandemic demonstrates, risks can move quickly and change the entire landscape in a few short weeks. If internal audit doesn’t find ways to move just as fast, it will soon find its relevance waning. 
Stephanie Liu is assistant editor at Internal Audit 360°
You think 6 weeks is a long time to publish a report.
What about local government agencies. They have required annual reports and take 9 months to issue them.
Thanks for the good article! I couldn’t agree more and I would add one more strategy. Set metrics with strong targets to allow your team to develop their own strategies to shorten the reporting cycle.
Thank you for the highlights! Timeliness is essential in all of our work as auditors, including reporting. In my experience, many pitfalls, challenges and delays in the communications have roots in prior phases (e.g., planning, fieldwork) and the lack of timely involvement from appropriate members in the audit team and/or management (i.e., ultimate owners of the process and officers accountable). I also want to mention the importance of the communication process throughout the whole engagement, where the audit report may be the last component. Good and relevant on-going communications are as important as the final report but audit organizations and management are sometimes focused on the “final audit report” only.