GUEST BLOG: Imagine a world where internal audits were conducted by robots and auditees were also robots. A factual statement by the robot auditor is well received by the robot auditee in a complete, rational, and objective manner. There are no emotions, no ifs, and no buts, no tension. Unfortunately, Read More
It’s no secret that internal auditors and the managers of the units, departments, and functions they audit don’t always get along. After all, it’s not easy to embrace the idea of strangers coming into your offices, looking over your shoulder, sifting through your documents and data to find all the Read More
A new report finds that internal auditors are still largely working from home, and with the rise of the Omicron variant it looks like remote internal auditing will likely last well into 2022. The study, conducted by the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Internal Audit Foundation and audit technology provider AuditBoard, Read More
If 2020 was the “Year of Covid,” 2021 will go down as a year of trying to return to normal. In many ways we did get back some semblance of normalcy, as kids returned to school, fans returned to sports venues, and shops and restaurants reopened. Yet, in many other Read More
Many internal audit shops are adopting Agile project management principles in an attempt to create a more flexible, adaptive, and customer-oriented audit function. And while the results have been promising, expect a few bumps along the way. To be sure, Agile is not a revolution for internal audit, but a Read More
As Internal audit leaders go about their work, there are many decisions to make: How to assess risk? What to audit? How to acquire the expertise needed to execute certain audits? What audit technologies to adopt? How to build the internal audit team? And on and on. Sometimes we make Read More
Internal auditors are a rare breed. To perform well in their jobs, they must have a set of skills and characteristics that are typically uncommon in one person. For example, they need to be analytical with laser-like focus, while also being “people-persons” with great communication skills. They need to be Read More
These days an internal auditor is required to be a jack-of-all-trades. To complete the diverse set of audits that cover every facet of the organization, the internal audit team must collectively possess a vast array of skills that run the gamut from traditional financial talents to marketing, HR, and technology Read More
Are most internal audit reports the right length? For many consumers of audit reports in the executive suite and boardroom, the answer is probably that they’re “too long!” Audit reports may run to extraordinary lengths these days. For example, I recently talked to one organization where they could easily extend Read More
A new survey finds that many internal audit functions are not leveraging the latest technology to supercharge their internal audit activities. According to the report, from the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Internal Audit Foundation and Refinitiv, more than 50 percent of internal audit functions are not taking advantage of the Read More
