The Institute of Internal Auditors opened its international conference Monday in New York with a pair of reports on the internal audit function and audit committee oversight.
The first report, “Voice of the Customer: What Stakeholders Are Telling Internal Audit,” co-authored by current IIA chairman Larry Harrington and incoming chair Angela Witzany, examines the competing priorities of corporate executives and board members. The document recommends ways for internal auditors to build better relationships with management and board members.
The second report, “Six Audit Committee Imperatives: Enabling Internal Audit to Make a Difference,” co-authored by Jim DeLoach, a managing director at the consulting firm Protiviti, and Charlotta Lofstrand Hjelm, chief internal auditor at the Swedish insurance company Länsförsäkringar, provides advice to audit committee members on ways to improve internal audit by allowing auditors to move beyond assurance functions and think beyond the scope of the audit plan.
The reports are based on findings from the IIA’s Global Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) Stakeholder Study, which surveyed more than 1,000 respondents across 23 countries.
“These first two reports offer a tantalizing glimpse into the wealth of information gathered through the CBOK Stakeholder Study,” said IIA president and CEO Richard F. Chambers in a statement. “This comprehensive study will provide material for a number of reports in the coming year.”
The reports are available via the CBOK Resource exchange at www.theiia.org/goto/CBOK.
The conference coincides with the 75th anniversary of the IIA. Separately, Protiviti also released Monday a new edition of its annual series of "Internal Auditing Around the World" books, profiling 22 companies and executives in different industries and locations around the world. This year, the report focuses on the perspectives of women leaders of each business's internal audit function. To download the book, visit http://www.protiviti.com/iaworld.
In addition, Deloitte Global released its own study on internal audit Monday, "Evolution or irrelevance? Internal Audit at a crossroads," based on a survey of more than 1,200 chief audit executives in 29 countries. Only 28 percent of the respondents to Deloitte’s survey said they believe their internal audit groups have a strong impact and influence on their organizations, but 64 percent believe they will have a strong impact and influence in their organizations in the next three to five years.
