Brink's Modern Internal Auditing

CHAPTER 9 Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing

Every profession requires a set of standards to provide rules and guidelines to govern their practices, general procedures, and ethics. These standards help the specialists performing similar work to call themselves professionals because they are following a recognized and consistent set of best practices standards. The key standards for internal auditors are found in the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA’s) International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (IIA standards), a set of guidance materials that has been important to internal auditors for many years going back to the pre-Web paper-document days when the IIA standards where known as the Red Book by many internal auditors. The internal auditor’s code of ethics is bundled with these practice standards. The IIA standards have gone through multiple revisions over the years. In 2015, the basic IIA standards, code of ethics, and other guidance materials were bundled into what is known as the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF).

This chapter will summarize the current required and recommended IIA standards as well as a description of the overall IPPF, including internal audit’s core principles and its mission statement. It is important to note that IIA standards are just advisory. Although the organization can pull someone’s CIA certificate, it does not have the power to prohibit someone from practicing internal ...