Brink's Modern Internal Auditing

CHAPTER 12 Control Self-Assessments and Internal Audit Benchmarking

Much of the internal audit work described in this book discusses areas where an internal auditor will select some other area of operations and review the status of its internal controls. This chapter will look at two other aspects of internal audit reviews and internal control assessments: control self-assessments (CSAs) and internal audit benchmarking. These are each valuable and important common body of knowledge (CBOK) internal audit procedures.

CSAs are internal audit–led processes for ongoing internal controls improvements. Rather than internal auditors visiting an area of operations and performing a formal internal audit review, in a CSA an internal audit team works with some of its own internal audit team members in some area of operations and leads them in an effort to evaluate their current internal control procedures and then to use the results of the review to improve internal controls. To many, this is a process that is far less confrontational than a formal internal audit and also can be an effective way to improve and continue to improve internal controls in an enterprise.

In recent years, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has very much embraced the CSA concept and has even established formal certification examinations to recognize qualified internal auditors as leaders in this process. This chapter will review the internal audit CSA process and describe the use of this sometimes important ...