Internal Audit Quality

Chapter 11Internal Audit Professional Practice

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.

—A.A. Milne

The key to high quality internal auditing is finding the right blend of intuition, intelligence, insight, planning, flexibility, and creativity. Great internal auditors need to be strategic influencers while at the same time being empathic listeners. Chief audit executives need to strike a balance between being responsive and being proactive.

Internal auditors need to adopt a systematic and disciplined approach to their work to ensure their independence and objectivity. This is most likely to occur when the internal audit function has adopted formalized procedures that are understood and adhered to by all staff members.

Elements of Internal Audit Professional Practice

Professional practice is the third of the three sets of inputs to a quality internal activity. The other two sets of inputs, strategy and staffing, have been described previously in this book. The specific elements that comprise professional practice are shown in Figure 11.1.

Figure 11.1 Elements of Internal Audit Professional Practice

Building a New Practice

Building a new internal audit practice offers an exciting opportunity to chief audit executives, giving them scope to develop processes in a manner consistent with stakeholder expectations and strategic ...