Mastering Risk Management

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ASSURANCE

Internal and external audit share a common agenda of providing assurance to the board, including third party assurers, that the risk and control processes are appropriate and effective. Both should function independently of management and report to the board. But there are differences in the roles they play.

Internal auditors are part of the organisation and, while they maintain their independence, their objectives are determined by the audit committee or, in its absence, the board. External auditors are, by definition, outside the organisation. Their objectives, while framed and signed off by the audit committee in their terms of engagement, are also driven partly by statutory and professional requirements. They ...