Chapter 7
The Audit Approach
Introduction
Internal auditing may be performed in many different ways and there are a variety of models that may be applied to discharging the audit role. The organization will define its audit needs and this will help to establish which types of audit services are provided. The CAE is then charged with providing this service to professional auditing standards. This chapter explores some of these different approaches and the way that they relate to the role of internal auditing. The development of internal auditing, as a profession, is based on the premise that the practice of internal audit is a defined discipline subject to professional standards. At the same time it is clear that there is a great deal of variety in the way the audit role is discharged. This results from different approaches and, in some cases, a different interpretation of the underlying principles, although the wide variety of audit-based terms does not necessarily mean that there is no clear discipline of internal auditing. It is not merely commonsense work that any untrained person may perform. What is evident is that the way the audit role is discharged will vary according to the agreed terms of reference (or audit charter). Variety creates a richness and degree of flexibility in the type of audit work that is undertaken. In many cases an audit department will contain different types of auditors who collectively discharge the audit function.
Note that all references to IIA ...
