The European literature review on internal auditing

Abstract

By conducting the 2006 global Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) study, The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) attempts to better understand the expanding scope of internal auditing practice throughout the world. The purpose of this review of recent internal auditing literature in Europe is to document how the internal audit function is changing in response to the shifts in global business practices. The literature in Europe is reviewed with a focus on developments that have implications for the expanded scope of internal auditing and the changing skill sets of internal auditors and their role in enhancing good corporate governance. This focus has implications for CBOK 2006. The literature indicates changes in the activities performed by internal auditors. The increasing complexity of business transactions, a more dynamic regulatory environment in Europe, and significant advances in information technology have resulted in opportunities and challenges for internal auditors. Although in 2004, The IIA responded to the changing organizational environment by updating the professional practices framework, more work needs to be done to prepare internal auditors for the expanded set of skills and knowledge required to perform audits of the future

Value‐added role of internal audit: an Ethiopian case study

“…Al-Twaijry et al (2003) documented that traditional audit dominated in Saudi Arabian companies. A survey of private companies in Belgium (2006) cited in Allegrini et al (2006) also reported similar results. By contrast, studies by Roth (2000Roth ( , 2002Roth ( , 2003, Gupta (2001) and Yee et al (2007) indicate the increasing prevalence of value-added internal auditing with a consulting approach.…”

“…Hence, having been in operation for about 55 years, internal audit is well established in the corporation. For example, this establishment compares favourably to internal audit's average age of less than five years in more than half of the private companies surveyed in Belgium, cited in Allegrini et al (2006). To ensure independence, internal audit was made a separate office reporting to the chief executive officer (CEO) in 1961.…”

“…Institut Français de l'Audit et du Contrôle Internes (2005), cited in Allegrini et al (2006) indicates that internal audit ensures its independence and objectivity via double reporting to the management and the audit committee. In addition to the periodic performance reporting to the board, providing copies of audit reports to the board would improve the attention provided to audit reports in the corporation.…”

“…As a result of changes in organizational needs, technology and complexity of organisations' activities and systems, the nature of the services sought from the internal auditors has been transforming over the years from an emphasis on traditional/compliance audit where independence has been the core paradigm, to a value-adding role where partnering with management is accorded greater significance Cooper et al, 2006;Allegrini et al, 2006). The internal audit literature (Stern, 1994;Roth, 2000Roth, , 2002Roth, , 2003Gupta, 2001;Naggy and Cenker, 2002;Gramling et al, 2004;Abdolmohammadi et al, 2006;Cooper et al, 2006;Hass et al, 2006;Yee et al, 2007) is also focusing on this evolving role, which is considered of paramount importance to achievement of organizational goals Roth, 2003).…”

Comment apprécier la compétence d’un auditeur interne ? L’opinion des membres du comité d’audit

“…Il en résulte que les organisations du secteur public québécois ont adopté des pratiques de gouvernance propre au secteur privé comme c'est souvent le cas depuis l'avè-nement du nouveau management public (Hood, 1995 ;Lapsley, 2008 Par ailleurs, les écrits scientifiques nous enseignent que la fonction d'audit interne et le comité d'audit sont des pivots importants de la gouvernance (Gramling et autres, 2004 ;Mat Zain et Subramaniam, 2007 ;Turley et Zaman, 2007). C'est pourquoi l'appréciation de la qualité de la fonction d'audit interne est de plus en plus importante (Gramling et Vandervelde, 2006, p. 26) et constitue un sujet de préoccupation constant pour les praticiens (Allegrini et autres, 2006 ;Sarens, 2009 ;Sarens, De Beelde et Everaert, 2009). Cependant, bien que les écrits recensés indiquent que les deux critères d'appréciation de la qualité de l'audit interne sont l'indépendance de la fonction et la compétence des auditeurs internes qui la composent, plusieurs intervenants se demandent s'il est possible de distinguer une fonction d'audit de qualité d'une autre fonction qui ne le serait pas (Gramling et Hermanson, 2009b ;Gramling et Vandervelde, 2006).…”