Internal Audit

In light of recent developments, the profession must rethink the role of internal audit and even its very practices and methods in order to maintain relevance in a shifting governance landscape. Today Tim Leech, Managing Director at Risk Oversight Solutions, brings us the first in a two-part series on the need for change in Internal Audit.

As companies progress well into the implementation of COSO's 2013 Integrated Framework, it's become clear that the Framework's 17 principles aren't as cut and dried as they initially seemed. The 2nd, 4th, and 13th principles in particular have been problematic for some organizations. Candela Solutions' Ron Kral offers guidance on the issues that have left many auditors scratching their heads.

Just as risks are ever changing, so should our plans for managing them be. Internal audit must do away with tired approaches to risk management and adopt more dynamic practices in order to keep up with industry changes. Otherwise, the audit department may find themselves continually playing catch up when it comes to handling the various challenges that crop up.

Take a closer look at GSK's failures in China and they seem so obvious. There are some key lessons for professionals in the compliance space to learn from their significant oversights--namely lacking controls, deficiencies in auditing and a breakdown in monitoring. We should be mindful of the warnings implicit in the GSK enforcement actions.

A host of corporations are in the process of Implementing the new COSO Framework or are gearing up for the transition, and they'll have to establish the scope of objectives in which to apply the Framework. Candela Solutions' Ron Kral offers 10 key questions companies should be asking themselves to ensure their internal controls are up to snuff.

It sometimes happens that, even though you've identified a considerable risk and made a compelling case for addressing it, the management doesn't see the light, or agree with your findings. Frustrating for an audit professional, given that your effectiveness is measured by outcomes and, in cases such as these, your hands are tied. Then what?

There are a number of “tells” indicative of anticompetitive conduct. If you’ve witnessed this behavior firsthand, or if you suspect that it’s going on, an antitrust audit is in order. This underused tool is often eschewed because it’s believed to be costly and disruptive, but the benefits of an antitrust audit in terms of risk avoidance can far outweigh the expense. Follow these five steps to take the guesswork out of antitrust audits.

Internal auditors do a good job of assessing risks and developing risk-based audit plans -- generally speaking -- but there is always a danger that unfamiliar risks may be overlooked or that rapidly emerging risks will render even the best-crafted audit plans obsolete. Author Richard Chambers discusses perils and pitfalls you should avoid in 2014...

Most audit executives work hard to develop open relationships with their audit committee members. The effort generally pays off. Regardless of how hard we work at fostering openness and honesty, however, some audit committee members may not be comfortable telling us everything that’s on their minds.

It is often said that being on an audit committee is a part-time job with full-time responsibilities. It’s no wonder when you consider the broad and critical role that the audit committee plays. In essence, every audit committee’s role is to stand objectively in the gap between management, the external auditors and the people who provide the capital to make it all happen, ensuring that those capital providers receive complete, accurate and timely financial information that has been subjected to...