CBOK: Internal Audit Quality Assurance and Improvement

This report provides an overview of the results from the 2015 Global Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) Practitioner Survey regarding internal audit quality assurance and improvement programs (QAIPs), and evaluates the internal audit profession’s conformance with professional standards related to QAIPs. The 2015 CBOK practitioner survey found significant and troubling differences between approved professional standards and actual internal audit practices. Although
The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing requires development and maintenance of QAIPs covering all aspects of internal audit activity, only 34% of participating chief audit executives (CAEs) stated that they fully conform with this requirement. Many CAEs who reported that they do not conform with this
requirement also do not disclose their nonconformance to their audit committees or other governing bodies.
The internal audit profession’s failure to abide by its own quality standards may have profound consequences because internal audit functions with fully developed QAIPs tend to be different from other internal audit functions. Compared to other CAEs in the CBOK study, those reporting conformance to professional standards related to internal audit quality:

• Were more likely to report functionally to a board, audit committee, or equivalent
• Were more likely to have complete and unrestricted access to information as appropriate for the performance of audit activities
• Worked in organizations with more highly developed risk management processes
• Used a wider variety of resources to develop audit plans
• Made more use of technology in internal audit processes
• Were more likely to have documented procedures in an internal audit manual
• Received more hours of training and were more likely to have formalized training programs
• Were more likely to report that funding for the internal audit function was “completely sufficient”