Why Standards Matter

Internal Auditing Standards: Why They Matter

In today’s global environment, having an efficient and effective internal audit function is a necessity and a cornerstone of effective organizational governance.

Internal audit can enhance and protect organizational value by providing stakeholders with risk-based and objective assurance, advice, and insight as well as advisory services.

Generally, under the oversight of an audit committee, internal auditors review the organization’s processes, operations, and goals, and they provide senior management and the board with the information needed to make informed decisions on critical issues.

Because internal auditing is vital to good corporate health, an essential board responsibility is to ensure that the internal auditors do it well. But how can a board determine that the internal audit function serves the organization effectively?

The IIA’s Global Internal Audit Standards^TM are the primary mechanism for ensuring an organization’s internal auditors consistently and accurately provide essential services in a timely, cost-effective manner. In particular, Domain III outlines actions boards and their equivalents can take to see that internal audit functions are properly overseen and sufficiently resourced to fulfill their purpose.

The Standards also:

• Provide a framework for performing a broad range of value-added internal auditing.
• Delineate basic principles that represent the good practice of internal auditing.
• Establish the basis for the evaluation of internal audit performance.
• Foster improved organizational processes and operations.
• Outline specific considerations for performance and conformance with the Standards and offer examples of evidence for how to document the fulfillment of requirements.