The Internal Auditor at Work A Practical Guide to Everyday Challenges

A clear, accessible guide to the roles and responsibilities of today’s internal auditor

At a time when companies are seeking to reevaluate their practices and add value to their audit processes, The Internal Auditor at Work represents an invaluable, user–friendly, and up–to–date guidebook for the internal auditing professional to refine and rethink both day–to–day methods and the underlying significance of the job.

Each chapter of this in–depth, functional analysis contains numerous resources to guide the reader toward greater understanding and performance. Discussion questions promote dialogue among auditing professionals on the various topics covered. Top ten considerations lists recap the important points of each chapter. And end–of–chapter exercises are especially valuable to new internal auditors in that they facilitate self–development and application of principles covered.

Written in partnership with the Institute of Internal Auditors with special attention to its revised standards and guidelines, The Internal Auditor at Work includes chapters on:

• The audit context
• The strategic dimension
• Quality and audit competence
• The audit process
• The audit proposition
• And more

In a business environment currently undergoing major reevaluation, The Internal Auditor at Work provides an invaluable tool for internal auditing professionals and all others with an interest in adding value to their organizational processes.

List of Abbreviations.

Chapter 1. Introduction.

Section 1. About the Book.

Section 2. The New Internal Auditor.

Section 3. The Challenges of a Career in Internal Auditing.

Section 4. Popular Misconceptions.

Section 5. A Brief History of Internal Auditing.

Section 6. The Importance of Tracking New Developments.

Section 7. The Audit Model.

Section 8. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 9. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Chapter 2. The Audit Context.

Section 1. The Growth of Corporate Governance.

Section 2. Understanding Societal Expectations.

Section 3. The Global Dimension.

Section 4. Impact on the Board and Senior Management.

Section 5. The Role of the Audit Committee.

Section 6. Risk Management: The Key of Success.

Section 7. Understanding Internal Controls.

Section 8. Defining the Internal Audit Role.

Section 9. External Audit.

Section 10. The Value–Add Proposition.

Section 11. The Audit Model.

Section 12. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 13. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Chapter 3. The Strategic Dimension.

Section 1. Approaches to Internal Audit Work.

Section 2. Risk–Based Systems Approach.

Section 3. Consulting Services.

Section 4. Compliance.

Section 5. Fraud and Abuse.

Section 6. Information Systems.

Section 7. CSA Workshops.

Section 8. Developing an Integrated Approach.

Section 9. The Audit Model.

Section 10. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 11. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Chapter 4. Quality Assurance and Audit Competence.

Section 1. The Quality Concept.

Section 2. Professional Internal Auditing Standards.

Section 3. Documentation Standards and Review.

Section 4. Internal and External Reviews.

Section 5. Audit Competence.

Section 6. Interviewing.

Section 7. The Audit Model.

Section 8. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 9. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Chapter 5. The Audit Process.

Section 1. The Audit Process.

Section 2. Risk–Based Strategies.

Section 3. Preliminary Surveys.

Section 4. Developing Assignment Plans.

Section 5. Audit Fieldwork.

Section 6. Developing Findings.

Section 7. Audit Reporting and Follow–Up.

Section 8. The Audit Model.

Section 9. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 10. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Chapter 6. The Audit Proposition.

Section 1. Impacting Corporate Governance.

Section 2. Supporting the Board and the Audit Committee.

Section 3. Providing Assurances on Controls.

Section 4. Making Risk Management Work.

Section 5. Partnerships with Management.

Section 6. The Global Audit Community.

Section 7. Future Directions and Challenges.

Section 8. The Final Audit Model.

Section 9. Summary: Top Ten Considerations.

Section 10. Your Personal Development Exercises.

Index.

K.H. SPENCER PICKETT (Surrey, England) is a Senior Lecturer in Internal Auditing at the Civil Service College in Berkshire, England. He delivers courses for internal auditors as part of their requirement to attain the government internal audit standard and prepares students for the Institute of internal auditors (IIA) examinations at the practitioner and professional levels. His professional experience includes two years at the National Audit Office performing value–based audits and nine years as an audit manager.

The Internal Auditor at Work: A Practical Guide to Everyday Challenges provides a far-reaching, accessible overview of the changes and challenges faced by today's internal auditor. Written in partnership with the Institute of International Auditors, this information-rich guide details the current internal auditing environment as well as the various roles, responsibilities and approaches that define the modern internal auditing profession.