2011 State of the Internal Audit Profession Study - PwC

In a departure from previous years,
several leading internal audit practitioners
from across a range of industries
were interviewed to get a sense
of the practical steps they are taking
to increase their relevance in this
changing environment. In summary,
these are the actions most often heard
from internal audit functions facing
challenging times:
• Recruiting audit leaders from
the business
• Sourcing externally for missing
capabilities
• Enhancing training and development
programs to improve the
softer skills
• Continually improving executive
and audit committee reports to
provide better context and insight
• Maintaining close working relationships
with the audit committee chair
• Participating in discussions about
major growth, cost, and compliance
initiatives
• Engaging legal and compliance
expertise to address the complex
array of global compliance risks
• Partnering with internal and
external technology specialists to
address rapidly changing technical
and business risks
In our view, it’s imperative for internal
auditors to look closely at how their
own organizations are structured. They
should also take a hard look at their
agendas for the coming year and think
about how practices can be implemented
to help embrace change.
Leading internal audit functions look
beyond the confines of their department
and seek partners both within
and outside the business. Whether a
function of 100 or more auditors, or
a much smaller shop, audit teams of
every size can benefit from some form
of co-sourcing and an active interaction
with the business and compliance functions
to identify and manage significant
risks. That’s our most significant
takeaway from speaking with leaders
in the profession.
24 Lights, camera, action… Scripting internal audit for a changed world