Focus On Risk Enterprises
In this issue...
Five Imperatives for Internal Audit
 

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Risk Based Integrated  AuditingTM Seminar

September 

19th-21st, 2011

West Palm Beach, Florida

For more information go to:

www.FocusOnRiskNow.com

 

 

  

"Objectives are not fate; they are direction. They are not commands; they are commitments. They do not determine the future; they are means to mobilize the resources and energies of the business for the making of the future."

-Peter F. Drucker

 

 

Host a Public Seminar and receive discounts for your entire team!

Does your office have a conference or training room that can hold up to 20 people? Would you be willing to host a public seminar at your office for Focus On Risk? If so, you can receive a discount off the seminar price for each of your attendees! Contact Liz at [email protected] for more information.
  
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August Newsletter

2011

Greetings! 

 

The heat is on! Not just temperature wise but in what internal auditor teams must do to stay relevant in today's ever changing business environment.

 

Richard Chambers, President and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors, spoke of the Five Imperatives for Internal Audit at the 2011 Houston IIA Conference this Spring.  In this newsletter, I share these imperatives with you.  Internal audit teams that utilize RBIA should be happy to know they are ahead of the crowd.

 

 

- Liz Meyers, CPA, Lead Instructor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Key Imperatives for Internal Audit in 2011

 

During his keynote speech at the 2011 Houston IIA Conference Richard Chambers, President and CEO, The Institute of Internal Auditors, noted that although the majority of audit committees and executives indicate their internal auditors are performing a good or outstanding job at meeting their needs and expectations; 74% of internal audit stakeholders believe IA needs improvement; 96% believe that improvement must occur within the next 24 months[1].  To achieve improvement, Mr. Chambers recommended the following five key imperatives for change: 

  

1.  Assess and align with key stakeholders expectations

 

Key Stakeholders (i.e., board, executives, third parties) want transparency.  Their expectations are constantly changing and evolving. 

RBIA internal audit teams have embraced this practice for years.  Regular meetings  between the Business Function Audit Executives and the company executives and audit committee keep them aligned and focused on what matters most in achieving the business objectives.

 

2.  "Step up to the plate" in risk management

  

Traditional internal audit groups focus on a lot of different risks versus focusing on "real risks".  A composite of various studies by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows risk broken down as follows:

    • Strategic & Business 60%
    • Operational 20%
    • Financial 15%                
    • Compliance 5%

(Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers. Composite of various studies of US and UK market before the financial crisis)

 

Unfortunately, traditional internal auditors tend to spend 80% of their time on the last three areas listed.

 

RBIA internal auditors focus on the risks that matter most, those that can impact the organization's business success objectives.

 

3. Enhance Internal Auditing's knowledge of the business

 

RBIA  internal auditors continually seek to acquire and cultivate their knowledgeby spending 60% of their training on developing  their expertise in subject matter that is relevant to the business and 40% on audit/risk/control related topics.  By doing so, we eliminate comments from organization executives and managers that internal auditors "don't understand the business".   If internal auditor focuses just on financials and compliance then they really don't need to know the business very well...please revisit imperative 2.  

 

4.  Streamline internal audit processes and operations

 

RBIA internal audit teams understand that their auditors are a limited resource and must be used effectivley and efficiently.  We allocate our limited resources based on requests from the the "top of the house" (audit committee and exectuives); re-enginering, process improvement, and systems development requests; covering the fundamental audits we are expected to perform; and continuous auditing / monitoring.  And most importantly, RBIA auditors will stop the audit or project they are working on whenever they recognize that any additional work will not add value .

RBIA auditors also recognize if we can't deliver timely reports, stakeholders will go elsewhere to get the information they need. We address this with our team success objectives of value, cost and time.

 

5.  Coordinate and align with other risk, control and  compliance functions

Internal audit must co-exist with other areas of assurance within the organization (e.g., compliance, risk management, corporate investigations, internal controls, environmental or other audit functions).  We must ensure there are no gaps or redundancy between groups. 

 

In RBIA, we embrace these other assurance groups.  We will utilize their expertise to supplement an audit team if it will add value to the area we are auditing.

 

RBIA audit teams should find comfort in knowing that although this framework was developed over twenty years ago, it remains very relevant even in today's business climate.

 

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Thank you for your interest in Focus On Risk Enterprises Seminars.  When an associate from your company registers for a 2011 Risk Based Integrated Auditing public seminar at www.FocusOnRiskNow.com, another associate can attend for 50% off of the standard rate. This  Voucher is good for first time attendees and not valid with other discounts.  Call (832) 588-5113 or email [email protected] to redeem this voucher.
 

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