May 2015

Last week, The IIA received some exciting news! The merger of The Institute of Internal Auditors with the leading environmental, health, and safety (EHS) professional organization, The Auditing Roundtable, received formal approval from New York state regulators, finalizing a partnership that holds great promise for EHS professionals.

The IIA’s new Environmental, Health & Safety Audit Center, launched in April as part of the merger agreement, is designed to serve EHS professionals’ training, continuing-education, research, and networking needs.

The IIA also recognizes the importance of having highly qualified EHS practitioners. This is why since 1997, it has partnered with the Auditing Roundtable to offer a suite of certifications from the Board of Environmental, Health & Safety Auditor Certification (BEAC), which will continue to be a vital part of our service to EHS professionals.…

In my previous post, I discussed some potential challenges that can strain relationships between CAEs and their organizations’ general counsels. In it, I included five principles that I believe can help guide those relationships.

Two of those — mutual respect and the recognition that each party can agree to disagree when warranted — frame an important aspect of the relationship that sometimes leads to friction between internal audit and legal: If and when should general counsel influence how audit findings are reported?

The IIA recognizes the importance and complexity of the relationship between internal audit and the general counsel’s organization in its professional guidance.…

When I first became a CAE, it didn’t take me long to realize that the relationship with my organization’s chief legal officer (general counsel) was going to be complex. I quickly found him to be a great resource as he and his team were ready and willing to help my staff with important legal advice during ongoing audits. He also seemed genuinely invested in my success as a young addition to the organization’s leadership team.

But it wasn’t long before we knocked heads. He had assigned members of his team to investigate a serious contracting irregularity that potentially involved a violation of law.…

It is May again, and that means International Internal Audit Awareness Month is upon us. The IIA, along with its North American chapters and more than 100 affiliated institutes around the world will be promoting the value that internal audit brings to fostering stronger internal risk management, internal controls, and corporate governance. Awareness month provides an opportunity for practitioners to plan events, gather proclamations, and do other outreach. There is no doubt this positive and coordinated effort helps to build awareness and appreciation of the profession.

Despite all the energy, I fear that much more needs to be done to build and sustain an enduring awareness of the profession’s value.…