December 2017

December 18, 2017

2017 Headlines Reflect Big Challenges, Opportunities for Internal Auditors

The end of the calendar year is customarily a time to reflect on one’s personal and professional accomplishments. It also offers me the opportunity to look back on the year’s events that had direct implications for the internal audit profession.

As I reviewed key events in 2017, I was reminded of a fundamental truth that all internal auditors should take to heart: Effective risk management, internal controls, and corporate governance are pursuits fraught with continuous obstacles. From culture-driven scandals, to continued brazen cyberattacks, to geopolitical and socio-economic unrest, this year provided vivid examples of how fleeting successful risk management, control, and governance can be.…

December 11, 2017

What My Most-read Blog Posts in 2017 Say About Internal Auditors

Periodically, I am provided statistics about my blog by Internal Auditor magazine, and I was pleased to learn that my posts in 2017 were read more than 100,000 times.

The most popular was one I fondly refer to as the blog post that keeps on giving – or resonating with my readers. In May, I featured a repeat of a 2011 blog post titled 10 Things Not to Say in an Internal Audit Report, which drew more than 11,000 reads on its own this year. This post possesses two key characteristics of my most-read posts throughout the year.

First, it provides practitioners with practical advice about enhancing performance.…

December 4, 2017

Internal Audit Standards: The Only Option Is to Conform

It was more than 40 years ago when the first internal audit standards were introduced. Since that time, the profession has matured immensely, and the proliferation of internal audit departments around the world has been remarkable. The standards have been revised and upgraded periodically and are now a c​ritical component of The IIA’s International Professional Practices Framework.

No true profession can exist without standards to which its members are held accountable. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a standard as “a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable . . . ideas about morally correct and acceptable behavior.”…