2022 - Page 6 of 6 - Audit Beacon

February 7, 2022

Five Things Not to Say When You’re Starting an Internal Audit

I was recently speaking with an old colleague who is now chief audit executive of an American company. She was lamenting how “testy” management seems to be with internal audit these days. She observed that before the pandemic, the opening meetings for new audits used to be a positive experience, but that there seems to be more tension in virtual meetings today. I quizzed her about the meetings, and asked her if there are triggers that derail the meetings? She shared some examples of exchanges between her audit teams and management that seemed to raise the ire of those whose areas are about to be audited.…

February 3, 2022

To Live a Life in Color, You May Have to Change Channels

Earlier this week, the legendary American pro football quarterback, Tom Brady, announced his retirement. That was big news because, at 44 years old, Brady was considered by many as one of the best NFL players in history. He holds nearly every major quarterback record, including passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, and games started. He never played in a losing season, and is the NFL leader in career quarterback wins, quarterback regular season wins, and quarterback playoff wins. In his final season, Brady was still playing at an extraordinary level. He set an NFL record for pass completions and became the oldest player ever to throw for more than 5,000 yards.…

January 24, 2022

Beware! Internal Auditors’ Assets Can Become Their Liabilities

In a recent blog, I shared my thoughts on whether internal audit should be a career path or a career stepping stone for modern practitioners. The answer (of course) is that it depends on the person and the circumstances. The fact is that a great many internal auditors do embrace the profession and cultivate the attributes that make them trusted advisors and agents of change in the organizations they serve. Having worked with thousands of internal auditors during my career, I appreciate the assets that differentiate the great ones from the good ones. But I have also cautioned over the years that an internal auditor’s professional assets can become their liabilities.…

January 18, 2022

Internal Auditing: Career Path or Steppingstone?

The “great resignation” is upon us. Recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that more than 4.5 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in November. As a recent Bloomberg article noted, that was both a monthly record and the eighth consecutive month with resignations above the pre-COVID high. While employees across all demographics are quitting their jobs, according to Harvard Business Review, “resignation rates are highest among mid-career employees. Employees between 30 and 45 years old have had the greatest increase in resignation rates . . .” Anecdotally, I am hearing from chief audit executives about similar trends in the internal audit profession.…

January 10, 2022

Inflation is Back! What Should Internal Auditors Do Now?

When I joined the internal audit profession in 1975, the U.S. rate of inflation averaged more than 9 percent. After a slight decrease over the next three years, it surged back with vengeance, averaging 11.3% in 1979, 13.5% in 1980 and 10.3% in 1981. As a young internal auditor, I didn’t know any other environment than one in which inflation created risks for my organization.

The vast majority of internal auditors today have the absolute opposite perspective. Most of those in Western and developed economies have never really audited in a period of persistent inflation. That’s one of the things that makes the recent rise in inflation worrisome to me.…