Uncategorized

July 11, 2013

Risk Management in Government: An Oxymoron?

Recent risk-management failures in Washington, D.C., have reflected what happens when an organization with so many risks associated with the achievement of its mission fails to […]
July 1, 2013

Five Red Flags That Your Internal Audit Department May Be Losing Stakeholder Support

Stakeholder support is vital to internal auditing’s ability to add value and contribute to the organizations we serve. When chief audit executives and their staff are […]
June 25, 2013

When It Comes to Fraud, Internal Auditors Need to Get There Early

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE’s) 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse estimates the global cost of internal fraud at US $3.5 trillion, […]
June 10, 2013

Five Words to Banish From the Internal Audit Dictionary

I recently spoke at a conference where one of the sessions was called “Four Most Dangerous Words in Finance.” It reminded me of a blog I […]
June 3, 2013

NASDAQ Hesitates in Its Quest to Mandate Internal Audit

As we recently learned, NASDAQ has withdrawn a proposed new rule (PDF) requiring that companies listed on the exchange establish and maintain an internal audit function, citing push-back […]
June 1, 2013

Cultivating Soft Skills

In an era of sophisticated data analytics, Larry Harrington, chief audit executive (CAE) of Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co., relies on a relatively old-school key performance indicator (KPI) […]
May 29, 2013

Effective IGs Are Watchdogs, Not Lapdogs

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Inspector General Act of 1978 — the landmark legislation that created the audit and investigative agencies that serve […]
May 24, 2013

Is Your Audit House Shatterproof?

You’ve heard the expression, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” A corollary drawn from a presentation I share with government auditors, though applicable […]
May 13, 2013

​Do You Live Your Life in Color?

Last month, I lost two people who had an important influence on my life. One was a dear relative and the other a close personal friend […]
May 6, 2013

Small Rocks Can Cause the Biggest Waves

Some time back, I blogged about “big impact” audits, those career milestones we look back on with the satisfaction of knowing that our work, and profession, made […]