Views on Internal Audit, Internal Controls, and Internal Audit’s Use of Technology

The Institute of Internal Auditors recently published a number of papers under their Practitioner Survey Series. The series reflects output from the Global Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge surveys of the internal audit profession. This article is a companion piece that focuses in part on the paper “Staying a Step Ahead—Internal Audit’s Use of Technology,” by Michael Cangemi published in 2015. The paper is based on data from the 2015 global practitioner’s survey, as well as prior survey data, primarily from 2006. To get the most out of this article you should download and read the paper “Step Ahead—Internal Audit’s Use of Technology.” The key findings in the globally focused paper are that the use of technology in the audit process continues to grow, but there is room for improvement. In addition, there has been a major expansion of the use of automated monitoring and the use of data analytics. This article suggests IAs should use these technologies to improve the effectiveness of internal audit (IA) and their contribution to their companies, leading to an enhanced view of IA by the C-suite.