Outsourcing Internal Audits: A Boon or Bane?

There has been an intensified recognition of the importance of corporate operational audits since the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Treadway Commission Report. As a consequence, outsourcing (or contract) internal auditing has become a new service arena for many public accounting firms. This also looms as a new challenge to internal audit professionals. Examines the service forms, advantages, and disadvantages of contract internal auditing. Discusses the implications of such a new trend from the perspectives of individual practitioners and the profession as a whole.