Factors Affecting the Internal Audit Effectiveness: Empirical Evidence from the Professionals’ Perception within an Emerging Country

Abstract Considering the continuous challenges and requirements brought by economic environmental changes, coupled with the constant necessity of compliance with legal standards and amendments, the role of Internal Audit has expanded, synchronously with an extensive focus on increasing its effectiveness. Hence, the key purpose of the current research is to observe and discuss the internal audit professionals’ perception concerning the potential factors, argued as possible indicators of internal audit quality by scientific literature, impact towards the internal audit processes effectiveness. The paper investigates data acquired through a survey-based questionnaires as main research method tool, addressed to professionals engaged in internal audit and risk management activities within Romanian corporate sector. Overall, 34 collected questionnaires during January 2025 are analyzed and leveraged in testing the constructed research hypothesis. The quantitative analysis is conducted via linear regression analysis, bolstered by descriptive and frequency analysis, and by correlation matrix approach. The primary results suggests that the respondent’s perception implies that Internal Audit independence and Internal Audit compliance and competences may possess a contributory role in enhancing of Internal Audit Effectiveness, in the context of an emerging economy. Thus far, the present study demonstrates several implications for research in the field of Internal Audit comprising both practical and theoretical outcomes. The research may contribute with cohesive results in the existing literature area and supports future research perspectives.