1. Ensure Seamless Reporting Structure
A thumb rule is to have a seamless and effective reporting structure for any Internal Audit department. It needs levels of communication and transparency. Your Chief Audit Executive must be able to communicate with the whole team, internal audit team members, the key stakeholders – board, management, and audit clients. You must ensure that the tools that you use for your audits, must have the ability to set the reporting structure and continuously collaborate with all the stakeholders of the Audit Committee.
2. Ensure Quality vs Quantity
In Audit world, during the fiscal year, may organizations tend to forget that less is more. They need to take a strategic approach rather than conducting many audits, simply for the sake of it and develop their audit plans around the areas that will most likely impact the most – both functionally and operationally and – especially any high-risk areas. Senior Management in Audit Department must balance their focus between specific audit issues and the overall picture. All of your audits the targeted scope for your audits should neither be too ambitious or be open ended. You must clearly define the parameters and times durations to prevent efforts from being debased and incorrect results.
3. Ensure that your audits are adding value
Your Audit department must have following primary goal: To help your management accomplish the objectives of your organization and focus on opportunities that may have been missed or overlooked. It’s truly important that Audit activities must add true value to a company and not primarily aim towards finding the faults in the organization.
4. Ensure your response to your audits
In any audit process, the Corrective Action Process is the final step. It is the key to an effective control environment, and your audit Team must help you identify the right changes to make in order to improve your operational success. Audit committee must publish the recommendations on how your team might resolve the findings appropriately.
