Blog Beware of Auditing up the Wrong Tree

In his blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers, CIA, QIAL, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession. Here’s an excerpt from his latest post:​

One of the most important things internal auditors can do to meet stakeholder expectations is to ensure internal audit priorities align with those of the board and executive management. Risks that “keep our stakeholders up at night” should be keeping internal auditors busy during the day.

If that sounds like common sense, consider that while the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) 2017-18 Public Company Governance survey lists significant industry change, business model disruption, and technology disruption as the mostly likely trends over the next year, the 2018 North American Pulse of Internal Audit found only 45 percent of chief audit executives consider their internal audit functions to be very or extremely agile — that is, able to quickly and efficiently handle whatever disruptions come their way.

If your internal audit function is limited by its ability to only audit traditional risks, you risk becoming irrelevant or missing the new or emerging risks facing your organization. Where I come from we call that “barking up the wrong tree.” If this sounds familiar, I addressed the topic in a 2013 blog post.​

Read the full InternalAuditor.org blog post from IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers.​​​​​​​