Internal audit is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to improve an organization’s operations and add value to it. Internal audit helps an organization achieve its objectives by systematically evaluating and improving upon the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.
In carrying out internal audit, a company’s internal controls would be evaluated as well as its corporate governance and accounting processes. The essence of the audit is to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and to also maintain proper and timely financial reporting and data collection. Internal audits also provide management with the tools necessary to attain operational efficiency by identifying problems and correcting lapses before they are discovered in an external audit.
Internal audit provides an independent assurance that an organisation’s risk management, governance and internal control processes are operating effectively. Internal Audit Department of an organization is tasked with the responsibility of carrying out independent unbiased reviews of systems, business organizations and processes.
Internal Audit is a department or an organization of people within a company that is tasked with providing unbiased, independent reviews of systems, business organizations, and processes. The role of Internal Audit is to provide senior leaders and governing bodies of an organization an objective source of information regarding the organization’s risks, control environment, operational effectiveness, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The aim of internal audits is to identify weaknesses within the organization’s processes and control environment internally. so that they can be fixed as quickly as possible to prevent harm to the organization or its stakeholders. Accordingly, the internal audit plan for an organization should be driven by risk basis or, in other words, be designed to examine those areas that present the greatest risk to the company. The internal audit plan should also include a component of the strategic needs of an organization.
An internal audit offers risk management and evaluates the
effectiveness of a company’s internal controls, corporate
governance, and accounting processes.
Internal audits provide management and board of directors with a
value-added service where flaws in a process may be caught and
corrected prior to external audits.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 holds management responsible for
their financial statements by requiring senior corporate
officers to certify in writing that the financials are
accurately presented
Companies Act, 2013 mandates all the
companies satisfying specific conditions to have an Internal
Audit mechanism in relation to its size of operations.
The focus is to ensure strong internal control systems to minimize the risk of accidental or deliberate errors and omissions. Safeguarding of assets, adequate division of authority over key control areas and compliance with internal operating policies and guidelines are other focus areas.
A good internal audit function can be of immense importance to the survival and prosperity of any organization as it looks beyond financial statement reporting risk to consider broader issues such as the organization’s reputation, operational efficiency, strategic growth, its impact on the environment, and the way it treats its employees.
We help companies set up Internal Audit Systems, Develop Policies & Procedures and help the organization save money and improve their operations.
Our Internal Audit Services have helped many organizations enjoy
risk management, seamless operations, improve strategy,
controls, corporate governance.
We have also supported our Clients with Strategic Management
Issues, Control issues, operational improvements.