Who Audits the Internal Auditor?
Your assurance deserves assurance.
Internal audit challenges the organisation, but strong governance requires one more question: who is challenging internal audit?
Boards rely on internal audit for assurance over governance, risk, controls and performance. That assurance must be supported by evidence, independence, competence and continuous improvement.
A completed audit plan does not automatically mean quality assurance.
An internal audit function may meet its annual targets while still missing key risks, producing weak evidence or failing to confirm whether corrective actions actually reduced risk.
Under the Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS), internal audit quality is a governance responsibility.
Standard 8.4 requires an independent external quality assessment at least once every five years, or a self-assessment with independent validation.
A credible quality assessment should go beyond policies and manuals.
It should examine governance documents, stakeholder feedback, performance information and selected audit files.
The key question for the Audit Committee is:
Can significant audit conclusions be traced back to reliable evidence, and does internal audit have the authority, competence and independence to challenge what matters?
Quality reviews should result in practical improvement, not simply a certificate. Boards should receive clear findings, accountable action owners, target dates and an improvement roadmap.
Five questions for your next Audit Committee meeting:
When was our last external quality assessment?
What evidence supports our view of internal audit quality?
Are assessors competent and independent?
Which quality weaknesses remain unresolved?
What measurable improvements should we expect?
Masegare & Associates Inc. supports organisations with EQA readiness reviews, QAIP gap assessments, implementation support and independent quality assessment services, subject to applicable qualification and independence requirements.
Your assurance deserves assurance.
Let us help you shift from box-ticking to value protection.
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📞 011 420 0045
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Masegare and Associates Incorporated
Audit where risk lives — because that’s where value is created.