Training insights – Introduction to Professional Internal Auditing
The internal auditing profession is still misunderstood – or barely recognised at all. Many people assume it is an obscure branch of accountancy, vaguely related to external auditing. This is a perennial problem, but members of the Chartered IIA who know better can help to improve understanding (and therefore make their own roles easier and more fulfilling) by educating those they work with. A good place to start is to encourage all those who need to know more to attend the Institute’s four-day Introduction to Professional Internal Auditing course.
“The first question I always ask attendees is how familiar they are with the IPPF,” says Stephen Maycock, who leads the course. “The answer to this question is usually disappointing even among those who are already working in internal audit teams.”
Who should attend?
Everybody who is starting their first role as an internal auditor and does not yet have any professional internal auditing qualifications should attend this course. This includes those who have joined the profession having previously worked as external auditors, since it can be easy for those without experience of internal audit to underestimate the difference between the two professions.
“When you compare the number of organisations who have someone working in an internal audit role with the number of members of the Chartered IIA, you realise how many organisations need to know more about what good internal auditing looks like,” Maycock says. “I’d like to see the same kind of respect given to our professional Standards and our professional body as you see in external audit. Internal audit is a unique profession with a unique position and mission in organisations.”
It can be hard to get this message to people who are not currently members or aware of the Chartered IIA’s work, but chief audit executives (CAEs) and other senior internal audit leaders can help to improve internal audit’s professional standing by encouraging colleagues who could benefit to attend this course. This includes some people in first- and second-line functions who need to work alongside internal audit.
“Many of those who attend from other lines see internal audit as a career development option,” Maycock adds. CAEs struggling to recruit the best talent should take note and ask whether persuading more people from their organisation to attend this course could boost their function’s reputation as a desirable career choice.
What do attendees learn?
The Introduction to Professional Internal Auditing course takes place over four days. Maycock finds that many attendees answer his initial questions about the profession with answers that would have been correct a few decades ago. He therefore aims to bring them up to date with all the changes internal audit has been though since then.
“I talk about taking attendees through different coloured rooms,” he explains. “We start in the blue room, where we build a strong understanding of the role of internal audit in an organisation. The most important element, he adds, is to drive home the message that internal audit is future-focused, not backward-looking. “In the green room, we go on to build attendees’ knowledge of governance, risk management and control. This is essential as these areas underpin the definition of internal auditing.
We move on to the black room, where we look at the practicalities – how we conduct an internal audit. Next we move to the red room, where we look at specialist subjects, particularly the knowledge internal auditors need with regard to IT and fraud, and we end up in the purple room, where we discuss what good looks like and how we can make internal auditing better – for example, managing the internal audit function and using technology.”
“I see this course as an opportunity to tell delegates about the learning journey they can go on to become fully qualified internal auditors,” he says. Many attendees go on to complete the Chartered IIA’s Certificate in Internal Auditing or the CIA exams. Others, just as importantly, take on roles in the first and second line with a real appreciation of what internal auditors do, why this matters, and the professional Standards that inform their work and add integrity to the assurance they provide.
“This is an A-Z of internal auditing,” Maycock sums up. “It has enormous breadth and gives attendees a grounding in the fundamentals that they can take away and build on both in their current roles and on their path to becoming a Chartered Internal Auditor if they choose to continue their careers in the profession of internal auditing.”
This article was published in September 2023.