Align your Internal Audit Templates with the Standards

Written by: My Audit Spot

Over the past year, My Audit Spot has been uploading a variety of templates covering all aspects of the audit process. The templates are a way to share audit knowledge, skills, and templates; whilst also providing an opportunity to help other auditors become more diligent and efficient while meeting the requirements of the IIA’s International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards).

It is important to note, that without an independent assessment, My Audit Spot cannot say that these templates conform to the Standards. Similarly, anyone using these templates in a review cannot state in their final report that the audit has been conducted in accordance with the Standards without an independent assessment. However, the templates have been built off best practice from across the industry, with particular attention paid to requirements of both the Internal Audit standards and Auditing Standard – ASA 230 – Audit Documentation.

The My Audit Spot audit overview shows how each template can be linked to the audit standards. Snippets of our audit process and how it links to the audit standards are included below.

The Standards

The Global Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has put together standards aimed at guiding adherence with the mandatory components of the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) for performing audits, establishing a basis for evaluation and, encouraging improved business processes and operations.

As the IIA states, “The Standards are a set of principles-based mandatory requirements…”. These should form the minimum of all your workpapers.

Planning

Your audit will only be as good as your planning. Failure to appropriately plan and scope the review could result in risks not appropriately reviewed, or business improvement opportunities not identified.

The Standards reflect how important the planning phase is, with the Standards considering everything from current risks and governance processes, through to current control frameworks within the business, and even the objectives of the review. The templates My Audit Spot has developed will help guide you throughout the planning process and help your organization consider parts of the Standards.

Be sure to consult the Standards yourself to ensure you’ve considered all the minimum components.

My Audit Spot planning templates can be accessed here.

Fieldwork

This is the guts of it. By now, you have done all the planning, worked out what your risk areas are, and now built a Work Program around how you are going to test and address each of the identified risks.

Throughout the fieldwork phase, it’s important to ensure your work is appropriately documented. If it’s not documented, it’s not done. At a minimum, each workpaper should include:

• Scope area being addressed
• Purpose/objective of the workpaper
• Methodology – how we have performed the work
• Tests
• Outcome / conclusion

My Audit Spot fieldwork templates can be accessed here.

Reporting

Not only is the audit report phase one major output of your work, but it is also a direct reflection of the effort and attention to detail which has been undertaken during the audit.

An audit report also has the potential to value add by identifying opportunities or future considerations which may not have otherwise been surfaced.

It is important that reports are communicated to the relevant stakeholders and appropriate management. Additionally, reports should be clear and concise as they will be constantly referred to for the action tracking/audit follow up process.

My Audit Spot reporting templates can be accessed here.

About My Audit Spot

My Audit Spot is a space to share audit tools, knowledge and resources. Our mission is to encourage collaboration across internal auditors through the sharing of tools, knowledge and resources; ensuring audit remains a trusted and respected profession.

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