How Do You Plan An Internal Audit Project?
Thorough planning of an internal audit project ensures that scarce audit resources are focused on examining the riskiest areas of the business and minimizes interruptions to the business. Management should be involved in the process to ensure understanding of the business area is complete and to gain support for the audit. Use the planning process to evaluate business risks, the current state of controls and to determine what audit procedures you will use to test each control. Review the last internal and external audit reports to understand what issues were raised, the corrective actions management committed to take, and the status of those actions. If internal audit has not previously tested whether the actions were implemented, it will need to do so during the audit project. Review a copy of the business’s organization chart and its income statement to identify all areas of responsibility. Discuss any discrepancies between the two with business management. Discuss changes in the bus
