Besides engaging audit firms in Johor Bahru to have financial statement audits, some companies may hire internal auditors to run internal audits to assess its internal controls or other processes to guarantee the efficiency of company’s operations. As an internal auditor, if your managers are complaining that the internal audit (Also see How to Ensure an Efficient Internal Audit?) department is spending too much time on the internal audit projects, you need to look into factors that cause an increase in the time required for audit cycle and ways to solve this problem. It is normal if the auditors want to have ample time for planning, performing and recording the audit project. However, what the management wants is timely information and fast results so that it can take necessary actions as soon as possible.
The Importance of Speed
The processes for internal audits (Also see How to Ensure Your Company’s Audit Process Goes Smoothly?) did not change much in the past few decades. However, as the business risks may increase as time passes, the stakeholders and the management do not want to wait for months before they can get the audit results. If the audits are taking too long, the results may come too late that the management can no longer use them or fail to convey business risks that the company has discovered recently. Also, audit cycles which are longer than usual or necessary may reduce the stakeholders’ satisfaction.
Plan the Audit Project Well
A well-planned audit project may reduce the time taken by an audit cycle effectively. The internal auditors should keep the scope of the audit project within rationality and avoid setting too many or broad audit goals. To achieve this, they need to cooperate with the management to improve the audit objectives and specify the time frame. Besides, the audit managers need to make sure that the skill sets the audit staff possesses align with the audit risks (Also see How to Plan for Internal Audits Schedule Based on the Risks?) , as well as inspect the business risks fully in the areas they audit.
Utilise Information Technology
When the internal audit department is performing the audit projects, the audit staffs need to implement effective methods like data mining to increase their efficiency. They should also make use of information technology and other online tools when they are producing the audit working papers. By using technology, the auditors can significantly boost their productivity and save a lot of time when they conduct the audit and develop the final report.
When the audit staff develop audit reports, they have to increase the efficiency of the editing process as well as quality control so that they can impress the stakeholders. Usually, the auditors will provide preliminary audit results to the key stakeholders and management as soon as they have done the initial audit. However, the stakeholders and management will usually determine the time required for an audit cycle by looking at the time the auditors issue the final audit report.
Request for Feedback The auditors may (Also see Audit – Checklist for Compliance Audit) improve their audit process by asking for feedback from the stakeholders and the management. In fact, besides warning the company when any risks arise, the internal department acts as the internal consultant, which suggest the best practices the company should implement to minimise its exposure to the risks. If the auditors improve the audit process by using the feedback, they could be able to reduce the time taken for an audit cycle, remove counterproductive and unimportant procedures, as well as increase the possibility that the audits can meet the expectations of the stakeholders in the future.