Robert L. Mainardi - Beyond Audit

3 Request business action plans throughout the audit. This will help expedite the audit report generation process.

These three simple actions will provide time-saving opportunities for any audit department to expedite the report phase of their audit methodology.

For complete transparency regarding the audit process, do not forget to communicate to the client that even when the audit is completed, the audit and business teams will stay in contact through the implementation and adoption ( Chapter 8) of all agreed-upon action plans detailed in the final audit report. To accomplish this final task of the audit, there will be regular communications to ensure the action plans to address any deviations from the business process standards are appropriately designed and implemented to close any exposures noted. The communication frequency for the business unit's action item follow-up is usually completed on a monthly basis. Most internal audit departments log, track, and report action item follow-up to business unit management and the executive team to ensure these critical items receive the proper attention even after the audit is completed and the final audit report has been distributed. This wrap-up phase of the audit provides the internal audit team an opportunity to continue to foster and maintain the audit and business unit relationship.

Before closing the topic of remote internal audit marketing or audit department marketing in general, I wanted to share the most common audit perception myths and their associated realities ( Table 3.1) in an effort to help audit departments remove the existing stigmas that have been linked to internal audit departments over the past three decades since I first started auditing.

TABLE 3.1Auditor Perceptions: Myths and Realities

Too often, internal audit teams are seen as the enemy because they are too often portrayed as police officers, enforcers, or watchdogs over the business processes – eager to find infractions and pounce on the guilty offenders. In the auditor's fantasy scenario, however, no exceptions are noted because exceptions represent a significant increase in work. The objective of internal audit is to work with clients on every audit to increase business knowledge and provide value to the business partner. At no time is the internal audit department's goal to review a process in an effort to identify problems.

In fact, the audit department has been established to partner with the business unit teams to support them in any way to make their tasks as efficient and effective as possible. Contrary to popular belief, the audit department would prefer to not identify deviations from the business processing standards because auditors know the significant amount of work those items require to validate, document, research, and close. Auditors should strive to constantly improve their business knowledge, be problem solvers who help resolve minor issues, provide guidance, and recommend solutions to increase the business process efficiency and effectiveness. They are not and do not want to be a disruption in the day-to-day business operations or create problems or stress for their business partners. No auditor I have ever met, worked with, or taught wants to be seen as an opposing force to the business partners. In the end, internal auditors and business unit personnel all work for the same company and should be working in unison to create the most effective and efficient processes to assist the business unit in meeting their established objectives.

So remember, communicating with your business partners, especially during a remote audit, requires dedicated time, effort, and resources to properly explain who audit is, what audit does, how audit executes their duties, and how important it is to be viewed as a partner to the business unit. Consistently marketing the internal audit department will provide significant dividends to both audit and their business partners.

Successfully marketing the audit department is not something that happens within the week or month when your audit team decides to begin to focus on the marketing components listed in this chapter. For any process change, this effort takes time and requires that all internal audit department members, not just the leadership team, are aware and committed to the steps necessary to accomplish the marketing objectives. This task has received much more focus and attention since the emergence of remote audits. While it might be easier during the remote audits to send emails, instant messages, or texts, or to make calls to gather information and data to complete assigned audit tasks, those communication mediums do absolutely zero to market the internal audit department and the corresponding services and value it can provide. When audit departments start receiving calls from business unit management asking for audit representation on a project team, for a specific audit to be started, for an operational review to be facilitated, or an opinion on a simple process enhancement, internal audit will know not only that their marketing efforts are beginning to change the misconceptions regarding audit activities but also that the internal audit department is gaining credibility across the company.

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