Digitalisation of internal audit
Why is it important?
Internal audit functions are frequently constrained by the number of auditors at their disposal, who are still using predominately manual and time-consuming ways of working. Whilst many leaders have recognised the need for digital fluency, resulting in analytics and visualisation training becoming a staple on the learning and development menu, very few have seen it as an opportunity to rethink the status quo and truly innovate.
Through the use of technology, internal audit has an opportunity to reimagine their ways of working, not just to gain efficiencies but to increase agility and enhance the quality of issues identified. For example, are cyclical coverage strategies, audits that provide a ‘point in time’ assessment, or the use of limited non-statistical sampling methods sufficient in today’s world? Is it right that teams frequently spend more time on discovering issues than understanding root cause and helping management think through solutions? Should it really take weeks and sometimes months to issue and finalise reports? Are functions leveraging their collective knowledge, or are they still reliant on retained…
