It’s quite a few years[1] since I first started talking about “auditing at the speed of risk”. Sometimes I also referred to “auditing at the speed of the business”.
The idea is that the world within which we live and work is dynamic and turbulent – even more so now than when I first started using the term to describe the impact of new technology.
If we rely on an annual risk assessment and plan, we end up auditing what used to be a risk, not what challenges the organization today or tomorrow. In fact, the annual audit plan is typically out-of-date even before it is approved by the audit committee!
Richard Chambers similarly uses the term to explain that we need to move to a model that relies on a more continuous assessment of risk and (as I described in a controversial blog) identification of the audit engagements that would provide the most valuable information (assurance, advice, and insight) to our leaders in executive management and on the board.
Another leader in internal auditing has shifted the focus just a little. In COVID-19 Crisis Highlights the Value of Agile Auditing, Protiviti’s Brian Christensen together with Sharon Lindstrom talk about the need for “agile auditing”. Here are some quotes. Note that the first quote uses that same phrase.
- With regard to immediate needs, the…
