Key Activities in an Internal Audit Process

Key Activities in an Internal Audit Process

The objective of the internal audit is to provide governing bodies or senior management of an organization a comprehensive assessment report pertaining to the enterprise’s risks, operational effectiveness, control environment, operational efficiency, as well as its compliance with relevant laws and regulations. Depending on the need, the audit may incorporate examining its internal controls, corporate governance, financial factors, accounting, IT, and others in the audit program.

As a self-governing body, the team of internal audit Dubai is intended to present an unbiased report based on their independent reviews while identifying and uncovering the weak areas within the organization’s process. They also recommend measures with a view to fixing those lacunas as fast as possible to avoid harm to the establishment or its stakeholders. The key activities in an internal audit process can be divided into three sections, which include Planning, Fieldwork, and Reporting while depending on management needs a Follow-up step can also be added with this.

Planning

During the planning stage, the audit team will explore the areas needs to be audited, its scope and objectives, reviewing the reports of the previous audit, if any, create an audit calendar and backup needed from the management. The audit team should have a clear understanding about the company’s policies and business procedures, the industry standard, and applicable laws and regulations. Setting a timeline of auditing is vital that determines the frequency of audit programs needed for various departments. Accordingly, an audit plan should be executed as per discussion with the management and a meeting is held before the commencement of the audit process.

Fieldwork

It’s the central part of auditing. As a common courtesy, the audit team should give notice to the departments to be audited. This helps the departmental heads and their team to keep the necessary papers and documents prepared and available for review. An internal audit in Dubai team is friendly enough and view your managers and staff as vital resources to help them in managing their work in a sociable environment. An effective audit is an outcome of its sound planning and fostering the setting that needs constructive involvement and open communication among auditor and the client. An auditor should be careful on the following factors.

 Involving every person who appears concern with the facts and figures while going deeper than the departmental managers and talking to employees in the lower level may come handy to understand the effectiveness of the procedure. Often, during the time auditors come across fraud, errors, negligence, or mistakes that can harm the company from its root.

 While each data should be reviewed with due diligence, an expert internal audit in Dubai ensures concerning the data accuracy, because modifying or trimming data is not an uncommon incident. Which is why auditors should always make questions to find wherefrom the data is generated and ensure its validity.

 Especially in small and medium enterprises, an internal auditor might be reporting to a group, partners or person who is involved in auditing. This needs clients to cooperate with forward-looking viewpoint and stay objective based considering that the internal auditor team has come to help and there is time to rectify mistakes, if any, before having an external audit.

Reporting

Documentation throughout the audit period needs to be done based on which the final draft of the audit report is prepared. The report must be written explicit and conscious that helps avoid misinterpretation. An internal audit in Dubai report commonly includes an executive summary indicating the specific findings and issues spotted aside from the associated recommendations. An expert audit report should contain five key elements:

Condition – Explains the problems or issues identified;

Criteria – Explains the standard which has not been met. The standard is determined before an audit process and may include one or more aspects.

Cause – Focuses on the factors that caused the problem;

Consequence – Enlightens on the risk factors or negative outcome of the incidence;

Corrective steps – Recommends on the measures need to be undertaken by the management or employer to come out of the situation.

Follow-up

This is the final phase of internal audit which is often neglected. Nonetheless, as per internal audit in Dubai that following up is most essential to make sure that recommendations offered by the audit team have been followed or implemented to deal with the findings identified effectively and successfully. Not surprising if a business enterprise fails or overlooks the follow-up steps, it is less likely to bring changes which are critical for its business success.