best practices for internal audit in government …（内部审计在政府的最佳实践u2026）.pdf

Best Practices for Internal Audit in Government Departments 1. Introduction Traditionally, people understand internal audit as an activity of self imposed internal check and audit which also supposedly involved the activity of going around telling people what they were doing wrong. However even if one sees it in a narrow sense , the contribution of the activity of internal audit is potentially of major i mportance as an effective internal audit system leads to improved accountability, ethical and professional practices, effective risk management, improves quality of output and supports decision making and performance tracking. Historically it was always held that internal auditing is confined to merely ensuring that the accounting and allied records have been properly maintained, the assets management system is in place in order to safeguard the assets and also to see whether policies and procedures are in place and are duly being complied with. With changing times this concept has undergone a sea change with regard to its definition and scope of coverage. Modern approach suggests that it should not be restricted to financial issues alone but also on issues such as cost benefit analysis, resource utilisation and their deployment, matters of propriety, effectiveness of the management, etc. Internal audit is to be understood as an independent and objective appraisal serv ice within an office/organisation. The Institute of Internal Auditors of UK and Ireland defines Internal Audit as: “Internal Auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation s operations. It helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and