（2006）state_internal_audit_profession_study_06.pdfVIP

PwC Advisory Internal Audit PricewaterhouseCoopers 2006 State of the internal audit profession study: Continuous auditing gains momentum* Table of contents Overview 02 Continuous auditing solutions are being pursued by chief audit executives as a means to shorten audit cycle times and provide more timely risk and control assurance to key stakeholders. Trends: 1. Continuous auditing gains momentum 05 2. Commitments to quality vary significantly 12 3. Sarbanes-Oxley demands lessen, freeing resources for other priorities 14 4. Internal audit faces a continuing shortage of qualified talent 19 5. Most internal audit groups now include overall ratings or conclusions in audit reports 24 Methodology 26 Overview Continuous auditing solutions are being pursued by chief audit executives as a means to shorten audit cycle times and provide more timely risk and control assurance to key stakeholders. 02 To address stakeholder demands for faster and better assurance, internal auditors are seeking to accelerate the frequency of their internal audit cycles. This quest is prompting strong interest in continuous auditing and its subset, technology-enabled auditing, which together have the potential to shorten audit cycle times and provide more timely risk and control assurance. With technology-enabled continuous auditing, an internal audit group can improve assurance quality because of its ability to audit 100% of a transaction universe as opposed to just transaction samples. In addition, by expanding the scope and frequency of the audit process, technology-enabled auditing allows internal auditors to communicat