（2008）Internal Audit Provides Continuous Assurance with Relianct.pdfVIP

I N S I G H T I n t e r n a l Au d i t P r o v i d e s C o n t i n u o u s As s u r a n c e w i t h R e l i a n t Kathleen Wilhide I D C O P I N I O N IDC research shows that close to 70% of organizations hold internal audit responsible m for internal controls monitoring and testing. While this initially was a response to the o c. onerous workload put upon internal audit by Sarbanes-Oxley, the role of internal audit c d i. is evolving within many organizations as a key stakeholder in governance, risk, and w w compliance (GRC) strategies. Findings include: w 5 1 This evolving role expands the purview of internal audit, in particular moving 0 4 5. away from periodic reviews of a sample of transactions to continuous monitoring 3 9 . and assurance across all transactions based upon assessed risk. 8 0 5 . F As the requirements of internal audit change, IDC expects that software solutions 0 0 will evolve to support not only internal audit team processes and documentation 2 8 2. but scalable, enterprisewide assurance analytics, monitoring, and testing. 7 8 . 8 0 Internal audit groups should assess current technology solutions that are 5 . P emerging to help them be successful. Automation is an integral part of next- A generation internal audit strategies that will arm teams to meet evolving GRC S U 1 requirements with measurable benefits in cost, time, and audit fee reduction. 0 7 1 0 A M , m a h