EXPERT OPINION
Quality assurance and improvement program
Internal quality assessment External quality assessment
Ongoing monitoring |
Periodic selfassessment |
Full external assessment |
Self-assessment with independent external validation |
Illustration 1 . Components of the QAIP
which , in our opinion , is one of its disadvantages . Secondly , the QAIP should include both internal and external assessments . It is important to understand the key components of the QAIP – please refer to illustration 1 . Details regarding the various types of tests are further in the article . Thirdly , the requirements of 1300 series of Standards apply to all internal audit functions , regardless of their size , even to the internal audit unit with one employee .
Internal quality assessment should consist of ongoing monitoring and periodic self-assessment . Some practitioners confuse what procedures should be included in ongoing monitoring and which should be performed on a periodic basis . The main difference between the two is their focus . Periodic self-evaluation is a comprehensive review of the internal audit function and of its compliance with the Standards and the IIA ’ s Code of Ethics . Ongoing monitoring focuses on quality of individual audits . It should be noted that the description of the internal quality assessment in the Standard 1311 has undergone significant changes in the “ Implementation guides ” ( formerly called “ Practice advisories ”), but the focus of the assessment types mentioned above remains relevant . It is also worth noting that the revised “ Implementation guides ” have been greatly improved . However , at the time of writing , the official version of the “ Implementation guides ” in Russian language has not been published .
The ongoing monitoring assumes supervision , which starts at the engagement planning stage and continues until the engagement is complete . Most often , the monitoring comes in the form of engagement checklists , stakeholder questionnaires , client satisfaction surveys and key performance indicator analysis . Special attention should be given to the postaudit feedbacks received from the clients . The internal audit practitioners are concerned about the independence and objectivity issues of the audit clients . In order to reduce likelihood of a biased assessment we recommend including the following assessment criteria : ( a ) the timeliness of information provided regarding the purpose and scope of the audit engagement ( at the beginning of the job ), and the observations and recommendations ( throughout the engagement and during the final meeting ), ( b ) the clarity and conciseness of the reports , etc . We recommend sending out questionnaires and surveys to the clients at the beginning of the assignment in order to inform them in advance about the criteria used to evaluate the work of internal auditors .
Periodic self-assessment is usually carried out by experienced staff of the internal audit function . It includes the assessment of compliance with the Standards , the evaluation of supervision quality , analysis of the adequacy of
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