A few years ago, it was not accepted to talk about internal audit as a profession. In many companies, employees of internal audit services or specialists acting as internal auditors have held positions of economists, financial analysts, and accountants.
Gradually, internal audit is being formalized into a full-fledged profession with all its attributes and becomes an integral part of the business. Today, internal auditors have standards of professional activity, the “Code of Ethics”, a world-recognized professional qualification.
Positions such as “internal auditor”, “lead auditor”, “manager of internal audit”, “chief auditor” and others have taken a full place in the staffing tables of organizations.
More importantly, the role and responsibilities of internal auditors have become clear and, as a result, respect for the profession has grown.
The activities of providers of auditing services in India have become noticeable for boards of directors and senior executive management of companies, which are beginning to perceive internal audit as an independent link in the corporate mechanism, making a significant contribution to the development and prosperity of the company.
Internal audit is a very convenient “outside view”, including for the executive management of an organization. Even in private companies, internal audit consulting service is gradually becoming an additional and necessary management tool.
And in public companies, internal audit is separated into a division, without which it is simply difficult for shareholders and leaders of the organization to prove to the investment community that the company is striving to improve the corporate governance process.
The internal auditors themselves are beginning to feel what was difficult to feel before- their benefits for the business. After all, their contribution to improving its efficiency, albeit indirect, is measured in amounts that significantly exceed the cost of the internal audit function for the organization.
Working in an internal audit provides an excellent opportunity to study all aspects of the business, which is an invaluable advantage for professional and career growth, as well as contributes to the acquisition of skills and qualities necessary for a successful manager.
In addition, working as an internal auditor allows you to get to know the company’s employees performing a wide variety of functions and establish working relationships with managers of all levels, including foreign divisions if any.
By studying and evaluating processes and procedures in various operational and structural divisions, internal auditors become “carriers” of best practices that can be successfully applied in other divisions or become an internal standard of the company, and this is why one should go for the career of internal auditing consulting services.
As a result, internal auditors are generators of fresh ideas and constructive proposals and develop an idea of how and in what direction the company should develop.
Most specialists choose internal audit as their main profession, and the number of students interested in the in-depth study of this subject is increasing. However, those wishing to become internal auditors have to learn the profession on their own.
For this, it is important to understand the role of internal audit, to know the standards of activity and the methodology of internal audit. A prerequisite is knowledge of management principles, as well as possession of basic knowledge in general disciplines such as accounting, financial analysis, and law.
This content is meant for information only and should not be considered as an advice or legal opinion, or otherwise. AKGVG & Associates does not intend to advertise its services through this.
Posted by:
CA Aman Aggarwal
AKGVG & Associates