What are the characteristics of internal audit procedures?

Question

Accepted Answer

I. The Characteristics of the Preparatory Stage

Internal audit carried out by internal audit institutions of departments and units is basically the same as national audit in the preparatory stage, but the basis for determining audit projects and formulating audit plans is more the actual economic situation of the departments and units, as well as the cases handed over by the leaders of the departments and units. Internal auditors are generally familiar with the internal situation of their departments and units, so they can quickly move to the implementation stage without much preparation. At the same time, because the internal auditors are members of the Department and the unit, the audit work programme can be more flexible and flexible, and can be amended at any time.

II. Characteristics of the Implementation Phase

Internal audit should inform the auditee in advance, but it is not necessary to make a preliminary investigation, nor to conduct a sound investigation, conformity test and effectiveness evaluation of the internal control system. Auditors rely on their own understanding of their own departments and units, and have accumulated an understanding of the audit environment, which is generally enough to enable them to go straight to the beginning of the implementation stage to conduct in-depth audit and inspection work, and then some general conditions need to be understood, and can also be carried out in combination with audit and inspection work. Suggestions for improvement may be made to relevant units and personnel at any time for problems found in the audit.

III. Characteristics of the Ending Stage

The audit report of internal audit shall be submitted by the auditors who handle the internal audit, and the opinions of the auditees shall be solicited and submitted to the leadership of the Department and the unit for examination and approval. The approved audit opinions and audit decisions shall be served on the auditees. The auditee must implement the audit decision. Follow-up audits should be conducted on major projects to check the implementation of audit decisions after the adoption of audit opinions. If the auditees have objections to audit opinions and audit decisions, they may submit them to the head of the unit in which the internal audit institution is located. The head of the audit institution shall deal with them in a timely manner. Audit institutions accredited by the state audit institutions shall act as internal audit institutions of the departments accredited by the state audit institutions, and the audit reports made by them shall also be submitted to the accredited audit institutions.