Internal audit strategic planning: Making internal audit’s vision a reality during a rapid transformation

Even though most internal audit functions have identified the need to evolve their department in some way, few have a purposeful plan in place to attain those objectives. In support of that notion, Internal audit strategic planning: Making internal audit’s vision a reality during a rapid transformation, looks at the 2015 State of the Internal Audit Profession study, and talks through how a strategic plan provides the means whereby internal audit can look forward at future needs and translate those needs into actionable steps it will take to meet them. With a strategic plan as its guidepost, internal audit can launch initiatives and make resource decisions at a pace that helps ensure it is a valuable contributor to the business in this time of rapid business change.

Internal audit departments differ from company to company, and therefore each may want to customize its approach, but the process for developing an internal audit strategic plan consists of six steps:

• Develop mission and set vision
• Understand organizational plans and assess capability needs
• Perform a SWOT analysis to identify capability gaps
• Define initiatives to fill gaps and develop a roadmap
• Ensure stakeholder alignment and develop a communication plan
• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success