Audit committee focus: thinking outside the box when leveraging internal audit

In today’s fast changing environment, the risks organizations face remain highly fluid. Increasingly, audit committees lean heavily on internal audit for assurance and insight on risks well beyond the traditional scope of operational audits and financial controls—and they should. Thinking outside the box when it comes to leveraging internal audit can help the audit committee effectively execute their oversight responsibilities.

We’ve heard from leading internal audit groups and have compiled a list of ten areas where internal audit is expanding their work. As audit committees look ahead to 2021, these are areas they should be discussing with internal audit. 

Risk areas where the audit committee should consider leveraging internal audit: 

• Organizational culture, values, and compliance
• Enterprise resiliency
• Health and safety
• Environmental, social, governance (ESG), and sustainability
• Brand management
• Transformation adoption and technology
• Human capital and talent management
• Cybersecurity and data protection
• Data governance
• Third-party and supplier management