Internal Audit

Organisations and businesses rightly face intense scrutiny of their corporate governance. They must be able to demonstrate that their corporate responsibility and their approach to risk management are robust and transparent. These responsibilities are made more onerous by the changing regulatory environment and the fast-evolving nature of the risks they face. Management teams and boards cannot afford to be reactive or allow risks to go unmonitored and unmitigated.

Internal audit has always been one of the cornerstones of good governance and should play an important role in your organisation’s governance processes. Internal audit looks beyond financial risks and statements to the wider issues that help your business navigate through the potential minefield of risks to which it is exposed.

Internal audit is key to the management and mitigation of risk. It provides assurance over your most fundamental internal controls, by helping to detect and prevent fraud, and by monitoring compliance with organisational policy, corporate governance codes, regulation and legislation.

Elevating the quality of your internal audits

BDO's internal audit service offering is designed to bring ideas and innovation to your management leadership teams and board, helping to achieve strategic business goals.

For large and small organisations alike, we design and operate tailored internal audit functions – from conducting a thorough assessment of risk across the organisation to designing strategic internal audit programmes. We work with management to identify issues, implement tailored solutions and put the most appropriate controls in place.

Regardless of your industry – or whether an internal audit department already exists – we create a framework individually suited to meet your organisation’s needs, working in partnership with you to create the right internal audit solution.

We take a partner-led, hands-on approach. We take the time to understand your culture, your business and your strategic goals. We can also draw on the expertise of specialists in BDO’s international network of almost 9,000 people working in 167 countries. Our services include:

Internal audit partnering – outsourcing or co-sourcing
External quality assurance (EQA) review
Audit committee advisory
Establishing internal audit functions
Continuous auditing monitoring
Data analytics.

Internal audit and technology

Advances in technology are changing business models and disrupting entire industries. Technology is improving productivity and driving innovation.

Organisations must draw on expertise to ensure the right technology risks are identified and related controls assessed, including cyber security, changing data privacy agendas, growing technology resilience dependencies and challenges with the implementation of digitalisation across the business. The risks associated with such solutions are significant, and, if they are not addressed, can result in severe impacts on operations, with associated adverse reputational impacts, unbudgeted costs and, in some instances, regulator intervention.

We can help your internal audit department be proactive and trusted advisors to senior management and your board regarding these developments and the potential for emerging risks. Whether it is advanced analytics, robotic process automation, continuous auditing or continuous monitoring, our team can provide you with services that suit your requirements.