According to a new survey by Protiviti Inc., 24 percent of companies say their internal audit departments can once again focus on their traditional responsibilities and not just Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. This "rebalancing" is related to the development of a more efficient and sustainable approach to compliance, says Protiviti's Bob Hirth. This article discusses the focus on rebalancing the internal audit.
Just like Sarbox is no longer at the top of CEO priority lists, it is also becoming less of a focus for internal auditing departments, according to a new survey from Protiviti.
According to CNNMoney.com:
Twenty-four percent of companies report their internal audit departments have achieved "rebalancing" - a renewed focus on their traditional responsibilities that is balanced with compliance activities.
The number is up from 10 percent in Protiviti’s 2005 survey. Protiviti’s managing director notes:
Companies clearly are seeing the long-term benefits of rebalancing, which include ensuring they do not focus solely on financial reporting at the expense of other critical business operations and functions.
The biggest benefit of rebalancing, according to survey participants, is being able to perform traditional audit tasks like identifying key business risks, reviewing fraud indicators, and devoting time to "focused audits of high risk areas" such as IT security.
The survey also indicates that there is no one right way to approach rebalancing. As such, companies are being creative in their efforts to achieve it.
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