Want to improve internal audit skills and take them to the next level? Check out these seven top tips to help you stay ahead of the game!
Introduction
Are you looking to take your internal audit skills to the next level? You’re in luck! You can improve internal audit and become an invaluable asset to any organization with a few simple steps.
This article shares my top seven ways you can improve internal audit skills.
Key Takeaways
- Stay up-to-date with industry trends and best practices
- Attend professional development courses and workshops
- Seek out mentorship opportunities
- YouTube is King
- Get your CIA certification
- Practice and real-world examples
- Partner with external auditors
1. Stay Up-to-Date with Industry Trends and Best Practices
As an auditor, staying up to date with industry trends and best practices is essential for success. After all, the audit process itself involves assessing the risk management process of a business or organization and making sure it meets the required standards.
It’s essential to be aware of those standards, who enforces them, and how they could change. It’s also important to know the rules and regulations that apply to your work and any new technologies that could affect audits.
The best way to stay abreast of changes in the industry is through education and networking. Reading online resources like trade magazines or journals can give you a better understanding of current trends in the profession.
Make sure to follow industry blogs or publications, such as the IIA’s Internal Auditor Magazine or AICPA’s Journal of Accountancy.
2. Attend Professional Development Courses and Workshops
As auditors, we have a unique opportunity to learn and improve our skills on the job. But there are other ways for us to take our audit skill sets up a notch — one of those ways is by attending professional development courses and workshops.
Attending courses and workshops can bring significant benefits to audit teams. It can help team members get to know each other, give new ideas about best practices, teach more about the industry and rules, and even teach creative ways to solve problems.
Courses and workshops also allow us to meet other professionals outside our organization who do similar jobs. This helps us understand different perspectives, get advice from experienced peers, gain access to resources we may not already have access to, and develop new relationships that could be beneficial down the road.
If you ask five internal auditors how they perform their risk assessments, you’ll get five different answers. Learn from this!
When selecting a course or workshop, it’s essential to pick one explicitly tailored to your needs as an auditor. Be sure to check the credentials of the presenter or facilitator so you know they will provide quality information that applies to what you need most in your role.
3. Seek Out Mentorship Opportunities
Developing our skills as auditors often means going beyond the traditional classroom environment and seeking out mentorship opportunities. Having a mentor not only gives us access to their knowledge and insight, but it can also provide a forum to explore areas of improvement.
I’ve always had a mentor when performing internal audit engagements. I recommend you do too!
When looking for a mentor, consider someone who is respected in the industry and has experience in the area you wish to improve. A great example is if you are an auditor focused on financial data, you could seek out a mentor who has experience with budgeting and forecasting.
Your mentor can provide invaluable feedback about potential weak spots in your audit process or offer advice on approaching tasks more efficiently. They can also tell you about other tools or technologies to help you reach your goals faster or better.
Make sure there is an opportunity for open dialogue between you and your mentor. This will allow both parties to ask questions and gain clarity on complex topics. It’s also vital that they challenge any assumptions or opinions you may have — this type of constructive criticism can be just what we need to move forward with our audit skillset!
4. YouTube is Fantastic to Improve Internal Audit
YouTube is an invaluable resource for developing our internal audit skills. Whether you’re a beginner looking to get up to speed on the basics or a seasoned veteran wanting to brush up on their advanced knowledge, there’s something here for everyone.
For starters, there are plenty of helpful tutorials that provide step-by-step instructions on various topics. For instance, let’s say you need to build proficiency in software related to auditing—simply search for the keyword “auditing software tutorial” and you should be presented with dozens of options. These tutorials can be beneficial when trying out new ideas or technologies without hiring an expert consultant.
YouTube also offers lectures from experienced professionals discussing current trends and best practices in the field. Watching these lectures can provide valuable insights into the thought process behind successful audit processes and offer key takeaways which may help inform your own approach.
Finally, remember the wealth of user-generated content posted by everyday auditors documenting their experiences and providing tips on how they overcame challenges or found success in certain areas. By watching videos like these, you can gain access to diverse perspectives and opinions that could ultimately prove beneficial during future audits.
YouTube is truly a goldmine for honing our internal audit skills. With its wide selection of resources, there’s no excuse not to take advantage of this incredible platform!
5. Get your CIA Certification
Becoming a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) is one of the best ways to improve your knowledge and skill level as an internal auditor. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) offers the CIA designation. It is widely recognized worldwide as the benchmark for professional internal audit qualifications.
Maybe one day you’ll be creating an internal audit program from scratch! The CIA will be a huge help in structuring the department.
The CIA program consists of three levels focusing on competence in several key auditing areas: risk management, control systems, finance, information technology, governance, and ethics. By achieving this certification, you will have greater credibility with employers or clients looking for experienced auditors.
The certification also requires continuing education credits, allowing audit professionals to stay up-to-date on changing regulations and best practices within the industry.
If you’re serious about taking your internal audit skills to the next level, I highly recommend getting your CIA designation! It will demonstrate your commitment to excellence in the profession and provide career opportunities that may not have been available before!
6. Practice and Real-World Experiences
Improving your internal audit skills isn’t just about theory – it’s also about practice and real-world examples. Understanding the concepts behind auditing is excellent, but you also need to demonstrate your proficiency in actual audits.
One of the best ways to do this is by participating in practice cases. These are typically short scenarios that simulate real-world situations and require you to identify potential risks or issues and recommend corrective action. By practicing these cases repeatedly, you can learn how to form sound conclusions while becoming more skilled at recognizing potential problems before they become significant.
Another way to improve your audit skills is by gaining experience through working on various engagements. This will give you an opportunity to test out your theories and gain valuable expertise in areas such as risk management, financial reporting, and information technology control procedures.
7. Partner with External Auditors
When it comes to improving our internal audit skills, partnering with external auditors is often overlooked. However, getting input and guidance from the professionals who are responsible for certifying our financial statements can be hugely beneficial.
Partnering with external auditors provides the chance to learn how they approach their audits and identify potential areas of risk that we may have yet to consider. This is a great way to gain insight into their thought process and get tips for better managing our internal control procedures.
We can also benefit from feedback on items such as documentation, communication standards, and quality assurance processes that we may need to implement to pass our next external audit. Having a close relationship with your external auditor can be beneficial if any issues arise during an audit.
Conclusion
Improving internal audit skills can be a manageable task. By following the tips outlined in this article, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert auditor.
Whether it’s through obtaining certifications, honing your practice and real-world experiences, or partnering with external auditors – remember that dedication and hard work will pay off!
So start now, and soon enough, you’ll be able to refer to yourself as a top-notch internal auditor. Good luck!
What ways are you improving your internal audit skills?
Let me know in the comments below.
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