Feature story
During the past year, certain areas of this “guidance web” have been rewoven to strengthen its global reach and tighten its focus on providing timely, practical guidance for every internal auditor. Four of the most dramatic changes include improved exposure draft response processes, a new vision for the Global Ethics Committee, International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) updates, and guidance tailored specifically to internal auditors operating in the public sector.
Keeping Up With Professional Issues The first quarter of 2012 has been one of the busiest in the history of The IIA’s Professional Issues Committee (PIC), the volunteer group charged with providing thought leadership and timely professional guidance to IIA members and stakeholders. In addition to its regular guidance development projects, the 50-person committee responded to five exposure drafts in February and March, including a response to The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s (COSO’s) proposed update to the Internal Control—Integrated Framework. “It’s important that The IIA weighs in and provides our views on the issues that impact the profession,” says PIC Chairman Steve Jameson, executive vice president and chief internal audit and risk officer for Community Trust Bank. “As internal audit has broadened its outreach beyond internal control — into areas like risk management and governance — the number of issues impacting our pro-
fession has multiplied. The more exposure drafts we respond to, and the more pertinent our comments are, the more impact we see ourselves having on future legislation and guidance from groups like the International Federation of Accountants, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.”
Five Exposure Draft Responses in Early 2012
Sometimes, responding to these exposure drafts can be rather challenging, admits Jameson, as they typically have tight turnaround times and PIC members often are already committed to other ongoing guidance projects when a pertinent exposure draft is released. Still, the PIC recognizes the importance not only of responding, but of ensuring that it solicits input from The IIA’s international institutes to craft its response.
• Proposed Auditing Standard on Communications with Audit Committees, by the PCAOB.
To address this challenge and improve efficiency while maintaining its high standard of quality, the committee has begun using ad hoc task forces to supplement its committee resources. “We reached out to people — some of them former committee members — so that on a one-off basis we can pull additional resources to supplement the PIC’s work and still have the PIC responsible for review and oversight,” explains Jameson, who estimates that the committee currently has 25 task force members who are not committee members assigned to various projects. Jameson is optimistic about the future of the PIC and its budding task force concept, which was implemented just one year ago. “We’re going to continue that concept and
• Evaluating and Improving Internal Control in Organizations, by IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business Committee.
• Discussion Document on the Internal Audit Function in Banks, by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. • Proposed change to the definition of “engagement team,” by IFAC’s International Ethics Standards Board. • Internal Control — Integrated Framework update, by COSO.
expand our outreach for members,” he says. “That way, if members want to have some input but don’t have enough time for a full committee duty — because of their regular job demands — they can still contribute.”
Training on Ethics The Global Ethics Committee (GEC), the volunteer-run body re-
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