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Harnessing the power of internal audit

A good corporate governance guide for audit committees and directors

Internal audit is potentially one of the most powerful tools in the audit committee’s armoury. Our ‘Harnessing the power of internal audit’ guide is designed to help the audit committee and other stakeholders to harness that power for the good of their organisations.

It is supported by the article ‘Partners in Governance: Shaping a new relationship between the Board of Directors and Internal Audit’, which offers some reflections for directors, particularly in terms of how they can take forward their relationship with internal audit in the current business environment, learning both from the past and looking to the future.

Download the full report

Download the Partners in Governance think piece


About the report

When properly resourced, positioned and targeted, professional internal audit provides the kind of insight that boards need to make effective decisions. 

To help audit committees harness that power, this guide poses eight key questions, which, when worked through should enable stakeholders to understand where they need to focus their corporate governance and internal audit improvement efforts.


Key questions

  1. What is internal audit’s role and mandate?
  2. What is internal audit’s scope?
  3. How should internal audit be resourced?
  4. What is the relationship between the audit committee and internal audit?
  5. Are all risks being managed?
  6. How should internal audit’s recommendations be monitored?
  7. How should internal and external auditors work together?
  8. How should the quality of internal audit’s work be assessed?

A summary video

Watch our interview with Charlotte Valeur, Chair of the IoD, for a brief summary on why this report matters for internal audit.