Internal audit staff are employees of a company or organization who are responsible for identifying, reviewing, and evaluating the company’s financial and operational systems.
Through an audit of the company, internal audit staff will identify risks, ensure compliance with regulations, recommend improvements, and evaluate follow-up actions.
This clearly demonstrates how important the role of internal audit staff is within an organization in ensuring efficiency, transparency, and compliance with regulations.
To better understand what an internal audit staff member is and their duties and responsibilities, please read the following explanation:
Duties and responsibilities of Internal Audit Staff
Internal audit staff are employees who work for a company and are responsible for auditing its operational systems and financial statements.
This clearly demonstrates that internal audit staff play a crucial role in the company’s future growth.
To reach that stage, an internal audit staff member has duties and responsibilities that must be carried out.
Among the duties and responsibilities of an internal audit staff are as follows:
1. Conduct a system review
Evaluating the systems and procedures used by the company is the responsibility of the internal audit staff to ensure the company’s compliance with applicable audit standards and regulations.
Among the staff’s responsibilities in ensuring smooth operations and minimizing errors are analyzing each division’s work processes, reviewing the efficiency of their procedures, and identifying areas that need improvement.
Read Also: Internal Audit Code of ethics as a standard in the implementation of Internal Audit!
2. Planning the audit process
The task that audit staff must perform is to conduct systematic and clear audit planning .
Auditors need to communicate with the auditee and schedule the audit. This is because, fundamentally, audits are conducted to evaluate and improve the company.
3. Identify potential risks
Identifying potential risks in the company’s operational and financial systems is one of the responsibilities of the internal audit staff.
These risks can take many forms, ranging from financial risks and procedural non-compliance to legal compliance risks.
If you can identify risks early on, the potential for losses can be minimized and the prospects for long-term stability can be maintained.
4. Checking financial statements
Internal audit staff are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the company’s financial statements by conducting a detailed and thorough review.
Reports must be free from calculation errors and comply with applicable accounting standards, so that the company can avoid potential financial and legal problems.
5. Prepare audit report
After the audit process completed, an internal audit staff will prepare a report containing important findings, analysis of audit results, and recommendations for corrective action.
The advice given by the audit staff will be implemented by the company's management to improve the system that supports the sustainability of the company.
Expertise Of An Internal Audit Staff
There are several skills that need to be possessed by an internal audit staff so that the examination process can run optimally.
This is because these skills can support their work and enhance auditors’ ability to conduct audits.
Among the skills that need to be mastered by an internal audit staff are as follows:
1. Analytical ability
Analytical skills are useful in solving problems and finding patterns in financial statements.
If you have this ability, potential risks can be prevented and opportunities for improvement can be identified.
2. Understanding of financial statements
Given that the audit team is closely involved with financial statements, a solid understanding of various types of financial data is essential.
Not only will they understand it, but they will also read, review, and analyze it in detail to ensure that the figures and records are in accordance with procedures.
3. Communication skills
In carrying out their duties, internal audit staff will interact with many parties involved in the audit process and communicate audit findings accurately and clearly.
In addition, these skills can also support your task in explaining the results of the audit to the company's management and delivering effective improvement recommendations.
4. Time management
It is a skill that allows you to be able to manage tasks and ensure that they are not only completed on time, but also of quality.
This is necessary because it is not uncommon for internal audit staff to be involved with many projects running at the same time.
Qualification Of Internal Audit Staff
When discussing the qualifications of internal audit staff, we are talking about the qualities that are required and those that should be avoided.
The qualities required by the internal audit staff to match the qualifications of an auditor are as follows:
- Independent or objective, auditors must work objectively and not take sides or have interests with certain parties
- Good communication and interpersonal skills, observe the details of documents and other reports provided while taking a close look at any information submitted
- Detailed and structured, auditors should be able to prepare reports that will be used as a reference management in making improvements clearly and systematically
- Fluent in English both oral and written, able to communicate well without causing discomfort atmosphere and can explain the findings with a professional and thoughtful attitude
- Experienced, where experience can help auditors to identify problems quickly and effectively
- Have knowledge about auditee, the auditor needs to understand the industry and the auditee's operational systems in order to examine them more accurately
The qualities that must be avoided by internal audit staff to be in accordance with the qualifications of an auditor are as follows:
- Does not work independently or objectively, this is because the auditor is affected or in favor of certain parties to obtain certain benefits
- Lack of preparation before the audit, where the audit process may not run optimally or effectively if the necessary documents and information are not properly prepared
- Lack of knowledge and information, An auditor who lacks knowledge and information about what is being audited will find their work plagued by doubt, indecision, and inconsistency in decision-making
- Excessive in expression, because auditors need to act professionally and avoid displaying excessive emotions, such as being too casual or too critical
- Subjective and mixing in personal matters, where the auditor is prohibited from giving decisions on the basis of personal relationships with certain sides
- Penyimpanan laporan audit yang tidak rapi, inaccuracy of auditors in keeping audit records, such as storage that is not neat or even lost can cause errors in making decisions
Conclusion
The following is an explanation of the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of internal audit staff.
This explanation demonstrates the importance of the audit staff’s role in supporting the sustainability of an organization or company.
If you succeed in becoming an internal audit staff member, you can use Audithink to streamline your audit processes.
Starting from risk-based audit planning, implementation, accurate and actual reporting, and monitoring of action plans carried out by the auditee.
Schedule a demo of the app today and experience how easy your audit process can be!
