Internal Audit Insights

In today’s economy, success is synonymous with technological innovation. Technology is driving rapid change in every sector of business. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, drones, bots, and blockchain are transforming not only the nature of work but the means of survival.

Internal audit departments that pursue data analytics without fear will soon be expanding their capabilities and unlocking the powerful potential of what it can do.

Data analytics is being leveraged more than ever by internal audit departments, but for those that haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, this interview with CVS Health's head of data analytics explains the benefits, challenges, and misconceptions tied to the technology.

Histograms are a very powerful tool to analyze data because they show the distribution of a continuous variable in a diagram and their appearance is similar to bar graphs. In this feature article, MISTI's Dr. Hernan Murdock explains how internal auditors can leverage them.

As internal auditors increase their use of data analytics to better understand process characteristics, isolate issues and perform more accurate root cause analysis, the Pareto Diagram continues to grow as a useful tool for them.

As the business world changes at an accelerating rate, auditors need to keep up or risk becoming irrelevant and unable to provide the insight that will allow their organizations to succeed. That means they’ll need to continually add to their skills and knowledge.

Organizations are accumulating large amounts of data and internal auditors are rapidly increasing their mining for, and use of, these sizable data sets. This proliferation of data raises the question of how to extract meaning from it all.

Given the talents and skills that auditors possess (analyzing data, spotting trends, forming conclusions), auditors are in a perfect position in a company to be part of data analytic innovation. This article proposes a plan to fill in the gaps and implement data analytics in the business.

Internal auditors with data analytics expertise can earn a premium and weild more influence in internal audit departments, but getting started may take some initiative and a little creativity.

As internal auditors, we work in complex and demanding environments where business, social, and other dynamics challenge us to meet the increasing expectations of upstream management.

Study after study has shown that data analytics is effective and efficient at detecting risk and identifying control weaknesses, non-compliance, and inefficient business processes. So why have some internal audit departments still not embraced it?

It's been a busy year for internal audit. Below are the top 10, most read articles from MISTI's Internal Audit Insights for 2016.

Among the most powerful tools these days to detect and deter fraud is data analytics. While some internal audit departments struggle to use sophisticated analytics tools and continuous monitoring, those that do have a leg up on rooting out fraud and finding it in unlikely places.

FedEx Chief Audit Executive Robert King on what internal audit departments need to do to rise to the occasion.

Whether it's data analytics; governance, risk, and compliance solutions; or planning and collaboration software packages, most internal audit departments are looking to improve their use of technology as they strive to do more with less.

A look at some of the habits and characteristics that can take an audit department from good to great.

Data analytics is supposed to be the great savior of the internal audit function. It has been heralded as the set of tools that will give organizations new insights into risk management, fraud, and corruption.

MISTI’s Joseph McCafferty sat down with Analog Devices' Tom O’Reilly at Audit World 2016 in Boston to discuss the latest trends impacting internal auditors.

It’s no secret that internal audit is being pulled in several different directions these days and that the demands on the function are greater than they have ever been.