This study examined the standing of the internal audit function in 30 of South Africa’s large listed
companies as perceived by the chairs of their audit committees, their chief executive officers, chief
financial officers, and chief operating officers, as well as the chief audit executives. The standing of the
internal audit function in these 30 companies was based on the academic and professional
qualifications profiles of the chief audit executives, the composition and qualifications of the internal
audit staff complement, the independence of the function and the expectations that various
stakeholders have of the function. The study reveals that the overall standing of the internal audit
function in these 30 companies was perceived to be high. However, there are a number of concerning
aspects that include the fact that most of the chief audit executives are qualified and registered South
African Chartered Accountants (CA(SA)) and not holders of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
qualification. Additional concerns are that the chief audit executives’ reporting lines are not necessarily
in line with currently perceived best practices; the stakeholders surveyed for this study held diverse
views of the internal audit function; and in-house internal audit functions were viewed to be of a higher
standing than those of outsourced functions. This study provides the internal audit profession with a
scientifically researched benchmark of their status or standing in the eyes of their stakeholders and will
enable them to measure changes to their status and effectiveness within their companies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001077 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Erasmus, L, Coetzee, P |
| Publisher | African Journal of Business Management |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | © 2009 Academic Journals |
| Relation | Academic Journals |
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