Internal audit integrity stays number one among the four internal audit codes of ethics. Based on the code of ethics, integrity simply means honesty to their own ethic, the company’s policy, shareholders, and the public (For some cases).
Integrity will help the internal auditors to earn better trust in their professional judgments, and activities by other departments or stakeholders of the company. It also helps the auditor with the need for internal audit definition.
Since honesty is one of the most important things that internal auditors want from employees to the company as well as shareholders; therefore, it is also one of the most important things that internal auditors need to possess.
Here is an example of internal audit integrity:
- Internal auditors should perform their work honestly to the company. They should respect the company’s policy, decisions as well as procedures, and manuals. They should also need to disconnect themselves from any illegal act that is committed by the company or supervisor.
- The internal auditor should perform their work responsibly. For example, execute an internal audit plan effectively and efficiently. The audit concludes the resulting base on facts and support from strong evidence.
- The internal audit might review whether the entity is complying with the applicable law and regulation or not. In case, the internal auditor found that certain laws and regulations do not comply, they should report the finding.
- An internal audit should not involve any case that might impair the entity’s credibility.
Once integrity is promoted in an internal audit environment, the impact is not only staying only there. The employees, other departments, or the entity as a whole will subsequently impact and benefit from it.
When integrity is powerfully promoted in the entity, value is not added only to the entity but also to the customers, potential investors, potential employees, and shareholders. Integrity contributes significantly to keeping entity growth.
The internal auditor has the right to access almost every information in the entity and they might find out certain disintegration that is performed by staff, and management of the entities.
Most of the time, the internal auditor will raise and report the issue to the audit committee and Board of Directors.
That means internal auditors themself need to uphold integrity. If they don’t, it is really difficult to recommend staff and management of the other departments or divisions to do so.