Internal Audit Awareness Month, observed annually in May, is an opportunity to call attention to the profession of internal auditing.
Audit professionals work year round to communicate about the field and its value to organizations. A challenge is to combat misperceptions of the profession in which auditors are labeled as “nitpicking fault-finders, blame-layers or bureaucrats.”
Tom York, director of internal audit for UNC Charlotte, said, one of his department’s guiding principles is to help employees “do what they do and do it better.”
He added, “We have the luxury that few staff have – to look at a situation or a process without filters or bias, without pressure from deadlines and without stress from workloads. We then offer suggestions on how to improve. We never pretend to know your job better than you do. We succeed when you succeed. Our goals over the next month are to improve our campus customers’ knowledge of the role internal auditing plays in strong organizational governance, efficient internal control and effective risk management.”
The Internal Audit Department is working in partnership with the University Compliance Office and the Risk Management Department to synchronize messages and activities across campus.
“Each unit has a similar but slightly different mandate and charter. Without synchronization and integration, we could easily overwhelm the campus with audits, inspections, findings, reports and responses that get in the way rather than help with the task,” stated York. “Over the past year, the three groups have worked on a common terminology, deployed an integrated risk assessment survey and are using the survey results to create integrated action plans that improve how risks across campus are assessed and managed.”
Each week during May, the Internal Audit Department will provide Inside UNC Charlotte with a short article to assist the campus to become better informed about internal audit. More information about internal audit is on the Web, and employees are encouraged to visit the department in person in Cato Hall.