Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP) Practice Guide Sally-Anne Pitt CIA CGAP FOCUS ON QUALITY

Sally-Anne Pitt (Australia) Director Pitt Group Pty Ltd Member of the IIA Professional Issues Committee Author QAIP Practice Guide FOCUS ON QUALITY

Briefing Outline The Quality Standards Embedding Quality QAIP Practice Guide – Levels for Assessing Quality QAIP Framework FOCUS ON QUALITY

Quality Standards - 1300 Quality Assurance and Improvement Program The chief audit executive must develop and maintain a quality assurance and improvement program that covers all aspects of the internal audit activity. FOCUS ON QUALITY

Quality Standards - 1310 Requirements of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program The quality assurance and improvement program must include both internal and external assessments. FOCUS ON QUALITY

Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. (Extract from the IPPF Definition of Internal Auditing) FOCUS ON QUALITY

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QAIP Practice Guide Embedding Quality Adding Value FOCUS ON QUALITY

QAIP Practice Guide 3 Levels for Assessing Quality Internal Audit Engagement Level Internal Audit Activity Level External Perspective FOCUS ON QUALITY

Levels of Assessments - IPPF Engagement Level Activity Level External Perspective Internal Assessments Periodic Self Assessment Ongoing Monitoring External Assessments FOCUS ON QUALITY

Elements of Internal Assessments Ongoing Monitoring Continuous monitoring activities including engagement planning and supervision, standard working practices, working paper procedures and signoffs, and report reviews Stakeholder feedback Using checklists or internal audit automation to give assurance processes are followed Using measures to determine if appropriate time is spent on different aspects of the audit process Analyzing other performance metrics to measure stakeholder value FOCUS ON QUALITY

Elements of Internal Assessments Periodic Self Assessment Working paper reviews Self-assessment of the internal audit activity with objectives / criteria established as part of the QAIP Review of internal audit performance metrics Benchmarking of best practices Periodic activity and performance reporting to the board and other stakeholders FOCUS ON QUALITY

External Assessments An External Assessment examines Efficiency and effectiveness of internal audit Opportunities for improvement within internal audit Conformance with the Standards FOCUS ON QUALITY

Assessment Scales IIA Quality Assessment Manual Scale Does Not Conform / Partially Conforms / Generally Conforms IIA (North America) Path to Quality Assessment Scale Introductory / Emerging / Established / Progressive / Advanced IIA Capability Model for the Public Sector Initial / Infrastructure / Integrated / Managed / Optimizing DIIR (IIA Germany) Guideline for Conducting a Quality Assessment 3(Satisfactory) / 2 (Room for Improvement) / 1 (Significant Improvement Needed) / 0 (Unsatisfactory / Not Applicable) FOCUS ON QUALITY

Conformance or Compliance Conformance with standards is a technical term borrowed from the quality management discipline. It is not about complying with the letter of the standard. Someone who is in conformance with a standard is expected to achieve the spirit of the standard. This is consistent with a principles-based approach FOCUS ON QUALITY

Developing a Framework for a QAIP QAIPs should be tailored according to: The size of internal audit The maturity of internal audit Organizational maturity Sourcing model Relationship with other assurance providers ONE SIZE WILL NOT FIT ALL FOCUS ON QUALITY

A SAMPLE Approach to a QAIP FOCUS ON QUALITY

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Quality means doing the right thing when no one is looking. (Henry Ford) FOCUS ON QUALITY

Questions ??? FOCUS ON QUALITY

Thank you Sally-Anne Pitt Director Pitt Group Pty Ltd sally-anne@pittgroup.com.au FOCUS ON QUALITY