Outsourcing Internal Audit Work

Outsourcing internal auditing work is becoming more popular to small businesses. It is not only a money-wise decision but is also a good strategic move to better improve the performance of the business.

Many businesses opt to outsource some of business functions either to cut their administrative cost or to have an assurance of getting professionals do the job or it can be both.

These are all true with outsourcing for they are much affordable than maintaining full time employees and there is much certainty for a job well done.

One of the job functions that are being outsourced now is the internal auditing work. Internal auditing is somewhat a cyclic or periodic work that is mandated to be done by every company. This is conducted to determine any fraudulent transactions that employees are engaged with or the company.

In this kind of work, it is very important to hire employees with accounting expertise or any relevant field of studies. Hence, it is more secure especially for small businesses, that instead of in-house auditing, to prefer outsourcing internal auditing services. The advantages also of outsourcing internal auditing services are that it reduces the company’s administrative cost and eases the burden of managing and maintaining a department.

In choosing which outsourcing business will do the internal auditing, is always important to weight their capabilities, knowledge, experience and expertise. Though these are all hard to measure at once, by gathering and examining relevant information many lead to one that best suits to the needs of the company.

The firm must be following national and international standards in their business procedures. Choosing a business that is not following acceptable standards will reflect in your business. Have an assurance that the business is abiding with the regulatory requirements.

See to it also that the firm has a good performance in the industry. Care to check how their business procedures. Is it easy to communicate with them in case a problem arises? How do they treat their clients? Are they able to maintain loyal clients? How is their expertise? Are their clients satisfied? How were their previous projects? Answers to these questions will lead to a concrete decision of to whom you will trust the internal auditing of your business.

It will be a more profitable relationship if the internal auditing firm can personalize its services to meet the needs of your business. Are they capable of providing a tailor-made procedure that will best suit to the company’s success? This will measure how far their customer service can reach and whether they are flexible enough to changes.

Another thing of great importance too is the capability of the outsourced firm to add value to the business. Their good performance will influence the business’ performance thus it is a must to carefully select an internal auditing firm for it is a sensitive work to be done.

1 Comment

  • Ragu.N said on December 7, 2010
    Am a chartered Accountant. Have a good knowledge in Internal Audit. Has a good exposure to Process based audit. Currently Practicing in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

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