From our experience of completing internal audits, we know there are many reasons why outsourcing an internal audit is better for your business than dealing with the challenges of using in-house employees as auditors.
Here’s some reasons why engaging a professional internal audit service could be the best option for your business:
Internal auditors may face biases or personal interests that impact their judgment. Familiarity with processes and personnel can result in them overlooking issues or giving undue leniency. External auditors ensure unbiased, objective assessments and their fresh perspective helps identify these gaps.
Comprehensive audits require significant time and can strain internal resources. A third-party audit team manage the audit process, allowing your staff to focus on core operations. Smaller organisations may lack trained auditors so an external team can fill this gap, providing thorough and reliable audits.
Your auditors may lack essential skills or knowledge. One advantage to using an external audit team is that they will be well-trained in current standards and methodologies and stay updated with the latest regulations and best practices, ensuring high-quality audits.
Without a clearly defined scope, audits can become unfocused and try to cover too much or too little. Shifting business priorities can lead to changes in audit focus, diluting the effectiveness of the audit. Third-party auditors establish a well-defined scope to maintain audit effectiveness ensuring the audit remains aligned with your goals.
Inconsistent documentation and reporting practices can result in unclear findings and hinder the implementation of corrective actions. Ensuring the correct level of detail in reports is challenging. Expert auditors will provide you with comprehensive yet understandable reports.
Audits can be seen as punitive rather than constructive, leading to employee resistance, lack of cooperation, or even attempts to hide issues. Third-party auditors are experienced in creating a constructive audit culture, encouraging cooperation with your audit programme. We know that changing ingrained practices is difficult, so we promote continuous improvement and openness to audit findings as a way to help your business develop.
Creating action plans based on audit findings can be challenging. Third-party auditors will develop an action plan containing actionable and effective recommendations. Ensuring implementation requires continuous follow-up so internal audit services often include monitoring and support for continuous improvement.
Standardising processes across different departments or locations, especially in larger organisations, can be difficult. Outsourcing your internal audits, can help you ensure consistent audit practices across your business. Consistent results require meticulous planning and execution so the structured process of your third-party auditors will help you ensure repeatable success.
Choosing the right audit tools can be overwhelming. Expert auditors use advanced tools to enhance audit efficiency. Managing audit data can be complex so benefit from their expertise to ensure effective data management and insightful analysis.
Handling sensitive information with the required confidentiality while ensuring transparency in findings requires care. Third-internal audit service providers with extensive auditing experience, such as TÜV SÜD, can achieve this balance so you can trust their audit process.
We are proud to be the trusted audit service partner for a range of organisations from small UK companies to large multinational operating in multiple countries needing to ensure compliance with various international regulations and standards.
Contact us to discuss the advantages of outsourcing your internal audit or explore our assurance services including ISO audits and certification.
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