Risk Management and IT Audit Skills Most in Need of Improvement Within Internal Audit Departments, According to Protiviti Survey

MENLO PARK, Calif., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In a just-released study, internal audit practitioners cited risk management and IT auditing as the top two areas for improvement in the profession. These and other findings are detailed in Protiviti's inaugural Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey report. Protiviti is a leading provider of independent internal audit and business and technology risk consulting services.

Fraud risk management (FRM), enterprise risk management (ERM) and the COSO ERM framework also stand out as key technical competencies in need of improvement, despite the relatively high competency levels reported by respondents. These results underscore the high importance of these areas for organizations as they seek to achieve greater success in an ever-changing global business climate.

"Today's internal audit professionals have more diverse and higher-level responsibilities than ever before," said Bob Hirth, managing director and head of Protiviti's global internal audit practice. "This has created the need for a proportional increase in their knowledge, skills and expertise, particularly in those areas deemed to be business-critical by management and boards of directors. The survey results provide insights not only into how these professionals rate their skills in a variety of functions, but also about the relationship between their perceived capabilities and the critical areas for improvement. This has significant implications for the future direction of internal auditing and its role in helping organizations grow and prosper."

Recognizing the growing scope and complexity of duties in the internal audit profession, Protiviti surveyed more than 450 chief audit executives (CAEs), internal audit directors, managers and other professionals to better understand the evolving functions of internal audit departments within organizations across a variety of industry sectors. Respondents rated how they perceive their present capabilities, where they see need for improvement, and how they prioritize those needs within the areas of general technical knowledge, audit process knowledge, and personal skills and capabilities.

Under the audit process knowledge section, survey respondents identified auditing IT functions (including security, continuity and change control) as an area with a lower level of overall competency and one with a significant need for improvement in knowledge and skills. "These results underscore a key challenge for internal audit departments and functions," Hirth noted. "Given the constantly changing nature of IT and the specialized expertise required to audit these processes, it is imperative for internal auditors to acquire and keep current with IT audit skills. In addition to improving baseline IT audit skills, internal audit organizations may also look to outside expertise to guide them in this technically difficult, dynamic and complex area."

Protiviti's survey also addressed personal skills. Respondents cited developing board committee member relationships (outside of the audit committee) as the area with the lowest average competency and the greatest need for improvement.

"This may reflect a tendency among internal auditors to focus their attention on the audit committee, whose members may be more likely to 'speak their language,' and with whom, traditionally, interaction and relationships have been frequent and strong," Hirth said.

At the other end of the spectrum, written communication skills have the highest competency ratings among those from all sizes of businesses, in all industries and at all levels of responsibility.

To request a complimentary copy of the Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey report, please visit http://www.protiviti.com/. Enterprises interested in conducting the survey within their own internal audit departments and benchmarking their results against the responses Protiviti received may contact Michelle Trowbridge at michelle.trowbridge@protiviti.com.

About Protiviti Inc.

Protiviti (http://www.protiviti.com/) is a leading provider of independent risk consulting and internal audit services. The company provides consulting and advisory services to help clients identify, assess, measure and manage financial, operational and technology-related risks encountered in their industries, and assists in the implementation of the processes and controls to enable their continued monitoring. Protiviti also offers a full spectrum of internal audit services to assist management and directors with their internal audit functions, including full outsourcing, co-sourcing, technology and tool implementation, and quality assessment and readiness reviews.

Protiviti, which has more than 50 locations in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE symbol: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half International is a member of the S&P 500 index.

NOTE: Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services.