Standards

The aim of internal auditing is to increase an organisation’s status by carrying out an objective, risk-focused assessment and consultation.

The core principles chiefly set out the specific aims of internal auditing. If all of these principles are met and function coherently, then an internal audit will be as efficient as possible.

Internal auditing:

• demonstrates integrity.
• demonstrates competence and due professional care.
• is objective and free from undue influence (independent).
• aligns with an organisation’s strategies, objectives and risks.
• is appropriately positioned and adequately resourced.
• demonstrates quality and continuous improvement.
• communicates effectively.
• provides risk-based assurance.
• is insightful, proactive and future-focused.
• promotes organisational improvement.

Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation's operations. It helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes.

See Characteristics of internal and external audit for a comparison of the differences between Internal and External Audit.

The Code of Ethics establishes principles and expectations with regard to the behaviour of individuals and organisations when carrying out internal audits. It describes the minimum requirements for conduct and behavioural expectations. The aim of the Code of Ethics is to promote an ethical culture within the internal auditing profession and highlight the key principles of the profession and its practice.

The Code of Ethics covers four basic principles:

• Integrity
• Objectivity
• Confidentiality
• Competency

Specific behavioural guidelines define how these principles should be applied by internal auditors.

The Standards are principles-based and provide a framework for executing and promoting internal audits. The Standards are mandatory requirements comprising the following elements: statements on the basic requirements for professional practice in internal auditing and for evaluating the effectiveness of internal audits; interpretations that clarify terms or concepts used in the statements; and glossary terms. The requirements are internationally applicable at organisational and individual levels.

Both the statements and the interpretations must be taken into account to understand and apply the Standards correctly. The Standards use terms with specific meanings, as defined in the glossary, which also forms part of the Standards.

The German translation of the IPPF is adapted to German corporate law and does not always reflect Swiss law. English terms are also in established use in Switzerland, such as ’audit committee’, ‘internal audit’, ‘governance’, ‘assurance’ and ‘risk management’. The differences are explained in the document ‘Terms used in the IIA Standards in a Swiss context’. This can be used to help translate the Standards, and contains both the original English terms and French terminology.

The implementation guidance helps internal auditors apply the norms and code of conduct. They address approaches, methods and considerations relating to internal audits but do not go into detail about processes or procedures. All guidance affected by the 2017 revision of the Standards has been updated. To make things easier, you can download the implementation guidelines from the member area of the IIA Global homepage either as individual documents or grouped together as a single document.

Our supplemental guidance provides detailed guidelines for conducting internal audit activities. These include topical areas, sector-specific issues, processes and procedures, tools and techniques, programmes, step-by-step approaches and examples of results. There are numerous practical guidelines available for download on the IIA Global homepage.