Benchmark your internal audit process with our maturity assessment

Introduction to internal audit maturity assessments

The rate at which the audit profession is changing to meet new and abruptly materializing challenges is accelerating. The business landscape has evolved, and the associated risks have changed. Elevating your expertise and enhancing your overall internal audit function is a necessity.

As a result, it’s important to fully understand and benchmark the maturity levels of your internal audit process. Understanding where your internal audit team falls on a maturity scale and how it compares to other departments will provide you with the information needed to meet these challenges and stay productive. Before trying to move forward, it’s wise to understand and acknowledge where your team is today.

• Introduction to internal audit maturity assessments
  • Levels of the internal audit capability maturity model
• How to get started with our benchmarking assessment survey
  • Participate in the survey
  • Analyze your results and plan for improvement
  • Enhancing audit efficiency and effectiveness
• Future trends in internal audit maturity
• Appendix: Defining maturity

How to get started with our benchmarking assessment survey

Participate in the survey

TeamMate® Audit Benchmark represents the largest and broadest audit research ever conducted, reaching more than 1,000 respondents from over 120 countries and including dozens of industries; from financial services and manufacturing, to travel, retail, and more.

Click here to take the survey.

Analyze your results and plan for improvement

It’s important to fully understand and benchmark the maturity levels of your internal audit process. It is rare that a team finds themselves in the highest levels — Level 4 and/ or Level 5 — across all 13 components.

Discuss which components need the most attention. Your team might be comfortable with a lower level of maturity in a particular component because it is not within your team’s mandate (some public sector teams do not perform issue tracking as an example). Similarly, you may already have a plan actively being worked for another component.

Enhancing audit efficiency and effectiveness

Before creating a plan to increase your maturity, you should compare component mappings to your benchmarks to identify how far you need to evolve just to catch up. If you are significantly behind your industry peers, collaborate with your network to understand and learn about the steps taken to evolve. If you are a growing team, use your network to learn how to scale your methodology.

Understanding where your internal audit team falls on the maturity map and how it compares to other departments will provide you with the information needed to meet these challenges and stay productive.

Change requires buy-in from stakeholders and the organization. Buy-in requires evidence for the needed change. The TeamMate Audit Benchmark Maturity Model provides the evidence and a map for your team’s evolution.

Future trends in internal audit maturity

By connecting with auditors across a variety of locations, industries, and situations we are better connected with the true challenges auditors are facing today. The rate at which the audit profession is changing to meet new and abruptly materializing challenges is accelerating. With more than half (54%) of global internal audit teams already embracing the need to be more adaptive and responsive to larger changes in their organizations, it is imperative that every internal audit team evolve their practices and methodology. Every audit department faces unique challenges on their path to greater maturity. Whether it’s optimizing their methodology and approach, use of technology, or adoption of digital skills, TeamMate Audit Benchmark can guide your department toward growth that helps you respond to change quickly and more effectively.

Appendix: Defining maturity

Fact collectors: Use a cyclical-based audit approach that is very document-focused, pays little attention to the IIA Standards and has low technology usage. No collaboration with the business.

Information/ file managers: Use a cyclical-based audit approach which is very document focused but attention to workflow and evidence of review is more prevalent. Office technology in heavy use under a prescribed process. Little collaboration with the business.

Business advisors: Risk-based audit approach with attention to the IIA Standards. Purpose-built tools and workflows are used for consistency and efficiency. Some collaboration with the business.

Value accelerators: Risk approach with emphasis on streamlining activities and collaboration with the business. Purpose-built tools which provide transparency and visualization of outcomes are important.

Trail blazers: Dynamic risk assessment/agile audit approach with emphasis on automating routine activities and continuous collaboration with the business. Emphasis on sharing real-time insights with stakeholders and visualization of outcomes are important.