External Quality Assessment

M&A has certified internal auditors (CIA) with the expertise and qualifications to complete EQAs according to the current (IPPF) and new Standards, Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS). We can perform a gap analysis to guide you in modifying your internal policies and procedures to conform with the new standards. If your EQA is due in 2023 or the first half of 2024, you may want to have the assessment completed under the current standards with an add-on gap analysis.

Performing an EQA will allow your organization to clarify and validate management and stakeholder expectations of the department and assess the department structure, methodologies, resources, and capabilities. Using a series of stakeholder interviews and surveys, as well as the IA department documents and engagement workpaper reviews, M&A will document the perceptions of your stakeholders, including governance personnel, of the effectiveness and value-added qualities of the Internal Audit function. The end results is a report which identifies opportunities to improve the delivery of value to your organization.

McKonly & Asbury’s Quality Assessment Team brings together professionals with internal audit, quality assessment and industry expertise. Our service is a strategic assessment of your internal audit function, including its infrastructure, staff experience, and performance relative to business goals, best practices, and applicable standards. We can perform a full independent EQA, or an independent validation of a self-assessment.

A full scope EQA reduces the amount of preparation required by the IA function. M&A’s independent assessment team, led by an experienced and professional team leader and assisted by qualified team members performs the complete assessment of the quality assurance and improvement program implemented by the internal audit function.

An independent validation of a self-assessment requires the IA function to complete a self-assessment according to the procedures defined with the IIA Quality Assessment manual. The internal audit function provides the self-assessment with all supporting workpapers to the independent validation. This is a lower cost option since the independent validation relies upon the work provided by the IA function and pulls small random samples to assess the work completed by the IA function.