Professional standards dictate that auditors must be objective. However, they are also human and as such are prone to cognitive biases, i.e., systematic errors in judgment. Auditors are vulnerable to a host of such biases because performance auditing involves exercising judgment and making decisions throughout the audit process (in planning, evidence collection, data analysis, managing relationships, reporting, and more).
In this Audit Tip, we identify four cognitive biases that auditors should be especially wary of.
6 Learnings From Establishing a New Audit Function
The British Columbia Mine Audits Unit has been recently created. It plays a key role in the continuous improvement of mining regulation in the province. The team evaluates the Ministry’s oversight of the mining sector and makes public recommendations to government.
In this Audit Tip, we identify some key learnings that may be useful to others when getting a new audit function off the ground.
The Evolving Role of Internal Audit in the COVID-19 Environment – A Study on Emerging Risks and Their Management
This study, inspired, guided and sponsored by the Government Internal Auditors Council of Canada (GIACC), has its roots in the necessity of taking stock of the unprecedented events related to COVID-19 and assessing their impacts on Canadian governments and their internal audit functions. Through consultations, a survey of senior public sector auditors in Canada, and an extensive review of the literature, the study outlines the risks that emerged during the pandemic, such as human resource management, cybersecurity, fraud, stress on the health system, performance reporting and financial management. The study also examines how public sector internal audit functions are facing these challenges by highlighting multiple good practices, such as electronic working papers, agile auditing and remote auditing. In summary the study provides a detailed and revealing overview of how public sector internal auditors, despite COVID-19, can continue to add value and contribute to improvements in the lives of citizens.
Risks to Consider When Conducting Audits in the Post-COVID-19 Environment
Public sector auditors are used to building their audit programs on the changing realities of their organization. Risks are used to identify audit topics that are more likely to require assurance and advice on corrective measures which could be used by management, oversight bodies, and stakeholders.
