New Frontiers for Internal Audit Research*
- 8 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Accounting Perspectives
- Vol. 20 (4) , 449-475
Abstract
Internal audit provides useful and valuable services to organizations, and academic research has established its importance in improving corporate governance. However, the body of internal audit research is still relatively small. Indeed, there are many emerging, lesser‐known topics and practitioners would like guidance. The primary focus of this paper is to make specific recommendations for future research based on surveys, interviews, and discussions with practitioners. We identify three broad areas for additional academic research: innovation in information technology, staffing and personnel development, and agile auditing. In each area, we describe current practices and discuss the relevant accounting literature, noting gaps where additional inquiry is needed. We also provide a list of testable research ideas to help inform academics about practice‐relevant research questions that would not only add to the academic literature, but would benefit practitioners who seek guidance. We hope this paper will inspire more academic research that investigates important internal audit questions.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Internal Audit Outsourcing and the Risk of Misleading or Fraudulent Financial Reporting: Did Sarbanes‐Oxley Get It Wrong?*Contemporary Accounting Research, 2012
- Audit Fee Reductions from Internal Audit‐Provided Assistance: The Incremental Impact of Internal Audit Characteristics*Contemporary Accounting Research, 2011
- The Effect of Using the Internal Audit Function as a Management Training Ground on the External Auditor's Reliance DecisionThe Accounting Review, 2011
- The Role of the Internal Audit Function in the Disclosure of Material WeaknessesThe Accounting Review, 2011
- Internal audit reporting lines, fraud risk decomposition, and assessments of fraud riskAccounting, Organizations and Society, 2010
- Internal Audit Quality and Earnings ManagementThe Accounting Review, 2009
- Internal Audit Sourcing Arrangement and the External Auditor's Reliance Decision*Contemporary Accounting Research, 2008
- Globalization and the coordinating of work in multinational auditsAccounting, Organizations and Society, 2005
- An Examination of Internal Auditor Objectivity: In-House versus OutsourcingAUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 2004
- The Contribution of Internal Audit as a Determinant of External Audit Fees and Factors Influencing This ContributionJournal of Accounting Research, 2001