Internal audit departments must evolve to strategic risk advisor role: PwC survey

Internal audit departments should hold an expanded role as strategic risk advisors to the C-suite, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.PwC polled more than 2,000 executives from 55 countries (including 82 Canadian organizations). Survey respondents suggested that internal audit departments enjoy a company-wide vantage point, and as such should evolve to serve as risk advisers to the board.”The financial crisis has caused heightened scrutiny of companies’ risk management practices,” said Brenda Eprile, PwC Canada’s lead internal audit partner. “Needs and expectations for internal audit have never been higher, so the key question is whether internal audit is delivering.”In order to evolve to the role of strategic risk advisor, PwC suggests internal audit “must take a more radical approach to change than it has in the past, and rethink and redefine the way it works,” a PwC release says.”That means expanding its skill sets and preparing to take a leadership role as a more powerful resource for senior executives, directors and boards in aligning strategy and risk identification, control and mitigation,” Eprile added.