Internal Audit considerations in response to COVID-19

Webinar on Internal Audit considerations in response to COVID-19

Date: 14 April 2020

Could COVID-19 be the black swan event that forces all of us as internal auditors to rethink and transform our internal audit (IA) approach and methodology? As we emerge from this global pandemic, businesses are shifting their strategies from a growth model to a sustainable one. It is imperative for IA functions to provide critical Assurance, Advise management and the Board on the shifting risk and controls landscape, and help Anticipate emerging risks.

Following the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), organisations, their environments, and their ways of working are evolving rapidly and in ways that had not been previously envisioned. This paper outlines Deloitte’s high-level views on key Internal Audit (IA) considerations given the mass scale of business disruption caused by COVID-19.

The third line of defence is uniquely placed to play a key role in response to the COVID-19 crisis, from a position of good organisational knowledge and with a highly relevant skill set. As organisations adapt to dealing with the initial impact of COVID-19, IA functions have an important role to play and continue to provide critical Assurance, help Advise management and the Board on the shifting risk and controls landscape, and help Anticipate emerging risks.

The plans that organisations are putting in place to contain and respond to the outbreak are likely to be in place for a period of time.

As IA, we should be prepared to adjust to this period in a sustainable way and adapt to this ‘new normal’.

Individual country situations differ greatly and are changing rapidly and dramatically, so it is imperative for IA functions to keep abreast of governmental and regulatory announcements, and follow centrally coordinated organisational responses when devising IA specific work.