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The growth of the internal audit profession is more than just numbers: Fact or fiction? Evidence from South Africa

Philna Coetzee (Auditing Department, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa)
Houdini Fourie (Department of Applied Accounting, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
Pricilla A Burnaby (Department of Accounting, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA)

Managerial Auditing Journal

ISSN: 0268-6902

Article publication date: 6 July 2015

1084

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the internal audit quality was maintained in relation to the rapid growth in Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) membership in South Africa. As The IIA in South Africa (SA) has seen more than double the membership growth (59 per cent) than the IIA (25 per cent) over the period 2006 to 2010, the change in internal audit quality indicators for these two are compared.

Design/methodology/approach

The responses from SA respondents and all “Other” respondents are analysed from the 2006 and 2010 Common Body of Knowledge studies on specific questions addressing internal audit quality, to determine whether there is a growth in quality-related indicators and whether the growth is in relation to the membership growth. The chi-square test is used to look for change in response frequencies.

Findings

The paper finds that the SA respondents have a greater increase of internal audit quality indicators than “Other” respondents, suggesting that the increase in membership could also result in improved internal audit quality.

Originality/value

This study links the increase in membership with improved internal audit quality. This could assist the IIA in determining the feasibility of developing key indicators of internal audit quality. The IIA-SA will obtain an understanding whether the exceptional growth in membership is in line with the internal audit excellence as prescribed by SA guidance and legislation. Last, individual internal audit activities could benchmark their growth statistics against the SA and “Other” respondents’ growth pattern – both in numbers and quality indicators.

Keywords

Citation

Coetzee, P., Fourie, H. and Burnaby, P.A. (2015), "The growth of the internal audit profession is more than just numbers: Fact or fiction? Evidence from South Africa", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 30 No. 6/7, pp. 514-538. https://doi.org/10.1108/MAJ-10-2014-1122

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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