What is Audit Governance?

Internal audit department should have good audit governance. Audit governance comprises audit charter, audit plan, audit manual and audit program.

Audit Charter

A formal written document that states internal audit’s purpose, authority, scope, independence and responsibility. Audit Charter must be approved by the Audit Committee and endorsed by the board of director.

Audit Plan

It is a means of directing and controlling the audit work. The plan for a particular of time such as a year sets out audit objectives, auditable areas, scope of coverage, frequency of audits, resources required and the duration of audit. The audit plan must must be endorsed by the Audit Committee (AC) and should be flexible to respond to changing needs.

Audit Manual

It is a set of uniform audit standards for guidance and reference. It contains written audit policies, objectives, standard procedures and programs.

Audit Program

Audit program is a set of detailed step-by-step procedures for each auditable area and is usually supplemented by the ICQ (internal control questionnaire).