DISTANCE INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICE AWAY WHEN COVID
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in all parts of the world is currently forcing everyone to keep their distance to prevent the virus from being transmitted massively. Besides the many victims who died as a result of COVID-19, the other domino effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is the increasingly sluggish economy and business, mass layoffs occur in all parts of the world, millions of people lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Some companies have also implemented work-at-home policies to anticipate the spread of COVID-19.
Then related to the work of internal auditors, how do you respond to this work from home activity? can it be applied? How effective and efficient is it even if it can be applied?
Answering these questions certainly requires a comprehensive understanding of the duties and functions and positions of the internal auditor.
The first relates to internal auditors, internal auditors are auditors under management whose job is to conduct an operational audit of the company, so that the company's operations run according to rules, procedures and are achieved effectively and efficiently, the results of the internal auditor's audit results are used by top management to determine the right decision for the company.
In the condition of work form home, some internal auditor works like this can be done remotely, including examining procedures at the company or other examinations that are administrative in nature, where the auditor will focus on the evidence in the form of documents , because with the current development internal auditors can ask for physical evidence which is then digitized in the form of softcopy files.
Unlike the work of auditors who have to apply physical inspection procedures for goods, for example, stock taking of goods, then also evaluation of services, so for the time being working remotely is still not appropriate.
Then talk about effectiveness, in the process of working long distances the auditor only checks and evaluates evidence in the form of softcopy submitted by the auditee, which is considered to be so ineffective, why is that? because with the growing development of the field of information technology at this time it is not impossible that documents in the form of softcopy can be manipulated or engineered by the auditee.
For efficiency, of course, if the long-distance internal audit service is more efficient, you can imagine how much money can be cut by conducting a remote audit. The cost reduction includes the costs of official travel, such as transportation costs, examination allowances, and then the cost of meals.
From some of the things described above with consideration of the conditions in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19, the option to conduct long-distance internal audits can certainly be considered by management, but of course to maintain the quality of the services of the linternal auditor must also really carry out additional procedures that would need to be applied to the remote audit process.
Then related to the work of internal auditors, how do you respond to this work from home activity? can it be applied? How effective and efficient is it even if it can be applied?
Answering these questions certainly requires a comprehensive understanding of the duties and functions and positions of the internal auditor.
The first relates to internal auditors, internal auditors are auditors under management whose job is to conduct an operational audit of the company, so that the company's operations run according to rules, procedures and are achieved effectively and efficiently, the results of the internal auditor's audit results are used by top management to determine the right decision for the company.
In the condition of work form home, some internal auditor works like this can be done remotely, including examining procedures at the company or other examinations that are administrative in nature, where the auditor will focus on the evidence in the form of documents , because with the current development internal auditors can ask for physical evidence which is then digitized in the form of softcopy files.
Unlike the work of auditors who have to apply physical inspection procedures for goods, for example, stock taking of goods, then also evaluation of services, so for the time being working remotely is still not appropriate.
Then talk about effectiveness, in the process of working long distances the auditor only checks and evaluates evidence in the form of softcopy submitted by the auditee, which is considered to be so ineffective, why is that? because with the growing development of the field of information technology at this time it is not impossible that documents in the form of softcopy can be manipulated or engineered by the auditee.
For efficiency, of course, if the long-distance internal audit service is more efficient, you can imagine how much money can be cut by conducting a remote audit. The cost reduction includes the costs of official travel, such as transportation costs, examination allowances, and then the cost of meals.
From some of the things described above with consideration of the conditions in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19, the option to conduct long-distance internal audits can certainly be considered by management, but of course to maintain the quality of the services of the linternal auditor must also really carry out additional procedures that would need to be applied to the remote audit process.
