As internal auditors, we can use RCA to obtain clear insight on the real, underlying causes of governance, risk management and control failures. Developing a clear understanding of what has gone wrong can lead us to create and propose robust solutions to avoid similar incidents happening again. Understanding the fundamental causes means that we can help our organisations take positive action to prevent recurrence of negative outcomes and to promote business opportunities.
We can sometimes take our internal audit fieldwork and testing for granted. We do not always give testing the love and attention that we save for the report at the end, or for the terms of reference at the start of the internal audit engagement, but effective testing is vital. It can make or break the internal audit engagement. It is the testing that generates the evidence we need to deliver insight and added value. RCA can encourage us to think critically and creatively to design and deliver more dynamic tests and to persevere until we generate meaningful results.
The course covers the following IIA Global CPE competency areas:
- Performance (Engagement planning)
- Performance (Engagement fieldwork)
- Performance (Engagement outcomes)
- Environment (Common business processes)
