INTOSAI Code Of Ethics Case Study

the Definition, the Code of Ethics, the Standards and the Practice Advisories. Additionally, internal auditors should follow the INTOSAI Code of Ethics. In addition to its role of monitoring an entity’s internal control, an adequate internal audit staff can contribute to the efficiency of the external audit efforts by providing direct assistance to the external auditor. The nature, scope, or timing of the external auditor’s procedures may be modified if the external auditor can rely upon the internal auditor’s work.

2.2.3 Staff members and external stakeholder

Staff members and other personnel also effect internal control. It is often these frontline individuals who apply controls, review controls, correct for misapplied controls, and identify

The challenges may emanate from poor judgement in decision-making, human error, management‘s ability to override controls, collusion to circumvent control, and consideration of costs and benefits relative to internal control. No system of controls can be an absolute guarantee against the risk of wrongdoing or honest error. Any system that attempted to reach that goal, especially in a complex organization, would impose costs far out of proportion to the risks and create rigidities for the organization. Thus the proper goal of the control system should be to provide reasonable assurance that improprieties will not occur or that if they occur, they will be revealed and will be reported to the appropriate authorities (Pridgen et al.

The managers can easily circumvent the control systems, bypassing the controls directly or instructing or authorizing others to do so. There are many examples of dishonest managers evading the control systems to commit various forms of fraud and abuse. In a large organization, however, such activities are usually noticed by subordinates. Thus, the best protection against wrongdoing by top managers may be an environment of openness, in which workers are encouraged to report evidence of irregularities, confident that they will not be punished for being disloyal to their superiors. Such openness in an organization becomes part of the control environment. Similarly, effective internal control may be subject to human judgement. Decisions are often made within a limited time frame, without the benefit of complete information, and under time pressures of conducting business. These decisions may affect achievement of objectives, with or without good internal