As a member of the IIA SA, an internal auditor achieves instant recognition as a professional, dedicated to maintaining high standards and a code of ethics that earns respect, trust and a reputation of competence.
Members are essentially 'branded' as being technically proficient and morally sound, and share in the image of a professional body of tens of thousands of competent practitioners worldwide - a reputation that has evolved and grown over many decades.
As professionals, internal auditors need to demonstrate best practice in their field. To deliver a value-added service, they need leading-edge information to implement the Standards, comply with laws and regulations, contribute to maintaining an ethical organisational culture, and to assist and advise management and the board. And they have to continuously improve and develop these skills.
The IIA SA harnesses the power
of thought-leaders and best internal audit practice and provides quick and appropriate
guidance and direction directly to the member. We make it easy for you.
The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (The Standards) are the technical ground rules to which all internal auditors worldwide are required to adhere. Centrally developed and maintained by The IIA, they are available free of charge on www.theiia.org The Practice Advisories, at no cost to members, provide guidance on how to apply the principles contained in the Standards.
The Standards are basic principles that represent the practice of internal auditing as it should be. They provide a framework for performing and promoting a broad range of value-added internal audit activities, form the basis for the evaluation of internal audit performance, and foster improved organisational processes and operations.
The Practice Advisories include
key components of a charter and an annual plan of activities, ways of conducting
an engagement and communicating results, and criteria for evaluating the performance
of the services.
Internal auditors continually encounter situations where advice or guidance can assist to achieve success, and save time. The IIA SA technical manager works with a specialist technical committee to research and disseminate relevant information to members on what they need to perform effectively. Help is just a phone call away.
The international Research Foundation conducts innovative, fundamental research to expand the body of knowledge of the internal auditing profession.
Members can purchase these publications at preferential rates or they can access the information through the IIA SA library. For more information please e-mail bookstore@iiasa.org.za.
The IA Adviser is the IIA SA's national journal for members. A source of news about the profession, it includes updates on the achievements of internal audit departments, which can assist others to attain work and career objectives efficiently and effectively. In addition to technical articles the IA Adviser is a platform for members to express their views and share expertise on a variety of topics. Members of the Institute receive bi-monthly copies of the journal free.
The Internal Auditor is the world's leading technical publication on the discipline of internal auditing. Published in the USA, members can acquire this outstanding magazine directly from the IIA SA at highly preferential rates.
The Standards require that internal audit functions be formally assessed by a qualified assessor every five years (mandatory as from 1 January 2007). The IIA SA arranges for these quality assessments to be conducted by a professional team leader, with the members of the team comprising competent volunteer internal audit practitioners. The entity being assessed selects the team they consider best suited to their needs from a database of volunteers that is maintained by the IIA SA.
This service saves costs, ensures best practice and adherence to the Standards, and also builds credibility of internal audit functions and their organisations. Participating as a team member in a Quality Assessment review is an exceptional learning experience for these volunteers and enables them to implement the knowledge they have gained in their own environment.
The Global Auditing Information Network (GAIN) program is a simple yet sophisticated medium for benchmarking internal audit functions against international peers. Comparative practices, staffing, remuneration and many other aspects can be compared, with a view to learning how other internal audit functions operate, gleaning best practices etc. The GAIN results (in the form of a comprehensive report) can be effectively used to reassure senior management and the audit committee of the alignment of their internal audit responsibilities to global operations.
In addition, GAIN provides access to a worldwide professional network of internal audit executives. With GAIN, one can tap into a vast wealth of resources - audit leaders who have successfully conquered many of the challenges your organisation may currently be confronting. The information and the contacts with which GAIN puts you in touch can be of real value - a network directory provides contact names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of other GAIN clients who have expressed an interest in networking on audit issues.
The GAIN facility also often hosts short process-type surveys. GAIN clients submit an idea and/or questions; GAIN then accumulates online responses worldwide and makes the results available quickly at no cost to members.
The IIA acts as a lobby group on behalf of members, commenting on various issues that may affect the profession?e.g. the King Report on Corporate Governance and government draft legislation. Belonging to a professional body thus ensures that an individual's views are communicated in a forum where they will be heard.
It also establishes relationships
with other professional bodies such as the Institutes of Directors and Risk
Management, giving members access to business opportunities, networks, learning
and channels, all of which encourages the evolution of the profession, and simultaneously
creates an awareness, appreciation and understanding of the discipline and profession
of internal auditing.