Financial Auditors’ Perception on the Added Value of Internal Audit Services

In the current business environment, which has radically changed due to either socio-economic turmoil caused by economic or health crises (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) or due to technology and digitalization, internal audit has gained an important role within companies. Thus, in the last seventy years, internal audit has developed and evolved from being the function that controls accounting and financial data, to becoming the strategic function that improves governance processes for shareholders and management. The internal auditor helps an organization to meet its goals by providing a systematic and disciplined approach for assessing and improving the effectiveness of risk management and governance processes. Only an effective internal audit can achieve its tasks properly. Efficiency depends on the subordination level of the internal audit function (this needs to be adequate for the internal audit to be independent and objective). Efficiency also depends on the professional qualification and practical experience of internal audit staff, on the engagement’s strategy, as well as on activities and added value for the company, and on its continuous improvement capacity. This research aims to analyse the perception of professional practitioners within Romanian professional bodies, both from the perspective of internal auditors who do this service based on audit engagements performed at company level, but also from the perspective of employees working in these companies’ internal audit departments. The main goal is to create and shape a holistic framework to be used for assessing the added value of internal audit based on stakeholders’ perceptions. The main results obtained highlight the fundamental role of the quality of human capital and of corporate governance at company level. Management will take responsibility for implementing the auditor’s recommendations only based on an effective communication and reporting of audit observations. At the same time, the internal auditor’s integrity, independence, objectivity, and competencies represent the foundation of an internal audit function that has all the prerequisites for gaining management’s trust, support, and cooperation. Finally, the results of this research show the importance of the organizational context in which the audit function is organised. According to the worldwide well-established three-line defence model, the audit function is the last line of defence against fraud or non-compliance, thus ensuring the preservation of the company’s resources.