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Insights/In My Opinion

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EMAIL the author at dan.zitting@theiia.org

BY DAN ZITTING

THE DEATH OF THE TICK MARK

F
It’s time to put an or several hundred night. For the profession to management’s attention that,
antiquated audit years, auditors have move forward and for inter- in turn, could help transform
been reviewing busi- nal audit to play a truly valu- the perception and careers of
practice to rest
ness functions. As pro- able role across the enterprise, practitioners. Moreover, the
once and for all. cesses evolved, the Industrial practitioners need to remove means of obtaining informa-
Revolution eventually led to the blinders and shift atten- tion to deliver value-added
widespread use of the basic tion away from futile tactics. recommendations cannot
audit activities we perform According to the defini- reside in the realm of out-
today, and the ubiquitous tion of internal auditing, we dated processes. In every case
tick mark has been around are charged with the respon- I have encountered where
ever since. In fact, one might sibility to “add value and a detailed analysis includ-
argue that the tick mark is improve an organization’s ing tick marks is deemed
the most common symbol operations” and “improve the necessary, there is a far faster,
of our profession. But the effectiveness of risk manage- more robust way to answer
time has come to let it go. In ment, control, and gover- the underlying risk or con-
today’s world, where internal nance processes.” Nowhere trol question by using more
audit is often tasked with in that definition does it say, sophisticated testing methods.
oversight of an organization’s “Internal auditing helps an Tick marks stand out
entire risk management organization foot, sum, agree, as a hallmark of our profes-
process, if you or your direc- tie, and recalculate its finan- sion — one that beauti-
tors are concerned about cial information to confirm fully illustrates how we are
tick marks, you’re spending the accuracy of the financial exceptionally equipped
far too much time mired in statements.” By that stan- to operate in a world that
meaningless details. In fact, if dard, the vast majority of tick no longer exists. We have
you’re allocating more than marking we are doing — and historically been perceived
1 percent of your time to thus by extension, the as behind-the-scenes and
making tick marks or review- manual review of detailed, under-the-radar. To deliver
ing others’ tick marks, you’re line-item information — is an transformational value, we
doing it wrong. enormous waste of time. must step away from the
At first blush this might Why not instead take endless array of detailed
sound like a severe state- the lead in designing new audit documentation that
ment. But considering the operational capabilities, then is built on a foundation of
breadth of risks that influence relentlessly focus on areas obsolete practices.
the bottom line, it’s safe to of material risk to achieving
say that the minute issues strategic organizational objec- DAN ZITTING, CPA.CITP,
explained by tick marks are tives? With that mind-set, CISA, GRCP, is vice president,
certainly not keeping the internal auditors would Product Management &
CEO, chief financial officer, be able to deliver valuable Design at ACL in Vancouver,
or audit committee up at results worthy of executive British Columbia.

READ MORE OPINIONS ON THE PROFESSION visit our blogs at www.InternalAuditorOnline.org

80 INTERNAL AUDITOR JUNE 2014

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