On February 1, 2007 the Comptroller General of the United States issued the 2007 revisions to Government Auditing Standards, which supersedes the 2003 revision. The January 2007 version contains the final 2007 revisions to the standards, with the exception of the quality control and peer review sections in Chapter 3.
Concurrent with the issuance of this revision to the Standards, the Government Accountability Office is re-exposing the redrafted sections on quality control and peer review in response to the comments received on those sections. The printed version of the complete assurance and peer review sections are finalized and incorporated into the standards.
The effective date for the 2007 revision to the Standards is January 1, 2008 and early implementation is permissible and encouraged.
ALGA members should be sure to go to http://www.gao.gov to review the proposed GAGAS revisions.
Exposure Draft of Proposed Changes to the IIA Professional Practices Framework
The IIA’s Professional Practices Framework has served as guidance for many internal audit professionals since its release in 1999. It encompasses the definition of internal auditing, code of ethics, standards, practice advisories and other critical guidance.
Because the roles and responsibilities of the internal auditor have changed over the past couple of years, the IIA is adding guidance not currently covered in the Professional Practices Framework. Proposed revisions to the Professional Practices Framework will also include improvements in clarity and ease of use.
The IIA's Executive Committee appointed an international steering committee and task force in early 2006 to review the scope of the PPF and explore ways to increase the transparency and flexibility of the guidance development, review, and issuance processes.
The IIA is currently exposing the proposed framework for comment. If you are interested in reviewing the proposed revisions to the PPF or providing comments you can find the framework and related questions for comments on the IIA website at www.theiia.org.
The Peer Review Committee is currently working with the Professional Issues Committee in preparing the ALGA response to the Professional Practices Framework Exposure Draft. Comments are due by April 30, The Peer Review Committee is currently working with the Professional Issues Committee in preparing the ALGA response to the Professional Practices Framework Exposure Draft. Comments are due by April 30, 2007. As mentioned in the December LGAQ, ALGA’s Red Book Quality Assurance Review received the blessing of the Institute of Internal Auditors. Audit shops conducting audits using IIA’s International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (ISPPIA) or the “Red Book” can now use the ALGA Quality Assurance Process to assess compliance with “Red Book” Standards. The new guide is expected to be released at the Annual Conference in June 2007 at the Memphis Conference.
Proposed Peer Review Team Leader Workshop
The Peer Review Committee and the Education Committee are discussing the possibility of developing a training session on the roles and responsibilities of the peer review team leader. When recruiting peer review teams, review coordinators often have a difficult time recruiting team leaders. Experienced peer reviewers are often reluctant to accept the role of team leader. Their reluctance is primarily a function of not knowing the primary roles and responsibilities of the team leader. We hope to develop the Peer Review Team Leader workshop as part of a regional training or as a concurrent session at an upcoming ALGA Annual Conference.
…and finally, just a reminder
The Peer Review Committee is reengineering the Memphis pre-conference peer review workshop so that information presented will include recent revisions to Government Auditing Standards, discussions related to frequent issues that arise in a typical peer review, and guidance on avoiding common peer review pitfalls. If it’s been awhile since you’ve taken the pre-conference peer review course, you may want to consider a refresher on recent developments and changes.
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Peer Review