A study to explore internal auditors’ compliance with Quality Assurance Standards: A case of state owned corporations in Kenya

Abstract

The Internal Audit Department in any organization (including State Owned Corporations) has a role of assisting the management in achieving their objectives and adding value to organizational operations by evaluating and improving the effective of risk management, internal controls and governance processes. To achieve this, the Internal Audit Department is required by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) to carry out a continuous internal quality assessment and an external assessment at least once in five years. The literature suggests that internal auditors in Africa including Kenya do not comply with the quality assurance standards as set by the IIA. This research collected data from 24 Internal Audit Units from State Owned Corporations regarding their compliance with quality assurance standards. The research carried out a hypothesis testing using the data collected to find out whether the audit departments in state owned corporations comply with quality assurance standards. The study found out that there is generally low compliance with quality assurance standards among most internal audit units in state owned corporations in Kenya. The research identified some of the reasons that led to low compliance to include; lack of awareness of standards; non-membership with IIA; non adoption of IPPF; age and experience of the internal audit department and understanding of the quality assurance standards.