What is the main purpose of the Standards for professional practice of internal auditing?

In order to raise the professionalism of internal auditing in the UK and Ireland, we have developed standards and policies to guide members in their work. We also provide support and resources to help them to understand and apply these standards.

All our members sign up to:

The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors' Code of Professional Conduct including the Global IIA's Code of Ethics

The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing

The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors' policy for Continuing Professional Development.

Our priority is to help members to fulfil these requirements; we also have  in case members fall short of these requirements. 

Code of professional conduct including Code of Ethics

In order to maintain the trust and confidence of the public, members of the Chartered IIA are expected to follow our Code of Professional Conduct.  The purpose of the Code is to provide clear guidance to members on what we expect of their behaviour and ethical conduct.

The Code of Professional Conduct includes the Code of Ethics developed by the Global IIA. It also includes requirements about acting in the public interest, courtesy and respect. 

International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing

The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing are developed by the Global IIA and followed by all IIA members throughout the world. 

They include principles and requirements for undertaking professional internal auditing and for evaluating internal audit performance. The Standards apply to individual internal auditors and internal audit functions and heads of internal audit are accountable for the overall conformance with the Standards within their team.

All of our members commit to follow the International Standards when they join.

Continuing professional development

In order to keep up to date and give the best service to their audit clients and stakeholders, our members are expected to improve their knowledge, skills and competencies through continuing professional development (CPD). This is a requirement of the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.  Every year when members renew their membership they are asked to confirm that they have met these requirements.

Our CPD policy currently requires all voting members, except retired members, to keep records of their CPD activity and to submit these if the Institute asks to see them.

Professional complaints & disciplinary procedures

The institute is committed to promoting and upholding the highest level of professional standards in internal auditing.

We require all our members to follow our Code of Professional Conduct which includes the Code of Ethics and additional requirements of members to behave professionally.

Where a member's behaviour falls short of these standards then another individual may make a complaint to the Chartered IIA.  Complaints will be taken seriously and processed according to our professional complaints and disciplinary procedures (pdf). 

If you wish to make a complaint against a Chartered IIA member, you should complete the professional complaints form (Word doc).

The mission for internal auditing is to enhance and protect organisational value by providing risk-based and objective assurance, advice and insight. 

We rely on a framework of principles and standards to help us achieve this – the International Professional Practices Framework.

Mandatory guidance

Some elements of the IPPF are considered essential to the professional practice of internal auditing – they are mandatory for members of the Chartered IIA. Members agree to conform to these principles with they join the institute. The mandatory elements of the IPPF, which are explored in more depth below, are:

1. Definition of internal auditing 

Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation's operations. It helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. 

2. Core principles 

The core principles articulate internal audit effectiveness and they should all be present and operating effectively.

1. Demonstrates integrity.
2. Demonstrates competence and due professional care.
3. Is objective and free from undue influence (independent).
4. Aligns with the strategies, objectives, and risks of the organization.
5. Is appropriately positioned and adequately resourced.
6. Demonstrates quality and continuous improvement.
7. Communicates effectively.
8. Provides risk-based assurance.
9. Is insightful, proactive, and future-focused.
10. Promotes organisational improvement.

3. Code of ethics 

The internal audit profession is founded on the trust placed in its objective assurance about risk management, control, and governance. The code of ethics provides principles and rules of conduct relating to integrity, objectivity, confidentiality and competency. 

Read more about the code of ethics 

4. International Standards

The International Standards is an authoritative set of guidance consisting of statements of basic requirements for the practice of internal audit and interpretations that clarify terms or concepts within those statements. The Standards were last updated on 1 January 2017.

The structure of the Standards is divided between attribute and performance standards:

• Attribute standards address the attributes of organisations and individuals performing internal auditing.
• Performance standards describe the nature of internal auditing and provide quality criteria against which the performance of these services can be measured. 

Read more about the Standards  

Recommended guidance

The IPPF also includes guidance to help internal auditors implement the Standards and apply best practice to all internal audit work. This forms the 'recommended' element of the framework. 

Two kinds of guidance are produced:

Implementation guides help internal auditors apply the Standards. They collectively address internal auditing's approach, methodologies, and consideration, but do not detail processes or procedures.

Supplemental guidance describes processes and procedures in detail as well as sector specific issues and topical areas. These guides will help you develop the tools, techniques and programmes you need with a step-by-step approach. Supplemental guidance will also help you to determine what the deliverables are. 

Position Papers set out the position of IIA Global in relation to a number of topics, including Fraud and Internal Audit and Internal Audit's role in Corporate Governance.

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