Ditto—almost

Internal Auditor, Dec, 2004 by Max Ramey, Tuncay Efendioglu, Charles Edinger

Lal Balkaran's article, "The Risk of Transient Auditors" ("In My Opinion," August 2004), expresses exactly what I have thought for quite some time. I am sure he speaks for many of us.

MAX RAEMY

Group Internal Audit

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd.

Zurich, Switzerland

www.juliusbaer.com

Even though some points made by Lal Balkaran are correct, I disagree that organizations need life-time auditors.

This fact alone is de-motivating for someone willing to serve the organization at all levels. Furthermore, it is a benefit to an organization to have its managers spend a few years in the audit department, as it helps both auditors and managers "speak the same language" in terms of risks and controls, which facilitates consensus on corrective actions. Any conflict of interest issues and inherent risks may well be avoided by having mechanisms that ensure the independence and objectivity of the auditors within the organization. Additionally, determining a period of time that managers stay in the audit department would help ensure the department functions smoothly.

TUNCAY EFENDIOGLU, CIA, CRP, CCSA

Internal Audit Department

PROBANK SA

Greece

tefendioglu@probank.gr

I was quite pleasantly surprised when I read Balkaran's essay. As a professional internal auditor with over 30 years of experience, I fully support the points he raised.

I grew up in an audit shop where we signed on for a minimum of three years. The core of the audit team was made up of career auditors, many of whom had more than 20 years of experience. Some people would say that kind of longevity leads to stale thinking. However, we prided ourselves on being avant garde. For example, in the 1960s, we were performing sophisticated operational audits. In the 1970s, we developed sophisticated computer-assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) and had our own fraud and information technology audit units. We also departed from the traditional approach of hiring only accountants and added a broad spectrum of business specialists to the staff.

As one of the senior managers, I knew the value of experienced staff. As a member of a financial industry group of internal auditors, I participated in executive group meetings where the lack of experienced staff was a perennial topic of discussion. The most common complaint was the turnover of staff, mainly into operating areas. As the chairperson of my chapter's employment committee, I constantly heard from CAEs looking for experienced staff.

Although I acknowledge the benefit of moving staff into operations, I also feel that there should be opportunities for those who enjoy and have a passion for internal auditing. Unfortunately, what we see is another area where the philosophy of the external audit firms has impacted the internal audit profession. Sadly, The IIA has not been a great advocate of stability in the profession and, in fact, has counted on the transient mentality in pushing through pro external audit philosophy and practices. As I once told former IIA President Bill Bishop, given The IIA's proclivity to acquiesce to the large public firms, I would not be surprised to see The IIA become part of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

I have always been proud to tell people, who inquire, that I am a professional internal auditor. Now that I am retired, I continue to serve the profession by providing contingent audit resources to small and medium-size audit departments.

CHARLES EDINGER, CIA, CISA, CFSA, CFE

Principal

Contingent Audit Experts, LLC

www.audit-experts.com

NO CONNECTION

The views expressed by Phil Moulton in his letter to the editor (October 2004) regarding Mike Price's "A Failing Profession" ("In My Opinion," August 2004) were intended to be his own and were not necessarily an endorsement by Deloitte Singapore.

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