企业管治下内部审计的价值【外文翻译】

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一、外文原文

原文：

The Value Of Internal Audit In Corporate Governance

by Sharon Allen

Today, corporate boards must provide close oversight of such vital issues as finance, accounting,risk management, and compliancein often-complex organizations. Yet there is an organization within the company that has been shaping just the controls needed to effectively monitor these governance matters—internal audit. By making internal audit a stronger player in the governance team,smart boards can tap into a highly valuable source of expertise.

Internal auditors are like a lighthouse. Their work provides a point of reference that enables companies to know where they are—and their guidance can help provide the insights they need to navigate withconfidence into the future.

That is why expectations are high that internal auditors will “raise the bar” by continuing to improve operating efficiency as well as effectiveness—not just in controls, risk management, and governance, but cross the enterprise as a whole. There are three messages would like to share on how internal auditors an keep the momentum going by building new valuefor today, and by becoming a source of leadership talent for business organizations tomorrow.

First, internal auditors can help enable the “risk intelligent enterprise.”

While management and the board may “own” risk,internal auditors can play a key role in enabling the“risk intelligent enterprise.” At Deloitte, this is an outcome that we strongly advocate for our clients,for ourselves, and for any corporation that wants to grow and prosper.

Think about it. In all companies, risk abounds—in governance, in strategy and execution, in operations,and in infrastructure. If the magnitude of this challenge were not already enough, other factors can leverage the impact of risk, from the speed at whichevents can unfold to the uncertainty that often accompanies them. It would be

great if those were the only challenges but, of course, there are countless others to consider.

For example, we cannot ignore risks that may have low probability but high impact, such as a computer virus or acts of nature. Separate risks can also emerge and connect with devastating impact, like defaults on sub-prime mortgages and the rapid rise of energy prices that accelerated this summer.

Furthermore, when you consider that risks can be random, multiple, and sometimes connected, it is a wonder that any business leader, board member, or internal auditor can sleep through the night. However,one way to ensure a better night’s sleep is for In ternal auditors to help management and boards become “risk intelligent.” That is a term we use at Deloitte for companies that use a process of thorough risk assessment as a prerequisite for informed decision-making.

Internal auditors occupy a strategic position where the interests of management, boards and stakeholders intersect.

The approach is multifaceted. Along with considering the spectrum of possibilities across and beyond the company, risk intelligent enterprises take action. They build scenarios, they weigh probabilities, they develop specific responses. With a risk assessment process firmly in place, organizations can create better strategies and make better decisions.

Internal auditors can help in many different ways.Occupying a strategic position, they are situated at acrossroads where the interests of management, boards and stakeholders intersect. Internal auditors can see what needs to be done for corporations to become more risk intelligent—and, thus, build new value.

Internal auditors also can serve as a conduit of information for all parties involved and play a key role in breaking down organizational silos. They can drive both operating efficiency and effectiveness across the organization by helping them consider risk in a common language.

Internal audit can help boards by pointing out the different kinds of “risk.” Risk is like cholesterol—it can be good or bad.

So many people, from boards and audit committees to a wide range of stakeholders,

are counting on internal auditors to provide what we at Deloitte call “reassurance.” This is the internal auditor’s stamp of approval that management’s assurance is reliable.Internal auditors help make such reassurance possible by maintaining their objectivity, acting with the highest integrity, and communicating the hard messages about unmitigated risks whenever necessary.

Internal auditors also contribute to better governance by pointing out meaningful connections between various parts of the organization and different kinds of risk. Risk is like cholesterol—it can be good or bad. Far too many people tend to forget that companies grow by taking smart, well-considered risks. Internal auditors can provide valuable guidance by pointing out when there is an imbalance.Most often, such imbalances weigh far too heavily toward risk avoidance.

Companies that focus solely on avoiding risk may survive but will rarely thrive. They are like a beekeeper who keeps no bees for fear of being stung. However, with their intimate knowledge of the enterprise, internal auditors can help determine which risks are intelligent and can create exciting new value. Their guidance as a trusted advisor can help executives make decisions that benefit the whole company. Second, internal auditors can serve as advocatesfor using non-financial metrics to help manage risk holistically.

As silos flatten and business structures become more integrated and holistic, internal auditors can use non-financial metrics to help uncover new value and develop competitive advantage.

That is because virtually every aspect of a business can affect revenue and profit. Many so-called “non-financial” factors of performance carry hidden but not so subtle price tags. Eventually, those price tags can add up and eat away at the top and bottom lines.

Yet many organizations persist in focusing only on traditional financial measurements to assess their condition. Research that Deloitte conducted last year found that 87 percent of the CEOs and senior executives we polled described their ability to track financial performance as excellent or good.

However, almost eight out of every 10 CEOs said that financial indicators alone do

not adequately capture their companies’ strengths and weaknesses.Furthermore, just 29 percent considered their ability to track non-financial performance as excellent or good.

Internal auditors can play a vital role by consulting with management on which nonfinancial metrics may be most useful.

Enterprise risk can and most likely will grow if those who lead the enterprise cannot see the bigger picture. Relying solely upon financial metrics can cloud the bigger picture by masking situations that may need immediate action. The reality is that financial metrics such as cash flow, sales, or earnings are essentially historical in nature and, as such,represent lagging indicators of performance.

Non-financial factors, however, can signal trends as leading indicators of performance. Our survey respondents identified customer satisfaction, operational quality, innovation, and employee commitment as the non-financial drivers most crucial to the success of their companies.

Internal auditors can play a vital role by consulting with management on which non-financial metrics may be most useful. Once those metrics are implemented,internal auditors can determine if management is using those metrics effectively to achieve business objectives.

What a company produces or provides has always been an important management concern. Yet the current business environment is one of intense scrutiny that makes how corporations conduct their operations and how leaders conduct themselves critical business priorities.

Are executives accountable and performing ethically?Are a company’s actions harming or sustaining the environment? Are governance processes strong and independent from management? These are just some of the questions raised by today’s stakeholders.

Perhaps most importantly, internal auditors feed an organization’s ethical conscience. This is a role very much in need. Last December, Gallup announced the results of its U.S. poll on the honesty and ethical standards of different professions. Nurses, grade school teachers, and pharmacists ranked the highest.Business

executives, however, ranked 17th out of the 22 professions included. Clearly, there is either much work to be done, or many perceptions to be changed, or both.

A company’s ethical climate provides a great example of how internal auditors can use non-financial metrics to track when changes begin to occur in an organization’s ethical climate. Subtle changes in the ethical climate do add up. Over time, they can drive outcomes that may lead to inevitable decline—or,sustained success.

Still, how can a board or management know when such ethical changes are beginning to happen, or when they accumulate and harden into a dangerous trend?Such observations usually are not readily discernable from traditional financial measurements—often, not before it is too late.

Non-financial measurements, such as a sudden increase in the number of anonymous calls to a whistleblower hotline or feedback from ethics or workplace culture surveys, can provide valuable cues to indicate when management and boards needto take action. Such measurements can help lead to a better “ROE.” No, this is not “Return on Equity,”but a new measure I like to think of as “Return on Ethics.”Organizations with a superior ethical track record can attract customers and capital far more easily than those whose ethics are in question. Furthermore,if the market’s belief in a company’s integrity is confirmed time and time again, people can become customers and clients for life. Rather than being a drag on the top and bottom lines, intangibles such as confidence and trust often command a premium that customers and clients are willing to pay. Eventually,the non-financial factors of confidence and trust can boost a company’s financial performance.

For example, at Deloitte, our business case for ethics is all about giving clients the confidence to invest their trust in us. However, unlike other programs and initiatives that measure costs to help determine return on investment, we appraise ethics differently. We assess the value of our ethics programs not by what they cost, but by what they are worth as revenues protected, what I call the “price of right.” By my calculation, our ethics programs are worth somewhere in the vicinity of $11 billion, which just happens to be the annual revenues of the Deloitte U.S. firms.

Non-financial metrics address a broad range of issues, from the environmental to