Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on internal auditing as the pandemic forced individual internal auditors and audit teams to conduct the work remotely.

Design/methodology/approach

Five in-depth semi-structured interviews of internal audit experts that work in German retail and manufacturing industry were conducted between February and April 2021.

Findings

The authors find that the importance of audit technologies did not change significantly due to the pandemic, as audit technologies were already an integral part of internal audits. Interestingly, the transition to remote audits occurred with remarkable speed and efficiency. The presence of well-functioning information and communication technologies emerges as a critical facilitator for effective remote communication, collaboration and data exchange. However, audit technologies can only partially replace physical on-site examinations and human interaction. The main challenges of remote audits are related to the auditing of non-digitalized processes and the inherent limitations of auditee interviews and interactions.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' interview approach does not allow to cover variations between industries and between countries. While internal audit experts provided notably consistent responses during the interviews, acknowledging that the sample size is very small is important.

Practical implications

The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a catalyst for increased digitalization and technology adoption within the realm of internal auditing. A hybrid approach combining the benefits of on-site and remote audits is expected to prevail in the future.

Originality/value

The paper is among the first to document the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of internal auditing using field-based research methods.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行对内部审计的影响：实地研究

目的

本文的目的是探讨 COVID-19 大流行对内部审计的影响，因为该流行病迫使内部审计师和审计团队远程开展工作。

设计/方法论/途径

2021 年 2 月至 4 月期间，对德国零售业和制造业的内部审计专家进行了五次深度半结构化访谈。

发现

作者发现，审计技术的重要性并没有因疫情而发生重大变化，因为审计技术已经是内部审计不可或缺的一部分。有趣的是，向远程审计的转变以惊人的速度和效率进行。功能良好的信息和通信技术的出现成为有效远程通信、协作和数据交换的关键促进因素。然而，审计技术只能部分取代物理现场检查和人机交互。远程审核的主要挑战与非数字化流程的审核以及受审核方访谈和互动的固有局限性有关。

研究局限性/影响

作者的访谈方法无法涵盖行业之间和国家之间的差异。虽然内部审计专家在访谈中提供了明显一致的答复，但承认样本量非常小也很重要。

实际影响

COVID-19 大流行是内部审计领域数字化和技术采用增加的催化剂。结合现场和远程审核优势的混合方法预计未来将盛行。

原创性/价值

该论文是首批使用实地研究方法记录 COVID-19 大流行对内部审计工作影响的论文之一。