Internal auditing plays a pivotal role in preventing and detecting fraudulent activities. However, the orientation and role of internal auditing in dealing with fraud risk can vary significantly across different companies. This study examines the relationship between the internal audit function (IAF) and fraud, providing new insights into the current practices of internal auditing. Using a survey dataset comprising responses from 275 Chief Audit Executives across Germany, Switzerland and Austria, we investigate factors that correlate with an increased propensity for IAFs to engage in fraud prevention and detection. Our findings suggest that a robust corporate governance environment significantly influences the extent to which the IAF is involved in preventing and detecting fraud. Shedding light on the positioning of internal auditing between management and the audit committee with respect to fraud, our results show that increased IAF involvement with management positively affects the level of activities to prevent and detect fraud, while increased IAF involvement with the audit committee has the opposite effect. Furthermore, we find that the propensity of IAFs to engage in fraud prevention and detection increases when the IAF applies technology-based auditing techniques for risk identification. Our results have implications for building appropriate protection against the steadily increasing risk of fraud within organizations, while holistically addressing the ambiguity regarding the responsibility for preventing and detecting fraud.

中文翻译：

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内部审计在预防和发现欺诈方面的作用：实证分析

内部审计在预防和发现欺诈活动方面发挥着关键作用。然而，不同公司内部审计在处理欺诈风险方面的定位和作用可能存在很大差异。本研究探讨了内部审计职能（IAF）与欺诈之间的关系，为当前内部审计实践提供了新的见解。我们使用包含德国、瑞士和奥地利 275 名首席审计执行官的回复的调查数据集，调查了与 IAF 参与欺诈预防和检测的倾向增加相关的因素。我们的研究结果表明，健全的公司治理环境会显着影响 IAF 参与预防和发现欺诈的程度。我们的研究结果揭示了管理层和审计委员会之间的内部审计在欺诈方面的定位，结果表明，IAF 加强对管理层的参与，对预防和发现欺诈活动的水平产生了积极影响，而 IAF 加强对审计委员会的参与，则对预防和发现欺诈活动的水平产生了积极影响。相反的效果。此外，我们发现，当 IAF 应用基于技术的审计技术进行风险识别时，IAF 参与欺诈预防和检测的倾向就会增加。我们的研究结果对于针对组织内不断增加的欺诈风险建立适当的保护措施具有重要意义，同时全面解决预防和检测欺诈责任的模糊性。