Internal Audit

The passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and recent rules instituted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have increased emphasis and awareness of auditor independence. While current rules expressly preclude publicly traded companies from using the same CPA firm to perform external and internal audits, similar provisions may be extended to other entities as well.

In the dynamic landscape of the regulatory and business environment, Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. (CB&H) stands positioned to provide quality and objective financial, operational and special project internal audit services to a diverse client base. Our regional reach and broad array of resources enable us to bring value, independence and perspective to your organization.

We can structure our service delivery to meet your needs:

Co-sourcing – CB&H can provide experienced and fully qualified internal audit professionals to address a variety of needs for your organization, whether it is filling in for temporary staff shortages or providing assistance for a specific project, industry or technical audit need.

Outsourcing – CB&H can assist management in providing a full service internal audit team reporting to your Audit Committee. We tailor our services to work with management, developing and implementing an internal audit plan that meets specific client needs.

Financial and Operational Audit Services
The number of organizations co-sourcing internal audit and regulatory compliance has increased dramatically in recent years. The trend is due, in part, to the increased skill sets expected of the risk management staff and management’s desire to have these individuals function as business consultants. Economics also play a big role in the co-sourcing decision, with many companies reducing overall audit and compliance costs through co-sourcing. Some of the advantages our clients have experienced by co-sourcing include added industry expertise, cost savings and a reduction of risk to the organization.

Industry Expertise
The regulatory and technological environments are highly complex and require that internal audit and compliance staff spend considerable time identifying, understanding and becoming proficient in a wide variety of technical functions. It is difficult for a small staff to maintain the appropriate knowledge base for all facets of their industry. CB&H’s key internal audit and compliance staff have a breadth of knowledge across a number of industries.

Cost Savings
Co-sourcing often can be more cost-effective than employing internal staff. By co-sourcing specialty needs and short-term staffing shortages, you eliminate the costs of salaries, benefits, vacations, holidays, social time, training and supervision. We accept the personnel risk, and you pay for professional services only. One hundred percent of your costs go to completing internal audits and compliance matters.

Risk-Based Approach
We work with management to identify the internal audit areas and compliance issues that represent the highest risk to the organization and focus detailed testing in these areas. This approach allocates more of the client’s co-sourcing dollars to the most critical issues and reduces the overall risk. Co-sourcing is not meant to replace management’s diligence and responsibility for the monitoring of internal controls of the organization. We view co-sourcing as a support mechanism by which we provide ongoing review and reporting to management and the Audit Committee. We schedule our work to avoid disruption to operations or burden to management and staff. To maintain independence and objectivity, we are not involved in management decision making.