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SUMMARY: We present a timely practice-oriented case related to the inspection process of registered firms by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). This case allows auditing students a...

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Entity-Level Controls: The Internal Auditor's Assessment of Management Tone at the Top

Current Issues in Auditing 3 (1), A1 (2009);
doi: 10.2308/ciia.2009.3.1.A1

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SUMMARY: The internal audit function's (IAF) regular interaction with management and continual presence within the organization place it in a unique position to monitor the organization. Although the IAF has significant potential to evaluate and improve corporate governance, research has yet to explore how internal auditors assess an important component of corporate governance—management tone at the top. This paper reports survey evidence of 578 practicing internal auditors related to (1) current internal auditing practices regarding assessing management's tone; (2) internal auditors' current assessments of management's tone; and (3) potential future practices internal auditors could perform to improve management's tone. In addition, we examine whether the tone at the top is higher in organizations where internal auditors perform tone at the top assessments and if assessments differ based on what level of internal audit professional performs tone at the top assessments. ©2009 American Accounting Association
History: Submitted 8 August 2008; accepted 8 January 2009; published 19 March 2009
Permalink: http://link.aip.org/link/CIAXXX/v3/i1/pA1/s1

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN:
1936-1270 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef American Accounting Association

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