Internal Audit Planning Resources

Good audits are decided at the planning stage. Before a single test is performed, the auditor has to understand the business objectives, identify the risks that could prevent them, and agree an objective and scope that can realistically be concluded in the time available. When planning is rushed, the consequences show up later: testing that misses the real issues, scope disputes at the closing meeting, and reports that management sees as irrelevant.

In this area auditors typically review business objectives and strategy documents, prior audit results, risk registers, process documentation, key systems and data sources, and the expectations of senior stakeholders. They also make practical decisions on locations, time budgets, team skills and the information they will need from management.

Common planning risks include objectives that cannot be tested, scope that is too broad for the budget, exclusions that are never stated, stakeholders who are consulted too late, and data that turns out to be unavailable halfway through fieldwork. For annual planning, the main risk is a plan that rotates through the same audits every year instead of following the organization's changing risk profile.

The resources below follow the planning journey from start to finish. The tools help you build objectives, scope and time budgets; the guides explain risk-based planning and work program design step by step; the checklists confirm nothing important has been missed; and the templates give you ready-made planning documents, from the engagement plan to the annual internal audit plan. All are free to download, with no registration.