ABSTRACT
The audit report is arguably the most important aspect of the whole audit process. The recipients of the report are, typically, senior management, local management, the Audit Committee, External Audit and possibly regulatory bodies. Most of the impact of the audit report needs to be made in the first thirty seconds or so after the report is picked up or looked at on a computer screen. The most successful Internal Audit functions are the ones that consistently produce short, sharp, focused reports. The six-page report, whilst a challenge for many Internal Audit functions is one of the best methods of creating impact and improving the implementation rate for recommendations made. One of the biggest challenges facing Internal Audit functions is to finalise the report quickly. A big advantage of this approach is that the rough draft can be available to give to the audit customer at the clearance meeting.
