Disclosure of independence-enhancing attributes within the audit committee/internal audit activity relationship

Abstract

Independence is a cornerstone of the internal audit profession, hence its prominence in the definition of internal auditing. The quality of the audit committee/internal audit activity relationship is important for the enhancement of the independence of the internal audit activity. Using content analysis, this article examines attributes within the audit committee/internal audit activity relationship. Information disclosed in the annual reports of the Top 40 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on the internal audit activity was used during the content analysis. The findings revealed that most companies did not disclose the selected attributes extensively in their annual reports. Since there are no legislative requirements on the extent to which such disclosures should appear in the annual reports of companies in respect of the internal audit activity, the results of this study can be used by the internal audit standard setters to advance their work in this area.