Internal Audit – Ensure Independence

I understand that there may be some payroll companies which are also offering to do internal audits for Parish Councils.

Please be aware that, as per the advice in JPAG (https://www.nalc.gov.uk/publications#practitioners-guide on page 24, section 4.6), the Internal Auditor should be totally independent of the Council and any suppliers.

A company which is doing both the payroll and internal audit for a Council might not be considered independent and therefore a conflict of interest could arise (it could be thought that they might be ‘marking their own homework’.

I realise the importance of both payroll and internal audit, but both appointments should be considered carefully.

More internal auditors are registering with the Internal Audit Forum Directory as the site builds https://internalauditforum.org.uk/internal-audit-directory/ so do have a look there if you are needing a new internal auditor.