Audit Committee Newsletter We are delighted to share with you the second edition of our Audit Committee Newsletter. As we approach the end of 2020, organisations look back to assess the results of this unprecedented year and also actively plan for the year ahead. In the planning and budgeting activities, organisations face high uncertainty and should be considering a wider range of factors in their assessments of risk and resilience. Moreover, external auditors will focus more on internal controls, business continuity, financial and operational resilience during their year-end assessment. With the Audit Committee agenda in mind, we outline below our most recent publications and thought leadership, as well as industry updates related to risk finance, enterprise resilience and internal controls. Topics Board Matters Cybersecurity and Privacy Business Performance Data, Analytics and Business Intelligence Digital Transformation Global Finance Trends We have released the results of our 2020 Global Finance Trends Survey highlighting the pressures Finance teams face to operate effectively in an adverse economic environment. Specifically, Finance teams discover how resilient they are while operating remotely and the digital maturity of their environment. Same as last year, the key priorities of the teams remain the data security and privacy, data analytics, as well as demands from internal customers, such as for the forward-looking data-driven insights that Finance produces. New to 2020, is a flexible working model for Finance functions operating remotely. The Future Auditor Has Arrived The 16th edition of our annual Internal Audit publication, titled “The Future Auditor Has Arrived: Are You Ready?” focuses on the future of the profession, IA transformation and Next Gen of Internal Auditing. The discussions and findings are mainly industry and geography agnostic and are focused on the mainstream developments in the IA profession during the past year. In particular, aligned assurance is measured and discussed, including how it can benefit organisations and result in a holistic view of risks and controls provided to the Board. The Brydon Report Protiviti has assisted a number of public and private companies in the UK to enhance their Internal Control Frameworks. This has been further exacerbated by the recommendations from Sir Donald Brydon in December 2019 to the UK Parliamentary Committee to define a SOX like regulation in the UK to require UK listed companies to establish Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR). The Brydon report recommends attestation from the CEO/CFO/Board on the adequacy of the company’s ICFR before publishing Financial Information to the public. The report has received widespread support from the professional forums and Accounting firms in the UK. We are seeing an increased attention from the FTSE and large Private companies in the UK to prepare themselves for this upcoming change. CAE Forum We continue to regularly meet and discuss the perspectives regarding the changing role and responsibilities of the Internal Audit function and Audit Committee at our monthly CAE forums with participants across industries. Please see here our summary outcomes of the latest forum held on 6th November 2020, including the topics of aligned assurance, audit transformation and the potential impact of Sir Donald Brydon’s report on internal audit, Audit Committees and Boards. Please visit our Protiviti UK website for further resources relevant to Audit Committees Protiviti - United Kingdom. How do you transform the internal audit function to serve the ever-changing landscape? That was the core question Protiviti aspired to answer through interview with Martin Studer, Head of Audit at Zurich. Register using the link above to access the video recordings on this session. CAE Agenda: November 2020 We regularly meet with Chief Audit Executives of our clients to discuss developments and challenges of the profession. Please refer to the summary of our latest meeting on 6th November 2020 where we have discussed topics of aligned assurance, audit transformation and a potential impact of Sir Donald Brydon. Read More Setting Sights on Digital Transformation and Innovation With the sudden onset of a worldwide pandemic, organisations have had to accelerate their efforts to transform themselves digitally. How can Boards and their companies best leverage digital transformation to compete and thrive in a brave new world? Read More DO YOU WANT MORE? For more up to date news from Protiviti UK, follow us on LinkedIn by clicking below. Follow Us On LinkedIn Protiviti UK
