Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Part 2: Practice of Internal Auditing — Question 90

When the internal audit activity does not have sufficient time to complete its usual root cause analysis, which of the following is most appropriate?

Answer options

• A. The chief audit executive may recommend that management conduct further work to identify the root cause and address the issue.
• B. Internal auditors should finish the engagement without conducting the root cause analysis and draft the audit report, though the report would not be considered complete until the analysis is concluded.
• C. Internal auditors must adjust their future engagement schedule to ensure that the root cause analysis is always performed before the engagement is concluded.
• D. Internal auditors should instead perform a Pareto rule analysis.

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is A because it allows management to take responsibility for further investigation into the root cause, which is appropriate when time is limited for the internal audit team. Option B suggests finishing the report without the necessary analysis, which undermines its completeness. Option C incorrectly implies that future schedules can always accommodate this analysis, and option D suggests an unrelated analysis method that does not address the root cause issue at hand.