To ensure the internal audit function continues to operate in accordance with global professional standards, the CAE must establish and manage a comprehensive Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP). The QAIP framework evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit function, looking for opportunities to improve processes and ensure compliance with the IIA Standards.
  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │                 THE QAIP GOVERNANCE PYRAMID            │
  └───────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
                              ▼
  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ INTERNAL MONITORS ──► Continuous engagement reviews     │
  │                       Annual self-assessment surveys   │
  │ EXTERNAL ASSESSORS──► Independent validation reviews   │
  │                       Mandatory 5-year cycle check     │
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The QAIP architecture incorporates both internal and external evaluation components:
  • Internal Ongoing Monitoring: Involves routine quality practices embedded within daily operations, including supervisor reviews of working papers, tracking project execution against budget hours, and collecting post-engagement feedback surveys from audited business units.
  • Internal Periodic Self-Assessments: Conducted annually by senior members of the audit team to review the function’s compliance with the internal audit charter, code of ethics, and GIAS mandates across a sample of completed engagements.
  • External Assessments: Must be conducted at least once every five years by a qualified, independent review team from outside the organization. The external assessment team performs a comprehensive review of the audit function’s methodology, interviews board members and executive executives, and issues a formal report attesting to whether the internal audit function conforms with global professional standards.

 
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