As if communicating/conducting an IA on-site isn’t hard enough, now we face the challenges of remote work and a rapidly changing risk environment.
COVID-19 has impacted all professions and IA is no exception. As if communicating/conducting an IA on-site isn’t hard enough, now we face the challenges of remote work and a rapidly changing risk environment.
With the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, IA departments saw their audit plans changing and adapting. In many cases, internal resources were re-allocated to operational areas.
In addition to these challenges, IA saw challenges with:
Organizations, their environments, and ways of working have evolved rapidly and in ways that had not been previously envisioned. Includes everything from reallocation of work responsibilities to being expected to conduct internal audits remotely. IA must look within to determine how to stay relevant and add value in this changing and emerging environment. It is important that IA is proactive and prepared while remaining pragmatic, as the situation continues to evolve.
Field of Study: Auditing
Lynn Fountain has over 45 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 24 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Ms. Fountain has held two Chief Audit Executive positions for international companies. In 2011, as the Chief Audit Executive for an international construction/ engineering firm, she was involved in the active investigation of a joint venture fraud. The investigation included work with the FBI and ultimately led to indictment of the perpetrators and recovery of $13M. Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own training and consulting business and is a regular trainer for the AICPA. Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations” was published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation. -“Leading The Internal Audit Function” and -“Ethics and The Internal Auditor Political Dilemma” were published by Taylor & Francis In addition Ms. Fountain was a contributing author to the certification program exam for the National Association of Accountants. She also has certificate programs on various on-line platforms. Ms. Fountain has performed as an adjunct instructor for the School of Business for Grantham University and developed the first internal audit curriculum for the School of Business at the University of Kansas. Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CGMA, CRMA credentials and CPA certificate (non-active).
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