Abstract:
This paper explores approaches to measure the performance of the internal audit function. Based upon three proposed dimensions of formal internal audit performance - material performance, cost and risk - it uses competence research methodology to characterize and structure internal audit competence as the prerequisite for material performance that can be measured by instruments of service quality measurement. A second approach to measure formal internal audit performance is taken by linking the other two dimensions in the context of make or buy decisions, where activity-based costing can be used to analyze internal audit services and cluster this service portfolio according to transaction costs or risks associated with them. Whereas the first approach uses management's expectation as a benchmark for material performance and allows for deeper analysis of deviations between the expected and the actual performance, the second approach uses the comparison of actual costs with costs of outsourcing solutions adjusted for the specific risks incurred. Both approaches are subject to further inquiry as their validity for practical and theoretical problems has not yet been evaluated.
