Who is a Certified Internal Auditor?

A certified internal auditor (CIA) is an accountant who earns the recognition of a certified internal auditor conferred by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) in internal audits after passing CIA exams and completing the required work experience. The certification is recognized globally, and the certified CIAs are deployed by various critical organizations, government organizations, financial institutions, and other corporations to conduct their internal audits.

Requirements for certified Internal Auditor

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If you are wondering how you can become a certified internal auditor, you must take note of the following requirements:

Complete the Educational Formalities

To be eligible for appearing for CIA exams, one needs to meet certain educational qualifications laid by the IIA. The candidates must hold a graduation degree in any field and a three to four years post-secondary or a higher degree or the associate’s degree before they appear for exams. However, IIA does provide some relaxation to those who don’t meet this criterion, like if any candidate has only two years of post-secondary education but holds verifiable five years of work experience in internal auditInternal AuditInternal audit refers to the inspection conducted to assess and enhance the company’s risk management efficacy, evaluate the different internal controls, and ensure that the company adheres to all the regulations. It helps the management and board of directors to identify and rectify the loopholes before the external audit.read more domain, then also such person may become eligible for CIA exams.

Meet the Requisite Work Experience

The requirements for work experience depend on the maximum educational qualifications of candidates and might differ from one candidate to another. For example, a candidate with a four-year degree and no experience must attain two years of verified work experience in the internal audit or some similar domain. On the other hand, candidates having higher degrees need to attain only one year of verified experience.

Submission of Character Reference Documents

Candidates are under an obligation to submit a character reference document duly signed by CIA, CGAP, CCSA, CFSA, CRMA, or their supervisor with the IIA to reflect the level of their morality and professionalism.

Pass the CIA Exams

Candidates must clear the 3 phases of exams within four years, after which the CIA certification is allotted. If four years pass, the exam fees get forfeited by the institute, and the cleared exams lapse.

Skillset and Education of Certified Internal Auditor

For becoming a Certified Internal Auditor, a candidate must have attained any of the following educational degrees:

  • Master’s degree or any equivalent degree, along with one year of internal audit experience,Bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree and two years of internal audit experience.Associate degree, along with five years of internal audit experience.

Apart from educational degrees, candidates are also required to possess some skills, such as:

  • The ability for critical thinkingAnalytical skillsGood verbal communicationAbility to think and research

Exam Fees and Certification Costs

The fees structure for the CIA exam and certification for students is as below:

  • Application fees: US $65CIA Exam Part 1: US $230CIA Exam Part 2: US $180CIA Exam Part 3: US $180Membership Fees: US $50

The membership fees vary for membership fees such as professional membership; the fee is US $270, and so on.

Scope, Job Profile and Salary of Certified Internal Auditor

The scope of work of CIAs includes examining an organization’s internal processes to ensure and comment upon whether the organization’s internal processes, risk management procedures, and controls and working effectively or not.

The job profile of a certified internal auditor normally includes taking care of the following tasks:

  • To review the prevailing financial operations of the organization and report any discrepancies or shortcomings to the management.To conduct an independent assessment of the financial statementsFinancial StatementsFinancial statements are written reports prepared by a company’s management to present the company’s financial affairs over a given period (quarter, six monthly or yearly). These statements, which include the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows, and Shareholders Equity Statement, must be prepared in accordance with prescribed and standardized accounting standards to ensure uniformity in reporting at all levels.read more and ensure that the financial statements are prepared accurately and comply with the statutory requirements as may be applicable.To monitor the present risk management practices and controls in the organization and report any significant concerns that might be there concerning risk management and operations.To analyze the operations and finances of the organization and suggest to the management any ways of increasing the revenueRevenueRevenue is the amount of money that a business can earn in its normal course of business by selling its goods and services. In the case of the federal government, it refers to the total amount of income generated from taxes, which remains unfiltered from any deductions.read more and decreasing the costs.

The salary that certified internal auditors draw depends upon their experience and their position. However, on average, the salary drawn by the CIA ranges from $69,000 to $84,000.

Work Experience

The work experience that any candidate is required to possess for becoming a certified internal auditor can be summarized as below based on the educational qualifications possessed by the candidates –

Eligibility of Certified Internal Auditor

Apart from the requirements that the candidates are required to meet for becoming eligible for CIA certification, there are some other requirements that the candidates must fulfill. These include:

  • Abiding by Code of Ethics – The candidates must abide by the requirements laid down in the code of ethics.Completing CPE Requirements – Even after the candidates obtain CIA certification, they must keep their knowledge updated and always be aware of the latest developments and improvements in internal audits.Maintaining Confidentiality – The CIA exams are supposed to be confidential. Due to this reason, the candidates appearing for the exams are expected to keep the contents of the exam paper to themselves and not disclose them the same to anyone. If any candidate discloses the same, the same will be considered a breach of the code of ethics.

This has been a guide to Certified Internal Auditors. Here we discuss the requirements of the CIA exam along with cost, work experience, skillset, and education. You can learn more about financing from the following articles –

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