Internal Audit Awareness Month: Elevating Internal Audit’s Role in Organisational Success

Defining Internal Auditing: Assurance, Insight, and Oversight

According to the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), internal auditing is defined as:

“An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation’s operations. It helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.”

Internal auditors serve as a line of defence against operational inefficiencies, compliance failures, and emerging risks. Their work is not merely about identifying gaps—it’s about improving the overall governance and strategic agility of an organisation.

What Internal Auditors Do — and Why It Matters

At its core, internal auditing involves assessing how well an organisation’s processes, systems, and controls function in practice. Audit teams carry out in-depth reviews of operational procedures, financial records, and risk mitigation frameworks to:

• Evaluate risk exposures across departments and business functions
• Ensure regulatory and policy compliance through independent testing and review
• Assess the reliability and integrity of financial and operational reporting
• Detect and prevent fraud, whether arising internally or through third parties
• Strengthen internal controls to safeguard assets and support accountability
• Advise management on opportunities for improvement and strategic alignment

Ultimately, the internal audit function aims to be a strategic partner, offering independent insight that enables better decision-making and drives long-term organisational success.

The Evolving Role of Internal Audit in a Complex Risk Landscape

As the risk environment continues to evolve, shaped by global supply chain disruptions, cyber threats, regulatory pressures, and ESG priorities, internal auditors are expected to go beyond traditional assurance work.

Modern audit teams must adopt a forward-looking, risk-based approach, anticipating where controls may fail and proactively identifying vulnerabilities before they impact performance. This requires not only strong technical knowledge, but also access to real-time data, integrated systems, and advanced tools for analysis and reporting.

How Technology Supports the Internal Audit Function

Technology plays a pivotal role in helping audit teams manage complexity, improve efficiency, and deliver greater value. The IIA notes that leveraging automation, data analytics, and integrated software platforms is key to increasing the relevance and impact of internal audit functions.

Symbiant’s internal audit management software is specifically designed to meet these needs—providing a centralised, configurable platform that supports the full audit lifecycle, from planning and risk assessment to action tracking and reporting.

Key Capabilities of Symbiant’s Audit Management Software

Audit Action Tracker
Symbiant enables complete control and visibility over audit follow-ups. Findings can be assigned, tracked, and escalated automatically, with real-time accountability built into every step. No more disconnected spreadsheets or lost actions—just a clear, documented path from issue to resolution.

Working Papers Module
Capture and organise audit evidence in a structured, centralised system. Symbiant’s working papers ensure consistency across audits, enable secure collaboration between team members, and maintain a full version history to support transparency and compliance. Auditors can link evidence directly to risks, controls, and findings—streamlining both internal workflows and external reviews.

Risk-Based Audit Assessments
Design and deliver audits that focus on what matters most. Symbiant supports fully customisable assessment templates and scoring models, empowering your team to align audits with enterprise risk priorities, regulatory requirements, and strategic goals. By focusing on high-risk areas, you improve both audit impact and resource efficiency.

Real-Time Dashboards and Reporting
Symbiant turns complex audit data into actionable intelligence. Custom dashboards provide senior leaders and audit teams with up-to-date insights into audit status, outstanding risks, overdue actions, and emerging trends—enabling timely intervention and informed decision-making.

Trusted by Professionals. Tested Across Sectors. Truly Versatile.

Symbiant isn’t just another GRC platform or audit tool, it’s the solution trusted by the professionals who define industry standards and regulatory compliance.

• Powerful – Symbiant is used by professional auditing firms and internal auditors to manage their own risk and audit files. When precision and reliability matter most, the experts choose Symbiant’s intelligent, logic-based functionality.
• Credible – We are proud to be the only GRC solution endorsed and actively used by professional accountancy bodies. Symbiant meets the highest standards of compliance, integrity, and performance—earning the trust of those who lead the profession.
• Affordable – Symbiant brings enterprise-grade features to organisations of every size. From leading charities to public sector teams, our pricing model ensures powerful audit and risk management software remains accessible—without compromising quality.
• Agile – Built to adapt across all industries, Symbiant is used in financial services, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and government. Our modular platform flexes to fit your structure, supporting scalable, sustainable risk and compliance programmes.

With over 25 years of innovation in governance, risk, and compliance, Symbiant remains the platform of choice for organisations that demand flexibility, credibility, and performance, all in one affordable package.

Responsible Innovation: Augmenting Auditors with AI, Not Replacing Them

Since 1999, Symbiant has stood at the intersection of deep industry knowledge and cutting-edge technology. With over two decades of expertise in governance, risk, and compliance, we’ve continuously evolved to meet the changing needs of audit and risk professionals.

Today, that legacy meets innovation through AI-assisted insight—designed not to replace auditors, but to enhance their impact.

By combining our proven methodologies with intelligent automation, Symbiant delivers smarter software that adapts to the real-world complexities of risk and audit management. It’s not just about features—it’s about giving professionals the clarity, confidence, and control they need to make better decisions, faster.

Symbiant takes a measured, human-centric approach to emerging technology. While some systems promise fully automated audits, Symbiant’s focus is on AI-assisted auditing—augmenting human expertise, not replacing it.

The platform’s AI assistant operates by suggesting relevant controls, linking risks across modules, and analysing patterns in audit findings. It is fully compliant with data privacy standards, does not store user data, and never trains on client information. The goal is to streamline administrative tasks and enhance decision-making, while keeping auditors firmly in control.

Repositioning Internal Audit for the Future

Internal audit is no longer a back-office function, it is a driver of strategic assurance, organisational learning, and operational excellence. As internal auditors expand their scope and influence, having the right tools is critical.

Symbiant equips audit professionals with the clarity, structure, and intelligence they need to deliver high-impact audits that support continuous improvement. During Internal Audit Awareness Month, organisations have a valuable opportunity to re-examine how their audit function is supported—and whether their systems are enabling or holding back performance.

Symbiant is the audit solution of choice for professional auditing bodies and firms—blending AI-assisted intelligence, modular agility, and seamless GRC alignment at a price that makes sense.