IPPF Practice Guide

Developing the
IT Audit Plan

Global Technology Audit Guide (GTAG)

Written in straightforward business language to address a timely issue related to IT management, control, and security, the
GTAG series serves as a ready resource for chief audit executives on different technology-associated risks and recommended
practices.

Information Technology Controls:

Topics discussed include IT control
concepts, the importance of IT controls,
the organizational roles and
responsibilities for ensuring effective IT
controls, and risk analysis and
monitoring techniques.

Change and Patch

Management Controls:
Critical for
Organizational
Success

Continuous Auditing:
Implications for Assurance,
Monitoring, and
Risk Assessment

Management of IT Auditing

Managing
and Auditing
Privacy Risks

Change and Patch Management

Controls: Describes sources of change
and their likely impact on business
objectives, as well as how change and
patch management controls help
manage IT risks and costs and what
works and doesnt work in practice.
Continuous Auditing: Addresses the
role of continuous auditing in todays
internal audit environment; the
relationship of continuous auditing,
continuous monitoring, and continuous
assurance; and the application and
implementation of continuous auditing.
Management of IT Auditing: Discusses
IT-related risks and defines the IT audit
universe, as well as how to execute and
manage the IT audit process.

Managing and Auditing Privacy Risks:

Discusses global privacy principles and
frameworks, privacy risk models and
controls, the role of internal auditors, top
10 privacy questions to ask during the
course of the audit, and more.

Managing and Auditing

IT Vulnerabilities

)NFORMATION
4ECHNOLOGY
/UTSOURCING

Auditing
Application
Controls

Identity and Access

Management

Business Continuity
Management

Managing and Auditing IT

Vulnerabilities: Among other topics,
discusses the vulnerability management
life cycle, the scope of a vulnerability
management audit, and metrics to
measure vulnerability management
practices.
Information Technology Outsourcing:
Discusses how to choose the right IT
outsourcing vendor and key outsourcing
control considerations from the clients
and service providers operation.

Auditing Application Controls:

Addresses the concept of application
control and its relationship with general
controls, as well as how to scope a riskbased application control review.

Identity and Access Management:

Covers key concepts surrounding identity
and access management (IAM), risks
associated with IAM process, detailed
guidance on how to audit IAM processes,
and a sample checklist for auditors.

Business Continuity Management:

Defines business continuity management
(BCM), discusses business risk, and
includes a detailed discussion of BCM
program requirements.

For more information and resources regarding technology-related audit guidance, visit
www.theiia.org/technology.

Developing the IT Audit Plan

Authors
Kirk Rehage, Chevron Corporation
Steve Hunt, Crowe Horwath LLP
Fernando Nikitin, Inter-American Development Bank

July 2008

Copyright 2008 by The Institute of Internal Auditors, 247 Maitland Avenue, Altamonte Springs, Fla.,
32701-4201. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher.
The IIA publishes this document for informational and educational purposes. This document is intended
to provide information, but is not a substitute for legal or accounting advice. The IIA does not provide such
advice and makes no warranty as to any legal or accounting results through its publication of this document. When legal or accounting issues arise, professional assistance should be sought and retained.

GTAG T
 able of Contents
Table of Contents
1.

Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................. 1

2. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1
IT Audit Plan Development Process..................................................................................................................... 3
3. Understanding the Business....................................................................................................................... 4
3.1
Organizational Uniqueness .................................................................................................................................. 4
3.2
Operating Environment......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.3
IT Environment Factors........................................................................................................................................ 4
4. Defining the IT Audit Universe.................................................................................................................. 9
4.1
Examining the Business Model.............................................................................................................................. 9
4.2
Role of Supporting Technologies.......................................................................................................................... 9
4.3
Annual Business Plans........................................................................................................................................... 9
4.4
Centralized and Decentralized IT Functions......................................................................................................... 9
4.5
IT Support Processes............................................................................................................................................ 10
4.6
Regulatory Compliance....................................................................................................................................... 10
4.7
Define Audit Subject Areas................................................................................................................................. 10
4.8
Business Applications.......................................................................................................................................... 11
4.9
Assessing Risk...................................................................................................................................................... 11
5.

Performing a Risk Assessment................................................................................................................... 12

5.1
Risk Assessment Process...................................................................................................................................... 12
5.1.1 Identify and Understand Business Objectives......................................................................................... 12
5.1.2 Identify and Understand IT Strategy...................................................................................................... 12
5.1.3 IT Universe.............................................................................................................................................. 12
5.2
Ranking Risk........................................................................................................................................................ 13
5.3
Leading IT Governance Frameworks.................................................................................................................. 14

6. Formalizing the IT Audit Plan................................................................................................................. 16

6.1
Audit Plan Context............................................................................................................................................. 16
6.2
Stakeholder Requests........................................................................................................................................... 17
6.3
Audit Frequency.................................................................................................................................................. 17
6.4
Audit Plan Principles........................................................................................................................................... 18
6.5
The IT Audit Plan Content................................................................................................................................ 18
6.6
Integration of the IT Audit Plan......................................................................................................................... 19
6.7
Validating the Audit Plan................................................................................................................................... 19
6.8
The Dynamic Nature of the IT Audit Plan......................................................................................................... 20
6.9
Communicating, Gaining Executive Support, and Obtaining Plan Approval................................................... 21
7.

Appendix: Hypothetical Company Example...................................................................................... 22

7.1
The Company...................................................................................................................................................... 22
7.2
The IT Audit Plan............................................................................................................................................... 22

8. Glossary of Terms.............................................................................................................................................. 27
9. Glossary of Acronyms.................................................................................................................................... 28
10.

About the Authors........................................................................................................................................... 29

GTAG Executive Summary

1. Executive Summary

and low-risk areas through quantitative and qualitative

analyses.
IT is in a perpetual state of innovation and change.
Unfortunately, IT changes may hinder the IT auditors efforts
to identify and understand the impact of risks. To help IT
auditors, CAEs can:
Perform independent IT risk assessments every year
to identify the new technologies that are impacting
the organization.
Become familiar with the IT departments yearly
short-term plans and analyze how plan initiatives
impact the IT risk assessment.
Begin each IT audit by reviewing its risk assessment
component.
Be flexible with the IT audit universe monitor the
organizations IT-related risk profile and adopt audit
procedures as it evolves.3

As technology becomes more integral to the organizations

operations and activities, a major challenge for internal auditors is how to best approach a companywide assessment of IT
risks and controls within the scope of their overall assurance
and consulting services. Therefore, auditors need to understand the organizations IT environment; the applications
and computer operations that are part of the IT infrastructure;
how IT applications and operations are managed; and how IT
applications and operations link back to the organization.
Completing an inventory of IT infrastructure components will provide auditors with information regarding the
infrastructures vulnerabilities. The complete inventory of
the organizations IT hardware, software, network, and data
components forms the foundation for assessing the vulnerabilities within the IT infrastructures that may impact internal
controls.1 For example, business systems and networks
connected to the Internet are exposed to threats that do
not exist for self-contained systems and networks.2 Once
an adequate understanding of the IT environment has been
achieved, the chief audit executive (CAE) and the internal
audit team can perform the risk assessment and develop the
audit plan.
Many organizational factors are considered when developing the audit plan, such as the organizations industry
sector, revenue size, type, complexity of business processes,
and geographic locations of operations. Two factors having
a direct impact on the risk assessment and in determining
what is audited within the IT environment are its components and role. For example:
What technologies are used to perform daily business functions?
Is the IT environment relatively simple or complex?
Is the IT environment centralized or decentralized?
To what degree are business applications
customized?
Are some or all IT maintenance activities
outsourced?
To what degree does the IT environment change
every year?

Several IT governance frameworks exist that can help

CAEs and internal audit teams develop the most appropriate risk assessment approach for their organization. These
frameworks can help auditors identify where risks reside in
the environment and provide guidance on how to manage
risks. Some of the most common IT governance frameworks
include COBIT, the UKs Office of Government Commerce
IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and the International
Organization for Standardizations (ISOs) 27000 Standard
series.
Mapping business processes, inventorying and understanding the IT environment, and performing a companywide
risk assessment will enable CAEs and internal auditors to
determine what needs to be audited and how often. This
GTAG provides information that can help CAEs and
internal audit teams identify audit areas in the IT environment that are part of the IT audit universe.
Due to the high degree of organizational reliance on IT, it
is crucial that CAEs and internal auditors understand how
to create the IT audit plan, the frequency of audits, and the
breadth and depth of each audit. To this end, this GTAG
can help CAEs and internal auditors:
1. Understand the organization and the level of IT support
received.
2. Define and understand the IT environment.
3. Identify the role of risk assessment in determining the IT
audit universe.
4. Formalize the annual IT audit plan.

These IT factors are some of the components CAEs and

internal auditors need to understand to adequately assess
risks relative to the organization and the creation of the
annual audit plan.
In addition to factors impacting the risk assessment, it is
important for CAEs and internal auditors to use an approach
that ascertains the impact and likelihood of risk occurrence;
links back to the business; and defines the high-, medium-,

GTAG: Information Technology Controls, p. 15.

GTAG: Information Technology Controls, p. 15.

Finally, this GTAG provides an example of a hypothetical

organization to show CAEs and internal auditors how to
execute the steps necessary to define the IT audit universe.

GTAG: Management of IT Auditing, pp. 6 and 7.

GTAG I ntroduction
2. Introduction

management has heightened expectations regarding IT

delivery functions: Management requires increased quality,
functionality and ease of use; decreased delivery time; and
continuously improving service levels while demanding that
this be accomplished at lower costs.4
Regardless of the methodology or frequency of audit
planning activities, the CAE and the internal audit team
should first gain an understanding of the organizations IT
environment before performing the audit. The use of technology is an essential part of an organizations activities.
From the collection, processing, and reporting of accounting
information to the manufacturing, sales, and distribution
of products, virtually every business activity relies on the
use of technology to some extent. The use of technology
also has evolved to where it is not only supporting a business process but, in many cases, it is integral to controlling
the process. As a result, internal controls in processes and
activities are becoming more technology-based, while deficiencies and lack of integrity in supporting technologies are
impacting the organizations operations and business objectives significantly.
However, the development of an effective, risk-based IT
audit plan has been a difficult task for internal auditors, especially when auditors do not have sufficient background in IT.

One of the main responsibilities and more difficult tasks

of CAEs is to create the organizations audit plan. As The
Institute of Internal Auditors (IIAs) Standard 2010:
Planning explains, CAEs should establish risk-based plans
on at least an annual basis to determine the priorities of the
internal audit activity, which, in turn, should be consistent
with the organizations goals and strategies. Furthermore,
CAEs should consider consulting engagements based on
their potential to add value and improve the organizations
operations and risk management activities. These activities
have been documented by The IIA Research Foundations
Common Body of Knowledge 2006 study, which found that
nearly all CAEs interviewed plan their audit activities at
least annually, including 36.4 percent who update their audit
plan multiple times per year. (Figure 1)
To develop a risk-based audit plan, CAEs should first
perform a companywide risk assessment. The proper execution of an appropriate IT risk assessment that is part of
the overall risk assessment is a vital component of companywide risk management practices and a critical element for
developing an effective audit plan. For many organizations,
information and the technology that supports it represent
the organizations most valuable assets. Moreover, in todays
competitive and rapidly changing business environment,

4
IT Governance Institutes Control Objectives for Information
and Related Technology (COBIT), Third Edition, p. 5.

CQ25a(Q30): How frequently do you update the audit plan?

36%

3%

Multiple times per year

No audit plan
0%
More than every
two years

1%
Every two years

Multiple times per year

Every year
Every two years
More than every two years
No audit plan

(Source: A Global Summary of the Common Body

of Knowledge 2006, The IIA Research Foundation.
Reprinted with permission.)

60%
Every year

Figure 1. Frequency of audit plan updates

2

GTAG Introduction
Results from several IIA external quality assessment reviews
(QARs) reveal that developing an appropriate IT audit plan
is one of the weakest links in internal audit activities. Many
times, instead of doing risk-based auditing, internal auditors
review what they know or outsource to other companies,
letting them decide what to audit.
This guide offers techniques in how to address this challenge how to determine what should be included in the
IT audit scope and how these audit areas could be organized
into manageable audit units to create an effective IT audit
plan for the organization.

Next, auditors need to define the IT universe. This can be

done through a top-down approach that identifies key business objectives and processes, significant applications that
support the business processes, the infrastructure needed for
the business applications, the organizations service support
model for IT, and the role of common supporting technologies such as network devices. By using these technical
components, along with an understanding of service support
processes and system implementation projects, auditors
will be able to create a comprehensive inventory of the IT
environment. This inventory, in turn, forms the foundation
for assessing the vulnerabilities that may impact internal
controls.
After auditors have a clear picture of the organizations
IT environment, the third step is to perform the risk assessment a methodology for determining the likelihood of an
event that could hinder the organization from attaining its
business goals and objectives in an effective, efficient, and
controlled manner.
The information and analysis gained by understanding
the organization, inventorying the IT environment, and
assessing risks feeds into the final step, formalizing the audit
plan. The objective of the audit plan is to determine where
to focus the auditors assurance and consulting work to
provide management with objective information to manage
the organizations risks and control environment.
The remainder of this guide follows these four steps and
discusses how to define an effective IT audit plan.

2.1 IT Audit Plan Development Process

Defining the annual audit plan should follow a systematic process to ensure all fundamental business aspects and
IT-service support activities are understood and considered.
Therefore, it is essential that the foundation for the plan be
rooted in the organizations objectives, strategies, and business model. Figure 2 depicts a logical work-flow progression
using a top-down approach to define the IT audit plan that
will be used in this guide.
The first step in defining the annual IT audit plan is to
understand the business. As part of this step, auditors need
to identify the strategies, company objectives, and business
models that will enable them to understand the organizations
unique business risks. The audit team also must understand
how existing business operations and IT service functions
support the organization.

Understand
the Business
Identify the
organizations strategies
& business objectives
Understand the
high risk profile for
the organization
Identify how the
organization structures
their business operations
Understand the IT
service support model

Define IT
Universe

Perform
Risk Assessment
Develop processes
to identify risks
Assess risk and rank
audit subjects using
IT risk factors
Assess risk and
rank subjects using
business risk factors

Dissect the business

fundamentals
Identify significant
applications that support
the business operations
Identify critical
infrastructure for the
significant applications
Understand the role of
supporting technologies
Identify major projects
and initiatives
Determine realistic
audit subjects

Figure 2. The IT audit plan process

Formalize
Audit Plan
Select audit subjects
and bundle into distinct
audit engagements
Determine audit cycle
and frequency
Add appropriate
engagements based on
management requests
or opportunities
for consulting
Validate the plan with
business management

GTAG Understanding the Business

3. Understanding the Business

Auditors can use different internal resources to identify

and understand the organizations goals and objectives,
including:
Mission, vision, and value statements.
Strategic plans.
Annual business plans.
Management performance scorecards.
Stockholder annual reports and supplements.
Regulatory filings, such as those submitted to the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Getting started with the right perspective is paramount to

defining an effective IT audit plan. An appropriate perspective to keep in mind is that technology only exists to support
and further the organizations objectives and is a risk to the
organization if its failure results in the inability to achieve a
business objective. Hence, it is important to first understand
the organizations objectives, strategies, business model, and
the role that technology has in supporting the business. This
can be done by identifying the risks found in the technologies used and how each risk might prevent the organization
from achieving a business objective. Doing so will result in
more meaningful and useful assessments for management.
Furthermore, auditors need to become familiar with the
organizations business model. Because each organization has
a distinct mission and set of business goals and objectives,
business models help auditors to identify the products or
services the organization provides, as well as its market base,
supply channels, manufacturing and product generation
processes, and delivery mechanisms. Having a fundamental
knowledge of this information will help auditors understand
unique business risks and how technology supports existing
business models and mitigates the organizations overall risk
profile.

Every organization is different. Even companies operating

in the same industry will have different business models,
objectives, organizational structures, IT environments, and
delivery models. Therefore, audit plans should be defined
uniquely for each organization. In addition, the importance of technology might differ within industry segments.
Consider the companies that assemble and sell personal
computers. Besides using a variety of business models, these
companies rely on technology differently to meet business
objectives. For instance, the traditional sale distribution
model of channeling products through physical stores and
resellers require the use of technology to manage operation
and accounting activities, while technology reliance is much
greater for companies that sell products over the Internet. As
a result, the online marketers revenue stream depends more
on the availability of critical IT functionality, which also
increases the level of IT risks. As this example illustrates,
the way an organization deploys its technology resources and
systems creates a unique set of business risks.

After becoming familiar with the organizations entitylevel strategic objectives, the next step is to identify the key
processes that are critical to the objectives success. When
doing so, auditors need to understand how each business
process differs within operating units, support functions, and
major organizationwide projects, as well as how the process
relates and links to entity objectives.
Project processes are unique, but equally important, in
ensuring initiatives that add value to the organization are
managed and commercialized appropriately. A process is
considered key if its failure prevents the organization from
fully achieving the strategic objective to which it is tied.
Operating units include core processes through which the
organization achieves primary objectives, such as manufacturing, sales, and distribution activities. Support functions
include management processes that oversee and support core
operational functions, such as governance and compliance
activities, finance, human resources, treasury, cash management, and procurement activities.
Once processes are identified, auditors need to outline
the significant applications and critical IT infrastructure
(e.g., databases, operating systems, networks, and physical
environments) supporting these applications. Underlying
these applications and IT infrastructure are supporting IT
processes, such as systems development life cycles, change
management, operations, and security activities. Auditors
should note that applications require periodic assessments
based on their significance to financial reporting activities,
regulatory compliance, or operational requirements.
Examining the operating environment this way (i.e.,
starting from the top of the organization) will help auditors understand and inventory each critical component. To
fully understand the operating environment and its risks
also requires a comprehensive understanding of different
technology factors that influence and help categorize organizational risks.

3.2 Operating Environment

3.3 IT Environment Factors

3.1 Organizational Uniqueness

To become familiar with the organization, auditors first need

to understand its objectives and how business processes are
structured to achieve objectives (refer to figure 3).

Different factors and analysis techniques should be considered to understand the operational environment and its
unique risks. This is because an organizations control environment complexity will have a direct effect on its overall
4

GTAG Understanding the Business

The Value Chain of the Business Activities
OPERATING

SUPPORT

PROJECTS

BUSINESS PROCESSES
OPERATING PROCESSES

Manufac
Sales
turing

SUPPORT PROCESSES

Distribu

Financial
IT
tion

Payroll
Reporting

PROJECTS PROCESSES
Cash
Mgmt

...

IT GENERAL
CONTROLS
Systems
Development

APPLICATION B

application
CONTROLS
APPLICATION C

Physical
controls
Service &
Support
Processes
Backup &
Restore

Authorization
Integrity

Change
Management
Logical Access

Economics

...

Applications
APPLICATION A

Design

Availability

IT INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
DATABASE
OPERATING SYSTEM
NETWORK/PHYSICAL

Security

Figure 3. Understanding the IT environment in a business context

Figure adapted and revised from: IT Control Objectives for SarbanesOxley, 2nd Ed., used by permission of the IT Governance Institute
(ITGI). 2006 ITGI. All rights reserved.

Confidentiality
Segregation
of duties

GTAG U
 nderstanding the Business
Finally, networks link computers and enable them to
communicate with each other. They consist of physical
components, such as switches, routers, firewalls, wiring,
and programs that control the routing of data packets.
Networks also can be deployed using radio frequency
technology, commonly called wireless networks.
All four layers of the stack are essential to enabling
automated business functionality and introduce availability, integrity, and confidentiality risks. The degree
of risk is based on the criticality of the business activity
the technology supports and enables, and on the technologys configuration and deployment. Therefore, the
more variety in each of these layers, the higher the
organizations risk profile. For instance, it is simpler for
IT departments to manage a homogeneous environment of Windows 2003 servers running a SQL Server
database for a single enterprise resource planning (ERP)
application than a variety of operating systems and database platforms underlying different applications. While
ideal, the first scenario might not be practical for a large
organization with diverse operations or a decentralized
business model. In creating the audit universe, critical IT
elements should be identified and assessed as part of the
top-down analysis techniques described in this guide.

risk profile and system of internal control. Important factors

to consider include:
1. The degree of system and geographic centralization
(i.e., distribution of IT resources). The organizations business model may determine the IT functions
structure and delivery model. For instance, companies
operating with decentralized business units that have the
autonomy to make operating decisions may have decentralized IT operations, more diversity of applications, and
a larger variety of deployed products. On the other hand,
in more centralized companies auditors might find enterprise-based applications and centralized IT infrastructure
support. Because risks vary as companies approach either
end of the centralization continuum, audit responses
should vary accordingly.
When establishing the IT audit universe, consideration should be given to aligning individual audits with
the management function that has accountability for
that area. A centralized IT delivery model may allow
for fewer, but possibly larger, individual audits that are
concentrated on core technologies and enterprise applications. Conversely, a decentralized delivery model could
require more audit engagements to achieve a proper
alignment with management accountability.

3. The degree of customization. Generally, customized

implementations add complexity to the management of
IT assets. Off-the-shelf software relies primarily on the
support of vendors who have a high degree of knowledge
and expertise on their products. When vendor software
whether applications, operating systems, or other
supporting software is modified to fit an organizations
business need or process, a large amount of ownership is
assumed and more risk is introduced into the equation.
Generally, organizations should perform a cost-benefit
analysis when making the decision to customize thirdparty software. However, control aspects might not be
considered fully in this analysis. In addition, audits of
customized implementations also require greater technical knowledge on the part of the auditors.

2. The technologies deployed. The organizations system

architecture diversity will determine the breadth of
technical knowledge required within the internal
audit function and the number of areas that need to be
reviewed. Diversity could be in any and all levels of the
IT stack the key components of an applications technical infrastructure, including its program code, database,
operating system, and network infrastructure.
For instance, application program code includes the
sets of computer programs, control files, tables, and user
interfaces that provide functionality for specific business
operations such as accounting, payroll, and procurement.
Other applications could manage critical business information, such as engineering and design project data, legal,
and personal medical information. The organization
also may have applications that control manufacturing
processes commonly called process control systems.
On the other hand, database systems enable the storage,
modification, and extraction of data (e.g., Oracle,
Microsoft SQL Server, and DB2), while operating systems
perform a computers basic tasks, such as handling operator input; managing internal computer memory; and
providing disk drive, display, and peripheral device functions. Examples of operating systems include variations of
Windows and UNIX installed in computers and servers.
Handheld devices such as personal digital assistants and
cell phones also require operating systems.

4. The degree of formalized company policies and standards

(i.e., IT governance). The purpose of an IT governance
program is to enable the organization to better manage
its day-to-day IT activities and risks through the use of
policies and standards. For example, organizations with
formalized policies and standards that guide management
oversight and help to establish the IT control environment have a better chance of implementing an effective
IT governance program. These programs, in turn, are
effective when policies and standards are communicated, understood, monitored, enforced, and updated by
management.

GTAG Understanding the Business

Policies are general, long-term statements of principle that address managements operational goals; are
intended to have a long-term effect in guiding the development of business rules for specific situations; and can
be interpreted and supported by standards, controls, and
guidelines. In terms of IT, policies can provide highlevel management directives in areas such as intellectual
property rights, data protection, retention, and privacy
to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and the
effective safeguard of data assets.
On the other hand, standards describe a mandatory
business process or procedure and provide further direction on how to comply with the policy statement to which
they are linked. IT standards are generally technologyneutral and can be further defined by technology-specific
controls and guidelines (i.e., configuration settings or
procedures) that define how the standard should be
implemented.
As a general rule, organizations should establish an
ongoing maintenance process for all policies and standards that addresses the latest regulatory mandates. For
example, recent changes to the U.S. Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure governing the production of evidence in
court cases address the discovery and production of electronically stored information. Because of these changes,
an organizations level of risk partly depends on its adherence to updated record retention policies and standards
that consider the management of electronically stored
information.
Different IT governance frameworks and methodologies are available, including COBIT, ISOs 27002
Standard on information security management, the
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants IT
Control Guidelines, and the Information Security
Forums Standard of Good Practice for Information
Security. These frameworks provide a structured way of
categorizing control objectives and control areas across
the entire control environment. (For additional information on these and other compliance frameworks, auditors
can refer to The IIAs Information Technology Controls
GTAG.5) Organizations can adopt one of these frameworks or use them as a reference when developing their
own. Section 5.3 provides information on leading IT
governance best practices to help organizations assess the
content and effectiveness of these frameworks.

management oversight to ensure ongoing compliance,

which results in a lower residual risk profile. The organizations regulatory requirements, therefore, should be
appropriately considered in the risk profile and IT audit
universe. For example, all organizations registered with
the SEC are required by the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act
of 2002 to report on the effectiveness of their internal
controls over financial reporting. The legislation also
created the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (PCAOB) to guide public accounting firms on
how to conduct an audit of internal controls over financial reporting. Other regulations include the Basel II
Accord in the finance sector and a growing number of
privacy and data protection laws and regulations, such
as the European Unions Directive on Data Protection,
U.S. Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLBA) Act, the U.S. Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
(PCI DSS).
6. The degree and method of outsourcing. IT outsourcing
is becoming more prevalent in many organizations due to
the high cost and expertise required to deliver noncore
services. (The IIAs Information Technology Outsourcing
GTAG provides a detailed discussion on the types of
IT outsourcing arrangements and their degree of risk.6)
In terms of outsourcing, it is important for auditors to
consider the different risks stemming from the outsourcing
arrangement when drafting the IT audit plan. Key
factors include how management views its oversight and
monitoring role, the maturity of the arrangement (e.g.,
transitioning versus an established working process),
country-specific risks, and the completeness of the
vendors and organizations business continuity plans.
7. The degree of operational standardization. Operational
processes and procedures include the entire system
development life cycle as well as configuration, change,
incident, operations, and security management activities.
Similar to the degree of centralization and the diversity
of deployed technologies, the level of operational standardization can impact the reliability and integrity of the
IT infrastructure and its assets. Consequently, organizations that adopt standardized processes throughout their
service delivery functions increase their ability to operate
as a high-performing organization.
An example of a standardized practice is ITIL, a set
of concepts and techniques for managing IT infrastructures, as well as the development and installation of new
computer systems and IT operations. Its books on service
support and service delivery are the most widely used
and understood ITIL publications. One of the primary

5. The degree of regulation and compliance. Organizations

in highly regulated industries generally will have a
high-risk profile due to the potential consequences of
noncompliance with regulatory mandates. However,
successful organizations in highly regulated industries
also have disciplined control environments and effective
5

GTAG: Information Technology Controls, p. 18.

GTAG: Information Technology Outsourcing.

GTAG U
 nderstanding the Business
benefits of ITIL is that it establishes a common vocabulary of defined and widely used terms. Organizations that
implement ITIL concepts have claimed a higher degree
of reliability and lower delivery costs.
8. The level of reliance on technology. Some organizations are intensive technology users or use technology to
differentiate themselves from their peers and competitors.
While technology can improve overall internal controls
with the use of automated application controls, strong
governance and internal operational processes become
more important as reliance on IT increases. In addition,
as organizations depend more on the availability and
integrity of IT functionality to enable business operations and meet their objectives, the significance of IT
risks in the organizations overall risk profile increases.
Hence, the nature and extent to which the organization
relies on technology should be evident in the risk assessment used to develop the IT audit plan.
These eight IT environment factors, along with the
top-down approach used to understand the organizations
operations and IT infrastructure, provide auditors with the
information needed to move to the next step of the audit
planning process defining the IT audit universe and
performing a risk assessment.

GTAG Defining the IT Audit Universe

4. Defining the IT Audit Universe

the IT support structure for these business processes is different

and may require separate assurance reviews.

Determining what to audit is one of the most important

internal audit activities, as performing the annual IT audit
plan will have a profound impact on the overall success of
the internal audit department. Consequently, the ultimate
goal of the IT audit plan is to provide adequate coverage on
the areas that have the greatest risk and where internal auditors can add the most value to the organization.
One of the first steps to an effective IT audit plan is to define
the IT universe, a finite and all-encompassing collection of
audit areas, organizational entities, and locations identifying
business functions that could be audited to provide adequate
assurance on the organizations risk management level. At
this initial phase, identifying potential audit areas within the
IT universe is done independently from the risk assessment
process. Auditors need to be aware of what audits could be
performed before they can assess and rank risks to create the
annual audit plan. Defining the IT audit universe requires
in-depth knowledge of the organizations objectives, business
model, and the IT service support model.

4.2 Role of Supporting Technologies

Identifying supporting IT infrastructure technologies can be

a simple process when detecting business activities that rely
on key applications. However, it is much harder to associate
the use of supporting technologies, such as the companys
network, e-mail application, and encryption software, to
business objectives and risk. Yet, these supporting technologies exist because the business requires them, and a failure
in these services and products can hinder the organizations
ability to accomplish its mission. Therefore, key supporting
technologies, while not directly associated with an application or business process, must be identified and represented
in the universe of auditable areas.

4.3 Annual Business Plans

Another important element is to take into consideration the

organizations annual business plans and strategies. Operating
plans can provide auditors with information on important
changes and projects that may be pursued in the upcoming
year, which might require audit involvement and become
subjects in the IT audit universe. Projects might be directly
IT-related, such as the implementation of a new ERP system, or
business projects that manage major engineering or construction initiatives. For example, energy companies form major
capital projects when developing new facilities to bring oil
and gas discoveries into production. These business projects
can benefit from the use of critical IT components that merit
IT audit attention, such as access controls over document
management systems and external network connections for
partners and contractors. Because companies can be partners
on one project and competitors on another, it is important to
limit their access to required IT resources only.

4.1 Examining the Business Model

Organizations can have different operational units and support

functions to accomplish its objectives, which, in turn, have
business processes that link activities to achieve their goals.
Referring back to the example of companies that assemble
and sell personal computers, a traditional company in this
industry sector consists of several assembly plants located
in different countries, sales, and marketing units, as well as
different corporate management and support functions. The
sales and marketing units, for instance, have established
processes for accepting, fulfilling, and invoicing customer
orders, while other operating units and support functions have
their own processes. Underlying these processes will be critical IT applications and supporting infrastructure. Therefore,
it is important for auditors to understand the companys IT
environment when defining the IT universe and identifying
the processes critical to the success of each unit.
Using a top-down approach to understand the organizations structure and activities can help auditors identify critical
IT functionality processes that sustain the organizations
operating units and support functions. However, variation
in how similar business units perform their processes can
add complexity to this analysis. For instance, manufacturing
plants in different locations might use different procurement
processes. In decentralized organizations, business units might
use different applications for similar business processes, or a
common application might be configured differently to the
extent it functions like an entirely different application. For
example, one business unit uses SAP R/3 on a UNIX and
Oracle platform, while another business unit uses SAP R/3
on a Windows and SQL Server platform. Although similar,

4.4 Centralized and Decentralized IT Functions

Auditors need to identify centrally managed IT functions

that support the entire or a large portion of the organization. Centralized functions are good candidates for individual
audits in the IT audit universe and include network design
and security administration, server administration, database
management, service or help desk activities, and mainframe
operations. For example, the organization may have a server
administration group that is responsible for all Windows
servers. Because this group might use common configurations
and administrative processes across the entire server population, it represents an ideal candidate for an individual IT
audit that is part of the IT audit universe. The homogeneous
nature of the environment also lends itself to sampling for the
audits execution.

GTAG D
 efining the IT Audit Universe
There are several benefits to identifying centralized audit
subjects. The main benefit is the effective use of limited IT
audit resources, which can enable the audit team to focus on
one area, use sampling techniques, and gain a large amount of
coverage in a single audit. Another benefit is the transfer of
internal audit efficiencies to other audits because centralized
areas have already been covered and may be excluded from
the scope of other audits. The benefit of referencing centralized audit coverage is particularly applicable to application
auditing. For example, there could be hundreds of applications residing within a Windows server administration group
environment. Since the general controls for the infrastructure
are reviewed in a more centralized audit, the IT audit should
be limited to application-specific technical areas rather than
the entire infrastructure platform hosting the application.
The organization also benefits as it is audited thoroughly only
once and is not impacted when applications are reviewed
individually during each business process audit.
Furthermore, organizations may centralize their IT functions differently. A common practice of many organizations
is to create a single network support function that manages
its network design and security administration. This network
support function could be divided into firewall, router,
and switch configuration activities, as well as Internet
connectivity, wireless, digital voice, and external network
connection management. As a result, each of these areas
may be an independent audit subject in the IT universe.
Furthermore, because centralized IT functions can change
over time, they should be reviewed and refreshed in the audit
universe at least annually.
A similar approach can be taken for decentralized IT
functions, where each physical location might represent
a separate audit subject. Depending on the locations size,
the sites audit may review general and technical controls
for each infrastructure stack layer. The review should only
include the IT controls for which the local site is responsible,
while controls handled by centralized IT functions should
be excluded. If the site is large and supports a wide number
of technologies, auditors might need to perform multiple
reviews for that location as part of the IT audit universe.

chain of events including incident, problem, change, and

release management activities.
Again, one of the leading sources for IT service best practices is ITIL. Many organizations are implementing ITIL
practices or other standardized processes to attain better
efficiency and higher performance in managing their IT
functions. Internal audit groups should become involved in
efforts to implement standardized support processes where
appropriate and consider new ways to provide assurance
on their effectiveness. One approach could be to review
the deployment and governance of standardized processes
at the enterprise level within the audit plan. These toplevel reviews could assess the effectiveness of the processes
themselves, the effectiveness of deployed processes, and the
effectiveness of the governance model to ensure standardized
support processes are used as intended. Once standardized
processes are audited, site audits should concentrate on how
they are followed rather than on their effectiveness.

4.6 Regulatory Compliance

Different laws and regulations around the world are

mandating the use of internal controls and risk management
practices and the privacy of personally identifiable information, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Basel II Accord.
As discussed earlier, some of these regulations mandate the
protection of customer information in the credit card industry
(e.g., GLBA and the PCI DSS) and the safeguarding of
personal medical information (e.g., HIPAA). Although most
of these regulations do not address IT controls directly, they
imply the need for an adequately controlled IT environment.
Therefore, these regulatory areas are potential subjects in the
IT audit universe, as auditors need to determine whether the
organization has rigorous processes in place and whether
they are operating effectively to ensure compliance.

4.7 Define Audit Subject Areas

The way the IT environment is divided into individual audit

subjects could be somewhat influenced by personal preference or staffing considerations. However, the ultimate goal
is to figure out how to divide the environment in a manner
that provides the most efficient and effective audits. The
preceding discussions on centralized IT functions and standardized support processes stated how audit subjects can be
grouped in the audit universe to define an audit approach that
is more efficient. Although auditors should not be assessing
business risks at this phase of the audit planning process, the
goal is to have an audit plan that focuses on the highest-risk
areas where auditors can add the most value.
Although there is no single right way to define IT audit
subjects, there are incorrect or inappropriate ways to do this.7

4.5 IT Support Processes

Even if the organization has a decentralized IT function, it

may have standardized support processes. Organizations that
are striving to be high-performing organizations understand
the importance of having standardized support processes
across their operating units regardless of the business model.
Examples of standardized support processes include service
desk activities as well as change, configuration, release, incident, and problem management procedures. The service desk
is generally the first point of contact for customers to register
an IT service or issue resolution request, thus initiating the
requests life cycle management process and triggering a

10

GTAG: Management of IT Auditing, p. 10.

GTAG Defining the IT Audit Universe

Pitfalls include improper sizing of subjects, basing a plan solely
on staffing capabilities, and creating a focus imbalance.
In addition, audit subjects should be divided into appropriately sized areas to define a reasonable allocation of audit
resources. When doing so, auditors should keep in mind
that defining small or large audit subject areas might hinder
audit efforts. This is because a certain amount of overhead is
required for each audit engagement, including administrative
efforts for audit planning, management reviews, sign-offs of
completed work, and reporting and communicating results. If
the audit universe and plan contains numerous small audits,
for example, internal auditors could spend as much time
administrating the audits as performing them. Conversely,
if the audit subject area is defined broadly, audits could run
for an extended period of time, be disruptive to the client,
or be reviewed insufficiently. Depending on the organizations culture, overly broad definitions might even result in
an unplanned increase in scope (i.e., scope creep).8
Finding the right audit size depends on the organizations
audit practices and culture. As a general rule for most organizations, defining audit subjects that require two to three
technical auditors for a three- to four-week duration is a
reasonable target, as this provides different auditor perspectives and experiences. In addition, the three- to four-week
duration is a reasonable request for most organizations.
The audit size also should be consistent with companyaccepted historical audit practices. However, the IT audit
universe should not be defined solely on audit staffing capability, as this might result in a focus imbalance. For instance,
some IT audit functions do not have any technicians or
IT professionals, but consist of business auditors who have
knowledge of currently used business applications. Because
these auditors tend to focus on the application layer and
might ignore the underpinning infrastructure layers, its
important to have a well-balanced coverage of all layers as
part of the audit.
Ideally, the internal audit function should consist of highly
technical personnel and general auditors who have a good
understanding of application controls. The technical auditors, for example, would help ensure the IT infrastructure has
proper security controls in place and review general application controls. The proper balance of audit subjects covering
all environment layers should be the cornerstone of the IT
audit plan even if the IT audit constraint is an issue. If that is
the case, alternative resource staffing for these audits would
be required to supplement the expertise of the internal audit
staff.
Auditors should consider that the audit technique used
during the security review could be ineffective when used in a
nonhomogeneous server environment consisting of multiple
server platforms. This is because the general server administration subject area might be too large or unmanageable.
8

For this reason, many organizations review security based on

their platform type, thus enabling a more detailed review.
Unfortunately, this activity could result in redundancy as
audit steps are duplicated. Hence, auditors could establish
separate audit areas for each platform type and a general
controls subject audit that is performed across all platforms.
A key consideration in identifying IT environment components and in grouping distinct audit subjects is management
accountability. A worst-case scenario would be to define
audit subjects crossing reporting lines and involving management from different reporting units, as this might create a
conflict over who eventually owns the resolution of issues
presented in the audit. As a result, it should be clear who will
receive the audit report and who is responsible for the remediation of identified control deficiencies. Finally, the scope
of each audit subject should be described clearly so that organizational accountability is determined properly.

4.8 Business Applications

CAEs need to determine which audit group will be responsible for the planning and oversight of business application
audits. Depending on how the audit function operates, business applications can be included as part of the IT audit
universe, business audit universe, or both. There is a growing
consensus among internal audit functions that business
applications should be audited with the business processes
they support. This provides assurance over the entire suite
of controls automated and manual for the processes
under review, helps to minimize gaps and overlaps of audit
efforts, and minimizes confusion over what was included in
the scope of the engagement.
Because of their expertise, the business audit function is
probably best suited to determine when applications should
be reviewed. If business applications are maintained as part
of the IT audit universe, the business audit universe should
be linked to the IT audit universe to work together during
the audit. Even if business applications are maintained separately from the IT audit universe, individual audit subjects
can be created within the IT audit universe for large-scale
applications that are used by multiple functions for multiple
processes, such as ERP systems. This is because it might make
sense to review the applications general controls in a standalone audit rather than arbitrarily including this area in one
of the many business audits.

4.9 Assessing Risk

After the IT universe is defined, a systematic and uniform

assessment of risk across all subjects should be the next step in
determining the annual audit plan. The next section presents
risk and risk assessment fundamentals that can help CAEs
and internal auditors create an effective IT audit plan.

GTAG: Management of IT Auditing, p. 10.

11

GTAG P
 erforming a Risk Assessment
5. Performing a Risk Assessment

in nature (e.g., replace legacy IT applications with an ERP

solution).
Furthermore, according to IIA Practice Advisory 2110-1:
Assessing the Adequacy of Risk Management Processes, risk
management processes should have five key objectives:
Risks arising from business strategies and activities
need to be identified and prioritized.
Management and the board need to determine the
level of risk acceptable to the organization, including
the acceptance of risks designed to accomplish the
organizations strategic plans.
Risk mitigation activities need to be designed and
implemented to reduce or otherwise manage risk at
levels that are acceptable to management and the
board.
Ongoing monitoring activities need to be conducted
to reassess risk periodically and the effectiveness of
controls to manage risk.
The board and management need to receive periodic
risk management process reports. The organizations
corporate governance processes also should provide
periodic communication of risks, risk strategies, and
controls to stakeholders.

The IIA defines risk as the possibility that an event will occur
that could affect the achievement of objectives, which is
measured in terms of impact and likelihood.9 Therefore, it is
vitally important for organizations to determine the contents
of their risk portfolio periodically and perform activities to
manage risks to an acceptable level. As discussed earlier, the
risk assessment process should not be conducted until the
CAE and internal audit team understand the contents of the
IT universe and how they link back to or support the organization. It is paramount no matter the risk assessment model
or approach used for the risk assessment to determine IT
environment areas that can significantly hinder the organizations achievement of objectives. In other words, the risk
assessment needs to examine the infrastructure, applications,
and computer operations or components that pose the greatest
threat to the organizations ability to ensure system and data
availability, reliability, integrity, and confidentiality.
In addition, auditors need to identify the effectiveness and
usefulness of risk assessment results, which should be directly
predicated on the methodology employed and its proper
execution. That is, if the risk assessments methodology
input (i.e., the IT universe and its link to the business audit
universe) is deficient or is applied incorrectly, it is likely that
the output (i.e., risk assessment results) will be incomplete
in some capacity.

Additional guidance from IIA Practice Advisory 2010-2,

Linking the Audit Plan to Risk and Exposures, defines
how organizational risk, strategic planning, and changes in
management direction should be reflected in the audit plan.

5.1 Risk Assessment Process

5.1.2 Identify and Understand IT Strategy

After the CAE and internal audit team understand the organization and its use of technology, they can conduct the risk
assessment. Performing this task correctly is paramount to
ensuring relevant IT risks (i.e., those with the greatest likelihood of occurrence and impact to the organization) are
identified and evaluated effectively and adequate mitigation
measures take place. The culmination of the risk assessment
process is then used by the CAE and audit team to develop
the IT audit plan.

Once CAEs and internal auditors become familiar with the

organizations objectives, they need to identify the companys overall IT strategy to understand how it aligns with the
objectives identified in the prior step. Because the organization could have different forms of documentation showing
the relationship between its business objectives and the IT
strategic plan, CAEs and internal auditors need to obtain,
read, and understand these documents. Generally speaking,
the IT strategic plan should link back to organizational objectives and provide clear direction as to how it links back to
these objectives. In other words, the IT plan should identify
tactical actions to be performed by the IT department within
a defined period of time, which are designed to support the
achievement of the organizations objectives.

5.1.1 Identify and Understand

Business Objectives

One of the foundational elements of any risk assessment

methodology is gaining an understanding of the organizations business objectives and determining how IT is used to
assist or support the achievement of these objectives. If business objectives are not identified, auditors need to perform
this activity before performing the IT risk assessment.
Business objectives may be broad and strategic in nature
(e.g., become the industry leader) or more linear and tactical

5.1.3 IT Universe

As discussed earlier, auditors first need to inventory the key

computing environment components to determine which IT
areas need to be reviewed from a risk and controls perspective. While there isnt a single-best approach to perform
the inventory, many organizations divide their IT universe

International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal

Auditing, p. 17.
9

12

GTAG Performing a Risk Assessment

into three major sub-categories: infrastructure, computer
operations, and applications.
The infrastructure area consists of all computing components that support the flow and processing of information,
such as servers, routers, bridges, mainframes, communication
lines, printers, datacenters, networking equipment, antivirus
software, and desktops. Computer operations, on the other
hand, consist of the processes and controls that manage the
computing environment. Examples include physical and
logical security administration, backup and recovery, business continuity and disaster recovery planning, service-level
agreements (SLAs), program change controls, and compliance with laws and regulations. Finally, applications consist
of the software used by the organization to process, store, and
report business transactions. Examples include ERP systems
and stand-alone applications, such as Microsoft Excel or
Access.

3. Weighted or sorted matrices or the use of threats

versus component matrices to evaluate consequences
and controls. This method is superior for most micro-risk
assessments.
This GTAG will focus exclusively on the weighted or
sorted matrices approach to measure risk and impact. As
shown in table 1, this approach uses a simplistic method to
rate risk that is based on the risks high (i.e., three), medium
(i.e., two), or low (i.e., one) likelihood of occurrence.

Likelihood Scale
H

High probability that the risk will occur.

Medium probability that the risk will occur.

Low probability that the risk will occur.

5.2 Ranking Risk

Table 1. Risk likelihood scale

Once an inventory of the IT universe is completed, the next

step is to assign a risk rating to all sub-categories infrastructure, computer operations, and applications. These
sub-categories need to be ranked based on the impact their
risks will have on the organization and their likelihood of
occurrence. In other words, auditors need to determine what
could go wrong in each area and how the organization will
be affected if controls to manage or mitigate risk are not
designed and operating effectively.
In addition, auditors need to keep in mind that each risk
might not be equally significant or weighed the same way
across the IT audit universe. (Weight differentiates the relative importance of a risk over the others). For example, if an
area has a direct tie to the accuracy of financial reporting, it
would carry a higher weight relative to an area that does not
directly affect the accuracy of financial reporting. According
to The Research Foundations Assessing Risk, there are three
approaches to measuring risk and impact:10

While the likelihood of risk occurrence is relatively simple

to determine, determining the impact of risk occurrence is
another matter entirely. This is because there can be several
different qualitative and quantitative aspects of risk impact.
Furthermore, not every qualitative and quantitative aspect
is treated equally (i.e., some risks are more important than
others). According to Assessing Risk, three types of risk
factors are commonly in use subjective risk factors, objective or historical risk factors, and calculated risk factors.
1. Subjective risk factors. Measuring risk and its impact
requires a combination of expertise, skills, imagination,
and creativity. This emphasis on subjective measurements
is borne out in practice many auditable units change so
much between audits that prior audit history is of little use.
Therefore, an experienced practitioners sound subjective
judgment is just as valid as any other method.

1. Direct probability estimates and expected loss functions or the application of probabilities to asset values
to determine exposure for loss. This process is the oldest
and not considered a best practice. The insurance industry
still uses this method, but internal auditing does not.

2. Objective or historical risk factors. Measuring risk

factor trends can be useful in organizations with stable
operations. In all cases, current objective information is
helpful in measuring risk.

2. Risk factors or the use of observable or measurable

factors to measure a specific risk or class of risks. This
process is favored for macro-risk assessments, but is not
efficient or particularly effective for micro-risk assessments, except when auditable units are homogeneous
throughout the audit universe as in branch, location, or
plant audits.

3. Calculated risk factors. A subset of objective risk factor

data is the class of factors calculated from historical or
objective information. These are often the weakest of all
factors to use because they are derivative factors of risk
that is further upstream.10

10

13

The IIA Research Foundations Assessing Risk, 2nd Edition, 2004.

GTAG P
 erforming a Risk Assessment
5.3 Leading IT Governance Frameworks

Due to these risk factors, CAEs and internal auditors must

design and use a risk impact model that fits their organization. The model should be similar to the one used for the
enterprisewide risk assessment. However, the models scale
and rank methodology needs to be changed for each IT risk.
As shown in table 2, and for the purposes of this GTAG, a
simplistic ranking method that uses high, medium, and low
categories is used for the impact of each component that is
based on the same likelihood concepts presented in table 1.

Up to this point, the guide has focused on the steps necessary

to define the IT audit universe and to perform a risk assessment that determines what should be audited and how often.
This discussion is not based on any particular IT governance
framework, such as COBIT, the ISO 27002 Standard, or
ITIL. As a result, it is the CAEs responsibility to determine
the components of these and other frameworks that best
serve the organization.
It is important to keep in mind that none of these frameworks is a one-size-fits-all. Rather, they are frameworks
organizations can use to manage and improve their IT functions. While it is not within the scope of this GTAG to
provide guidance on the pros and cons of these and other
IT governance models, an overview of COBIT will be
provided.
Since its release in 1996, COBIT has been a leading IT
governance framework. Its mission is to research, develop,
publicize, and promote an authoritative, up-to-date, international set of generally accepted information technology
control objectives for day-to-day use by business managers
and auditors.11 As a framework and supporting tool set,
COBIT allows organizations to bridge the gap with respect to
control requirements, technical issues, and business risks, and
communicate that level of control to stakeholders. COBIT
also enables the development of clear IT control policies and
practices.12
In addition, COBIT provides a set of tools CAEs and
internal auditors can use to help guide the IT risk assessment
process. Some of its tools are a set of clearly stated control
objectives, ideas on how to test controls, and a scale for
ranking the maturity of the IT control environment. The
COBIT framework consists of four domains with a total of 34
IT processes: plan and organize (PO), acquire and implement
(AI), deliver and support (DS), and monitor and evaluate
(ME).
As with any best practice control framework, auditors
should proceed with caution when using this framework.
CAEs and internal auditors must understand and apply the
frameworks concepts and guidance in their proper context.
In other words, COBIT has been developed and refined over
the last decade with the assistance of practitioners, academia,
and different industries from around the globe. As a result,
COBIT tends to have the look and feel of a framework that
might work beautifully in a large organization with a sizable
IT function, but may be equally challenging to work with in
mid-size and small organizations.
Furthermore, the CAE and internal audit team must
realize that simply because the IT function does not follow or
adhere to the COBIT framework, this does not mean the IT
function, its processes, or data is not controlled or managed

Impact Scale (Financial)

H

The potential for material impact on the

organizations earnings, assets, reputation,
or stakeholders is high.

The potential for material impact on the

organizations earnings, assets, reputation,
or stakeholders may be significant to the
audit unit, but moderate in terms of the
total organization.

The potential impact on the organization is

minor in size or limited in scope.
Table 2. Risk impact model scale

Table 3 on page 15 shows an example of a completed risk

assessment that is based on the scales used for likelihood and
impact across the risk categories of financial impact, quality
of internal controls, changes in the audit unit, availability,
integrity, and confidentiality. The score for each area is
calculated by multiplying risks likelihood and impact values
across each category. For example, on the risk category for
ERP application and general controls, the sum of the likelihood and impact values is 42. The same logic is used across
the other risk categories for each possible audit area.
Based on this scoring approach, the lowest possible score
is six and the highest possible score is 54. Table 4 shows
the scoring ranges and their corresponding audit or review
frequencies based on the organizations resource availability.

Level

Composite Risk
Score Range

Recommended
Annual Cycle

3554

Every 1 to 2 years

2034

Every 2 to 3 years

619

Every 3 to 5 years

Table 4. Scoring ranges and corresponding

audit or review frequencies
14

11

COBIT 3rd Edition, p. 1.

12

COBIT 4.1, p. 8.

GTAG Performing a Risk Assessment

properly. At a minimum, CAEs and internal auditors can use
COBIT as a helpful guide during the IT risk assessment and
audit process. In a best case scenario, the CAE and internal
audit team should integrate the use of COBIT under the
umbrella of risk and control-related frameworks and guidance, as well as to help the IT function with implementing
part or all of the framework.

IT Risks
Financial
Impact

Area

Quality of
Internal
Controls

Changes in
Audit Unit

Availability

Integrity

Confidentiality

Score
and
Level

ERP Application & General Controls

42

Treasury EFT Systems

41

HR/Payroll Application

40

Employee Benefits Apps (Outsourced)

40

IT Infrastructure

38

Process Control Systems

15

Database Administration and Security

27

UNIX Administration and Security

24

Corp. Privacy Compliance

34

Windows Server Admin and Security

26

Environment Reporting Systems

24

SOX Sustainability Review

19

Network Administration and Security

17

ITIL Deployment Practices

21

IT Governance Practices

12

Remote Connectivity

12

Application Program Change Control

16

Lowest possible score

Highest possible score

54

Mid point

30

L = Likelihood
I = Impact

Table 3. Example of an IT risk-ranking score model

15

GTAG F
 ormalizing the IT Audit Plan
6. Formalizing the IT Audit Plan

For most companies, these two steps are merged to some

extent, as depicted in the overlap area of the two spheres
representing each process in figure 4. For example, certain
risks or auditable areas may be excluded from the risk assessment based on the level of resources that may be required to
execute the audit. However, it is important to perform these
steps in an objective manner considering each steps stated
objective and driver forces.
In addition, the IT audit plan should be created as part of
the internal audit functions strategic planning process. This
planning process should be cyclical and can be understood
under the classical management cycle of plan, do, check,
and act. Thus, while the plan is the key enabler to implement the process, it delineates how to reach audit objectives
and goals. As a result, it should include a list of audit activities
as well as the timing, dependencies, and resource allocation
needed to reach audit goals.
Certain IIA standards describe the nature of internal
audit services and provide quality criteria against which the
performance of these services can be measured. More specifically, the 2000 series, Performance Standards for Managing
the Internal Audit Activity, are relevant to the audit planning process:

Defining the IT audit universe and performing a risk assessment are precursor steps to selecting what to include in the
IT audit plan. While everything in the IT audit universe
could be reviewed on a recurring basis if the availability of
resources is unlimited, this is not the reality for most internal
audit functions. Consequently, CAEs must create an IT audit
plan within the constraints of the audit functions operating
budget and available resources.

6.1 Audit Plan Context

Figure 4 depicts the differences and challenges of moving

from the risk assessment step to identifying the audits that
will be included as part of the audit plan. In theory, each of
these steps should be a separate and distinct effort because
the objectives and focus are different. In the risk assessment,
the objective is to understand risks in a relative context.
Therefore, the major focus or driver of this effort is risk,
while a major influencer may be resources. In defining the
audit plan, the objective is to review high-risk areas through
the allocation of available resources. As such, the driver is
the resources and the influencer is the risks.

OBJECTIVES FOR RISK ASSESSMENTS AND AUDIT PLANS

Understand Risks

Allocate Resources

Risk Assessment

Audit Plan

Driver = Risks

Driver = Resources

Influencer = Resources

Influencer = Risks

Key Activities

Key Activities

Understand universe of potential

audits subjects.
Allocate and rationalize resources.
Reconcile and finalize the audit plan.

Obtain explicit input from stakeholders.

Identify relevant risks.
Assess risks.
Prioritize risks.

Figure 4. Objectives for risk assessment and audit plan (Source: Ernst & Young 2007)
16

GTAG Formalizing the IT Audit Plan

IIA Standard 2010: Planning. The CAE should
establish risk-based plans to determine the priorities
of internal audit activities consistent with the organizations goals.
IIA Standard 2020: Communication and Approval.
The CAE should communicate the internal audit
activitys plans and resource requirements, including
significant interim changes, to senior management and board for review and approval. The CAE
also should communicate the impact of resource
limitations.
IIA Standard 2030: Resource Management. The
CAE should ensure that internal audit resources are
appropriate, sufficient, and deployed effectively to
achieve the approved plan.

what audits will be performed and when, ensure adequate

audit coverage is provided over this period of time, and identify audits that may require specialized external resources or
additional internal resources. In addition, most organizations
create a one-year plan, as a derivative of the multiyear plan
that outlines planned audit activities for the upcoming year.
Auditors can use one of two strategies to arrive at the ideal
frequency of planned audit activities:13
The audit frequency is established in an initial risk
assessment to take place every three to five years and
is proportional to the risk level.
The audit plan is based on a continuous risk assessment without a predefined audit frequency. Some
organizations use this approach, which is especially
appropriate within the context of the IT audit plan,
given the higher rate of IT change as compared to
changes in non-IT activities.

6.2 Stakeholder Requests

Internal auditors should have ongoing discussions throughout

the IT audit plans development with key stakeholders to
better understand the business and risks the organization
faces. Through these discussions, insights on the business
will be gathered along with concerns key stakeholders might
have. This is also an opportunity to learn about special audit
assurance and consulting services requests, referred to in this
document as stakeholder requests.
Stakeholder requests may come from the board of directors,
audit committee, senior managers, and operating managers.
They should be considered during the audit planning phase
based on the engagements potential to improve the overall
management of risks and the organizations control environment. These requests may be specific enough to determine
the required resource allocation, or the allocation may be
based on previous audit work. These engagements also can
include fraud investigations that come up throughout the
year and requests to review service providers. (The IIA
Standard 2010.C1 provides information on consulting
engagements.) CAEs, therefore, should consider accepting
proposed consulting engagements based on their potential
to improve risk management activities and add value to and
improve the organizations operations. Accepted engagements should be included in the IT audit plan.

Table 5 shows criteria that can be used to determine

frequency and resource allocation based on the results of
the risk assessment. This process should be understood as a
cyclical, repetitive, and iterative sequence of activities, integrating a top-down approach through at least three layers:
Layer 1: The audit universe where all the inputs are
integrated.
Layer 2: The individual business processes where
engagements should be identified and preliminarily
planned.
Layer 3: The audit engagements where fine-tuning
and plan optimization can be conducted.

6.3 Audit Frequency

Depending on the risk assessments results, not all audit

areas can nor should be reviewed in every audit cycle. As
presented in section 5, audit frequency is based on an evaluation of the likelihood and impact of risk occurrence in
relationship to the organizations objectives. Since audits
occur on a cyclical basis, multiyear audit plans are developed
and presented to management and the audit committee for
review and approval. The multiyear plan, usually three to
five years in terms of its timeframe, is created to document

Resource
Allocation

Priority

Frequency

Immediate
action,
usually within
the first year

Annual reviews or
multiple actions
within the cycle

High
allocation

Mid-term
action within
the audit
cycle

One or several
audit engagements
within the cycle;
could be postponed

Base
allocation

Audit engagements usually

not planned
within the
cycle

At most one
audit engagement
planned within the
cycle

Limited
allocation

Table 5. Frequency and resource

allocation of audit activities

13

17

Brinks Modern Internal Auditing, 6th Ed, 2005, p. 292.

GTAG F
 ormalizing the IT Audit Plan
well as estimated efforts in terms of their timeframe for
completion and resources.
4. The plan should be prioritized based on:
a. Dates and results of the last audit engagement.
b. Updated assessments of risks and effectiveness of risk
management and control processes.
c. Requests by the board and senior management.
d. Current issues relating to organizational governance.
e. Major changes in the business, operations, programs,
systems, and controls.
f. Opportunities to achieve operating benefits.
g. Changes to and capabilities of the audit staff. (Work
schedules should be sufficiently flexible to cover unanticipated demands on the internal audit activity.)

In addition to frequency, other factors should be considered when defining the audit plan:
Internal audit sourcing strategies. Different
sourcing or staff augmentation strategies are common
practices in the industry, including hiring internal
staff, outsourcing, and co-sourcing, which should be
considered during the annual planning process.
Estimated available IT audit resources. This consists
of a technical skills inventory of current staff that is
mapped to IT audit plan needs. The availability of
resources usually is established on an annual basis
and is based on the number of full-time equivalent
auditors and skills required. Available audit days are
the net of possible audit days minus nonaudit activities and exception time, such as training, vacation,
and holidays.
Board and management requests included in the
plan and related to control assurance or consulting
services.
The organizations regulatory and compliance
requirements. These should be included in the audit
universe and risk assessment.
External audits that should be synchronized with
the audit plan. The IIA Performance Standard 2050
establishes that the CAE should share information and coordinate activities with other internal
and external providers of relevant assurance and
consulting services to ensure proper coverage and
minimize duplication of efforts.
Internal initiatives and efforts to improve the audit
function. Any effort beyond audit engagements that
represents an investment of effort should be planned,
budgeted, and reflected in the audit plan. Examples
include quality assurance reviews, integrated risk
assessments, audit committee reporting tasks, and
audit recommendation follow-ups.
A contingency IT audit budget and plan for reasonable coverage of unplanned situations.

6.5 The IT Audit Plan Content

The content of the IT audit plan should be a direct reflection of the risk assessment described in previous sections.
The plan also should have different types of IT audits, for
example:
Integrated business process audits.
Audits of IT processes (e.g., IT governance and
strategy audits, as well as audits of the organizations
project management efforts, software development
activities, policies and procedures, COBIT/ISO/ITIL
processes, and information security, incident management, change management, patch management, and
help desk activities).
Business projects and IT initiative audits, including
software development life cycle (SDLC) reviews.
Application control reviews.
Technical infrastructure audits (e.g., demand
management reviews, performance reviews, database
assessments, operating systems audits, and operation
analyses).
Network reviews (e.g., network architecture reviews,
penetration testing, vulnerabilities assessments, and
performance reviews).
To verify each audit provides appropriate coverage, auditors can incorporate the following elements as part of the
audit:
IT general controls, application controls, and infrastructure controls.
Contributions to operational reviews, financial
reviews, and compliance reviews.
Main control objectives (i.e., segregation of duties,
concentration of duties, and security, among
others).
New IT trends and their threats, innovations, and
impact.
All IT layers of the stack.

6.4 Audit Plan Principles

Internal auditors should consider The IIAs Practice Advisory

2010-1: Planning for the IT Audit Plan when identifying
audit plan principles:
1. Planning should be consistent with the charter of the
internal audit function and involve establishing goals,
schedules, staffing, budgeting, and reporting.
2. Internal audit activities should be capable of accomplishing the goals within a specific time and budget and
be measured in terms of, at least, targeted dates and levels
of accomplishment.
3. The plan should include the work schedule with activities to be performed and their key planned dates, as
18

GTAG Formalizing the IT Audit Plan

6.6 Integration of the IT Audit Plan

A highly integrated audit plan, where IT audit

activities are incorporated as part of business
process engagements. Often, IT audit activities are
planned under the responsibility of a multidisciplinary team that has a balanced skill set, including
IT audit expertise.

One key aspect of the planning process is to determine the

integration level of the IT audit plan with non-IT audit activities in the audit department. As explained in section 4.7,
auditors need to determine which audit group will be responsible for the planning and oversight of business application
audits. This discussion could be extended to include all IT
components. For instance, will the IT audit plan be presented
and executed on a stand-alone basis or will IT audit subjects
be integrated with business areas? Answers to these questions
should be based on the internal audit departments function
as well as its staff, size, geographical distribution, and management approach. A range of integration scenarios could be
considered from a low integration scenario where the IT audit
function is well-defined and established within the internal
audit department (i.e., with their own IT audit universe
and scope) to a fully integrated audit approach where all IT
components are understood under each business segment.
Table 6 illustrates scenarios based on different options to
integrate the IT audit plan. These scenarios are:
A low-integrated plan. This is a stand-alone IT audit
plan under the responsibility of the IT audit team.
A low-integrated plan is organized by IT subject
areas, is generally isolated from non-IT audit activities, and includes the review of applications. Non-IT
audit activities generally do not include any of the IT
components within their scope.
A partially integrated audit plan, which outlines IT
audit engagements that are established by a core IT
audit team. These plans provide an additional set of
planned engagements, generally referred to as application reviews, which are distributed across other
non-IT audit teams and coordinated with other business process reviews.

Audit Universe

Given that a system of internal control typically includes

manual and automated controls, with more reliance on application controls, the ability to scope an audit that covers all
controls is essential in providing a holistic assessment of the
control environment. A complete business audit, including
a review of all IT components, provides the opportunity to
evaluate whether there is an appropriate combination of
controls to mitigate business risks.

6.7 Validating the Audit Plan

Unfortunately, there is no direct test that can be performed

to validate whether the right and most effective audit plan
exists. Therefore, auditors need to establish criteria to evaluate the plans effectiveness in meeting its objectives. As
discussed earlier, the plan should consist of risk-based audits,
mandated audit areas, and management requests for assurance and consulting services. Because one of the objectives
of the planning phase is to allocate resources to areas where
the department can add the most value to the organization
and highest risk IT areas, auditors should determine how the
plan reflects this objective.
The chart in figure 5 depicts the plans target. According
to this chart, if all audit subjects and engagements are
plotted based on their risk likelihood and impact, audits
should be reflected in all chart quadrants. The bolded box
represents the ideal selection of audits and engagements, so

Low-integrated
Audit Plan

Partially Integrated
Audit Plan

Highly Integrated
Audit Plan

Business Processes
Operational
Financial
Compliance

Non-IT audit

Non-IT audit

Integrated approach

Applications Systems
Application controls
IT general controls

IT audit

Integrated approach

Integrated approach

IT Infrastructure Controls
Databases
Operating systems
Network

IT audit

IT audit

Integrated approach

Table 6. IT auditing and integrated auditing

19

GTAG Formalizing the IT Audit Plan

that the largest majority of the plan consists of audits from
the highest-risk quadrant with the balance proportionally
selected from medium- and low-risk quadrants. Furthermore,
some of the audits in the plan should deal with compliance
and mandated areas. Consequently, auditors should note that
while there are valid reasons for including low-risk audits
in the plan, alternative audit approaches such as control
self-assessments should be considered to limit the resources
required to complete the review.

In addition, auditors need to consider the specific source

of the change. For instance, frequent changes in the IT audit
plan could be the result of:
Changes in strategic, organizational, or human
resources.
New business process initiatives involving the use of
high-risk technology, such as e-commerce.
Major changes in applications, such as the use of a
new Web application version.
Critical administration and support software
packages.
Network and infrastructure threats and vulnerabilities that lead to a reassessment of information security
management activities.

6.8 The Dynamic Nature of the IT Audit Plan

As technology continues to change, so does the arrival of

new and potential risks, vulnerabilities, and threats to the
company. In addition, technological changes may prompt a
new set of IT goals and objectives, which in turn leads to
the creation of new IT initiatives, acquisitions, or changes
to meet the organizations needs. An important point to
consider when drafting the audit plan, therefore, is the organizations dynamic nature and its ongoing changes. More
specifically, auditors need to consider the higher rate of IT
change compared to changes in non-IT activities, the appropriate timing of a systems SDLC phases, and the results of
SDLC audits.

As a consequence, periodic reassessments of IT audit plan

priorities should be conducted and, if needed, reported to the
board and senior management on a more frequent basis as
compared with other more traditional and static audit topics.
The IT audit function also must analyze changes in the IT
audit universe and have the flexibility to adjust the plan to
the new conditions. Furthermore, the plan should be reassessed periodically, and greater flexibility is needed to react
to changes in the business and IT environments by adjusting
the ranking and prioritization of planned audits. Finally, it is

Targeted Result
Mandated

Risk Assessed

Audit Resources

Risk Impact

High
Total
Audit
Universe

Consider alternative
audit approach

Low
L

Likelihood

Figure 5. Chart of targeted audit results

20

GTAG Formalizing the IT Audit Plan

important for the plan to link each element of the IT audit
universe to one of the following SDLC phases: feasibility
study, analysis, design, implementation, testing, evaluation,
and maintenance and production.
The value added provided by an internal audit function
depends highly on the quality of its recommendations and
the benefit that the company obtains from their implementation. Often there are direct benefits from addressing
monetary compliance issues. However, there may be an indirect benefit to help enhance the organizations reputation,
competitive advantage, maturity of business processes, and
innovation.
One of the main attributes of audit recommendations that
affect their value added is timing. This attribute is especially
relevant during the entire life cycle of IT applications. In
general, the earlier in the softwares life cycle a weakness
or risk is identified, the higher the added value of audit
recommendations. For example, the cost of implementing
a structural change to address a critical application weakness is substantially greater once the system is in production
compared to addressing the same weakness at the design
phase.
Besides the added value stemming from audit recommendations, the internal auditors reputation is improved in
terms of his or her professionalism. The challenge for the IT
audit function then becomes how to plan activities to deliver
the appropriate type of audit recommendations within the
optimal life cycle timeframe. As a rule, the planning strategy
must be performed prior to the beginning of the entire cycle,
so that appropriate activities are planned in terms of time
and resources.
It is critical for the IT audit plan to balance audit activities
throughout the entire life cycle, such as avoiding a concentration of audit efforts on the maintenance and production
phase and having adequate coverage during the early stages.
By following these recommendations, organizations will be
able to move from a traditional and post-mortem planning
strategy (i.e., one that is based mostly from an operational,
compliance, and financial approach) to one that is more
innovative, adds value, and is more consultative in nature.

It is also important for the IT component of the internal

audit plan or the IT audit plan to be discussed with senior
management and the board as well as key IT stakeholders,
such as the chief information officer, the chief technology
officer, IT managers, business applications owners, and other
employees with similar roles. The input received from these
stakeholders is paramount to the success of the audit planning exercise and will enable CAEs and internal auditors to
better understand the business environment, identify risks
and concerns, and select audit areas. Furthermore, dialogue
on the final plan will help to validate the stakeholders input
throughout the process and provide a preview of upcoming
activities.
When discussing the IT audit plan, internal auditors should
do so in a manner that is supported by key IT executives,
managers, and staff. Gaining the IT teams understanding,
coordination, and support will make the audit process more
effective and efficient. In addition, understanding the plan
facilitates an open and continuing dialogue where evolving
risks and changes to the operating environment can be
discussed throughout the plans life cycle and adjustments are
made on an ongoing basis. Interaction with the clients when
conducting the risk assessment and prior to the final plans
approval is critical to ensure the plans overall quality.

6.9 Communicating, Gaining Executive

Support, and Obtaining Plan Approval

As part of their goals, the internal audit department should

present the audit plan to senior management and audit committee board members. In particular, resource requirements,
significant interim changes, and the potential implications
of resource limitations should be communicated to senior
management and the board, according to IIA Standard
2020.14
14
Internal Auditing: Assurance & Consulting Services (2007) by
Kurt F. Reding, et al, ISBN 978-0-89413-610-8, pp. 811.

21

GTAG A
 ppendix: Hypothetical Company Example
7. Appendix: Hypothetical
Company Example

Manufacturing Systems:
oo Responsible for systems operating at manufacturing facilities.
oo Local applications include payroll for non-U.S.
sites, research and quality control databases, environmental reporting, and manufacturing process
control systems.
oo Financial analysis and controls.

The example in this chapter illustrates how to incorporate

the IT audit planning elements discussed in earlier sections.
Although the steps can be universally followed, the examples audit subjects and risk assessment results are generic in
nature.

Strategy and risk management:

oo Contracts, purchasing, and licensing.
oo Strategy, architecture, and standards.
oo Security services.
oo IT change and governance.
oo Project management office.

7.1 The Company

The hypothetical company is a publicly traded manufacturer

and supplier of commodity products used as feeder stock by
consumer product manufacturers in different markets around
the world. The companys profile is as follow:
US $7 billion in total assets.
Based in the United States.
Thirty production facilities in seven countries,
including Belgium, China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, South Korea, and the United States.
Six research, technology, and quality control centers
located in each production facility.
Five thousand employees worldwide.
Five major competitors.
Holds nearly 3,000 domestic and international
patents and patent applications.
Three major business units for manufacturing operations along product lines, centralized headquarters,
and support-service organizations.
Three major capital projects to build and expand
manufacturing capacity.

The manufacturing facilities are the organizations lifeblood. Because they are located throughout the world and
have different capacity sizes, they introduce risks that may
impact business fundamentals and financials. Furthermore,
although the manufacturing facilities create a somewhat
decentralized business model, the organizations centralized
corporate and service elements offer the opportunity for
process-based audits that cross business functions.
In the area of compliance, the organization is subject to U.S.
and European requirements, including Sarbanes-Oxley, the
European Unions Directive on Data Protection (Privacy),
the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and other similar
regulations in the locations in which it operates. According
to the annual business plan, several major capital investment
projects are under way that will have a great impact on the
organizations future competitiveness.
Finally, the companys IT function aligns closely with its
business model. The company uses a fairly homogeneous
group of applications, including a standard ERP application,
a global network and server infrastructure, and standard
support processes for IT service delivery functions, governance, and security.

In addition, the companys centralized IT organization

consists of four basic divisions:
Global infrastructure:
oo Telecommunications.
oo Voice communications.
oo Networks.
oo Remote connectivity.
oo Desktop and Internet.
oo Information life cycle management.
oo Servers.

7.2 The IT Audit Plan

Based on this description, an IT audit universe can be

identified that defines a holistic inventory of conceivable
audit subject areas and provides management with information on the effectiveness of their control environment and
operations.
As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the centralized
corporate and services elements offer the opportunity for
global, process-type audit subjects. The companys centralized ERP application, global infrastructure support areas, and
standard IT service delivery processes are good candidates for
independent audit subjects covering large areas of IT risk.
Manufacturing facilities also are represented in the IT audit
universe with subjects from locally supported applications

Enterprise applications:
oo One major ERP application used throughout the
company for supply chain management, financial accounting, human resources (based in the
United States), sales, and distribution.
oo Also supplies SAP technical support and Advanced
Business Application Programming (ABAP).

22

GTAG Appendix: Hypothetical Company Example

Likelihood Scale

and an underlying infrastructure (shown as facility 130 for

simplicity in table 7). These audit subjects are likely to be
aligned with business process audits in each facility.
Table 7 shows what a sample universe of potential IT audit
subjects might look like for the company. Each of the 30
manufacturing facilities has these and other audit subject
areas.

High probability that the risk will occur.

Medium probability that the risk will occur.

Low probability that the risk will occur.

Impact Scale (Financial)

Business Unit

Audit Subject

Corporate

Network administration and security

Corporate

Remote connectivity

Corporate

Windows Server administration and

security

Corporate

UNIX administration and security

Corporate

ERP application and general controls

Corporate

Sarbanes-Oxley sustainability review

Corporate

Corporate privacy compliance

Corporate

Database administration and security

Corporate

IT governance practices

Corporate

There is a potential for material impact on

the organizations earnings, assets, reputation,
or stakeholders.

The potential impact may be significant to

the audit unit, but moderate in terms of the
total organization.

The potential impact on the organization is

minor in size or limited in scope.

Table 8. Three-point likelihood and impact scale

To aid in the analysis, a range is selected that indicates a
relative risk ranking of high, medium, and low, as follows:

Level

Composite Risk
Score Range

Recommended
Annual Cycle

ITIL deployment practices

3554

Every 1 to 2 years

Corporate

Application program change control

2034

Every 2 to 3 years

Business
Segment 13

Major capital investment projects

(e.g., information protection and
corporate compliance)

619

Every 3 to 5 years

Facility 130

IT infrastructure

Facility 130

Human resources and payroll

application

Facility 130

Process control systems

Table 9. Range of relative risk ranking

As part of the risk assessment step, auditors need to define a

recommended annual cycle for audit subjects in the universe
based on composite risk score ranges, where high-risk audit
subjects are reviewed every one to two years, medium-risk
subjects every two to three years, and low-risk subjects every
three to five years. This will ensure that high-risk areas are
reviewed frequently and low-risk areas are covered adequately
over a five-year span. Table 10 on page 24 shows an example
of a completed risk assessment.

Table 7. IT audit universe

After the IT audit universe is defined at a high level, the
next step is to assess the business and IT risks on each area.
Risk categories are assessed based on their likelihood of occurrence and the impact they would have on the organization if
the risk was not adequately managed. This risk approach uses
relative ranking as shown in table 8. For example, a threepoint scale to assess likelihood and impact is used as outlined
in the following description:

23

GTAG A
 ppendix: Hypothetical Company Example

Area

Financial
Impact

IT Risks
Quality of
Internal
Controls

Changes in
Audit Unit

Availability

Integrity

Confidentiality

Score and
Level

ERP Application & General Controls

42

Treasury EFT Systems

41

Facility 3 HR/Payroll Application

40

Employee Benefits Apps (Outsourced)

40

Facility 3 IT Infrastructure

38

Facility 3 Process Control Systems

39

UNIX Administration and Security

35

M/H

Corp. Privacy Compliance

34

M/H

Database Administration and Security

27

Windows Server Admin and Security

26

Facility 1 IT Infrastructure

23

Facility 1 Process Control Systems

27

Environment Reporting Systems

24

Facility 2 IT Infrastructure

23

Major Capital Investment Projects

25

Application Program Change Control

23

SOX Sustainability Review

22

Network Administration and Security

22

Facility 2 Process Control Systems

19

M/L

ITIL Deployment Practices

19

M/L

Facility 2 HR/Payroll Application

19

M/L

Facility 30 HR/Payroll Application

17

Facility 1 HR/Payroll Application

17

Facility 30 IT Infrastructure

12

Facility 30 Process Control Systems

15

IT Governance Practices

12

Remote Connectivity

12

L = Likelihood
I = Impact

Table 10. Risk assessment

24

GTAG Appendix: Hypothetical Company Example

Once risk assessment results are available, the next step
is to formalize the audit plan. As discussed in section 6, the
audit plan consists of risk-driven audit projects, mandatory
compliance reviews, stakeholder requests, and follow-up
audits of previously identified significant issues. Because
these tasks need to be completed using available internal
audit resources, some risk-driven audit projects might not be
incorporated in the plan.
Continuing with the hypothetical company example, the
board has asked the IT department to be involved in the
coordination of an external infrastructure penetration test,
and operating management has requested assurance that
Sarbanes-Oxley management testing is sustained throughout
the organization. In addition, the IT function asked the
internal audit department to be involved with an ITIL
deployment project to identify whether service delivery
processes are effective and cover all risks.
These stakeholder requests are accepted because they fit
with the mission of the internal audit department and will

Engagement

be added automatically to the audit plan. Furthermore, there

was a significant segregation of duties issue identified in the
previous years procurement process audit, so a follow-up
review will be added to the plan to ensure agreed upon remediation efforts are progressing as planned. In the compliance
area, compliance with the new corporate policy on protecting
personal data for privacy will be included because there are
plans to transmit personal data between non-U.S. facilities
and the U.S. corporate headquarters.
The company has an IT audit staff of five auditors or
approximately 1,000 available days for engagements after
considering exception time and training. Based on the risk
assessment of available audit subjects, mandatory activities, and stakeholder requests, the most effective audit plan
is shown in table 11. Several high-risk subjects were not
included in the plan (e.g., treasury electronic funds transfer
(EFT) systems, process control systems, and database administration and security) because they were reviewed in the last
12 months.

Risk Level

Cycle

Audit Days Allocated

Penetration Test Coordination

40

Procurement Application Follow-up

20

ERP Application & General Controls

100

Facility 3: HR/Payroll Application

30

Employee Benefits Apps (Outsource)

100

Facility 3: IT Infrastructure

90

UNIX Administration and Security

M/H

90

Corp. Privacy Compliance

M/H

40

Windows Server Administration and Security

90

Facility 1: IT Infrastructure

90

Facility 1: Process Control Systems

90

Environment Reporting Systems

30

Major Capital Investment Projects

30

Sarbanes-Oxley Sustainability

M/*

120

ITIL Deployment Practices

L/*

40

Total

1000

* Management Request
Table 11. The audit plan
25

GTAG A
 ppendix: Hypothetical Company Example
The audit plan in table 11 represents the ideal audit plan
based on the companys internal audit department and its
understanding of the companys strategies and objectives,
historical knowledge of the control environment, and anticipated changes in operations during the next audit period.
The plan should be reviewed with senior and operations
management as a follow-up discussion to the risk assessment
and audit planning phases. Doing so will validate management input was considered accurately in the process and give
managers a preview of the upcoming years IT audit plan.
The review also is an appropriate time to discuss potential
audit engagement dates as the company might experience
blackout periods due to the audits possible disruption of
company operations. For example, planned dates for application or infrastructure upgrades should be discussed, as well
as schedules of significant operational activities, such as
plant shutdowns and turnarounds, that could affect the audit
process.
Following the plans completion is the scheduling of audits
and audit resources. In general, audits have to be staffed with
appropriately skilled auditors to ensure the engagements
success. However, the audit schedule is also a good opportunity to address staff development needs through the exposure
of audits that will expand and develop specific skill areas.
Finally, there will be changes that might impact the audit
plan and schedule due to the organizations dynamic nature.
As a result, it is important to have an effective plan in place,
manage the plan throughout its life cycle, and be flexible to
company changes so that resources stay focused on evolving
risk areas and the organizations concerns.

26

GTAG Glossary of Terms

8. Glossary of Terms

Operating systems: Software that performs a computers

basic tasks, such as handling operator input, managing
internal computer memory, and providing disk drive, display
and peripheral device functions.

Application program code: Sets of computer programs,

control files, tables, and user interfaces that provide functionality for specific business operations, such as accounting,
payroll, and procurement.

Outsourcing: The use of a third-party to perform noncore

company services. Outsourcing is becoming more prevalent due to the high cost and expertise required to deliver
noncore services.

Business process: A set of connected business activities that

are linked with each other for the purpose of achieving a
business objective.

Policy: A written statement that communicates managements intent, objectives, requirements, and responsibilities.

Chief audit executive (CAE): The top position within the

organization responsible for internal audit activities.

Risk: The possibility of an event occurring that will have an

impact on the achievement of objectives. Risk is measured in
terms of impact and likelihood.

Compliance: Conformity and adherence to applicable

laws and regulations, which also includes conformity and
adherence to policies, plans, procedures, contracts, or other
requirements.

Risk assessment: A methodology for determining the likelihood of an event that could hinder the organization from
attaining its business goals and objectives in an effective,
efficient, and controlled manner.

Consulting services: Advisory and related services that are

agreed to with the client to improve an organizations governance, risk management, and control environment.

Risk management: The management process used to

understand and deal with uncertainties that could affect the
organizations ability to achieve its objectives.

Control environment: Board and management attitudes and

actions regarding the significance of organizationwide controls.
The control environment provides the structure for the achievement of the internal control systems primary objectives.

Service support processes: Within an IT context, the

processes used to manage an organizations IT infrastructure and the development and installation of new computer
systems and IT operations. Service support processes include
service desk activities and configuration, change, release,
incident, and problem management procedures.

Database systems: A system of programs that enable data

storage, modification, and extraction.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP): ERP systems are major
software applications that manage whole business processes.
They also integrate procurement, inventories, sales, distribution, human resources, and customer service activities, as well
as financial management and other organizational aspects.

Standards: A mandatory business process or procedure

that provides direction on how to comply with the policy
to which it is linked. IT standards are generally technology
neutral and can be further divided into IT-specific controls
and guidelines.

Framework: Guiding principles that form a template organizations can use to evaluate business practices.

System of internal controls: A system comprising the five

components of internal control the control environment,
risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring to ensure risk is managed.

IT infrastructure: Key components of an applications

technical infrastructure, including its program logic code,
database, operating system, network, and physical environments housing each component.

System implementation projects: Larger scale efforts in the

IT delivery function to deploy new systems of applications
or infrastructure components. These efforts involve project
management activities, business processing reengineering,
and behavioral change management techniques.

Internal audit function: A department, division, team of

consultants, or other practitioners that provide independent,
objective assurance and consulting services designed to add
value and improve an organizations operations.
Networks: Physical devices, such as switches, routers, firewalls, wiring, and programs, which control the routing of
data packets to link computers and enable them to communicate with each other.

Third party: An entity that is not affiliated with the

organization.

27

GTAG G
 lossary of Acronyms
9. Glossary of Acronyms
CAE: Chief audit executive
CBOK: The IIA Research Foundations Common Body of
Knowledge
COBIT: Control Objectives for Information and Related
Technology
COSO: The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission
EFT: Electronic funds transfer
ERM: Enterprise risk management
ERP: Enterprise resource planning
EU: European Union
GLBA: U.S. Gramm-Leach Bliley Act
GTAG: Global Technology Audit Guide
HIPAA: U.S. Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act
IIA: The Institute of Internal Auditors
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
IT: Information technology
ITGI: IT Governance Institute
ITIL: The UK Office of Government Commerces IT
Infrastructure Library
PCAOB: U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board
PCI DSS: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
QAR: The IIAs external quality assurance review
SDLC: System development life cycle
SOX: U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

28

GTAG About the Authors

10. About the Authors

Nikitin is a member of The IIAs Advanced Technology

Committee, a board member of ISACAs Government and
Regulatory Agencies Board, and a contributor of the National
Institute of Technology of India. He is also a former president of ISACA Montevideos Uruguay Chapter, co-founder
of the Project Management Institutes Uruguay Chapter, and
a member of the International Information Systems Security
Certification Consortium. Nikitin earned his MBA degree
from EOI Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Kirk Rehage
Kirk Rehage is the group manager of
IT auditing for Chevron Corp., a member
of The IIAs Advanced Technology
Committee and ISACA, and term
governor for the North California East
Bay IIA Chapter. As IT audit group
manager, Rehage is responsible for the
Internal Audit Departments IT assurance and controls consulting activities in more than 180
countries.
Rehage has more than 30 years of energy industry experience and has held a variety of roles delivering IT services,
such as building computing infrastructure and network environments, managing application delivery organizations, and
technical programming of engineering and earth science
analytical software and database solutions.

Reviewers
The IIA thanks the following individuals and organizations
that provided valuable comments and added great value to
this guide:
Professional Practices Committee:
oo Advanced Technology Committee
oo Board of Regents
oo Committee on Quality
oo Internal Auditing Standards Board
oo Professional Issues Committee
oo Ethics Committee
Urton Anderson, McCombs School of Business,
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Lily Bi, The IIA, USA
Larry Brown, The Options Clearing Corp., USA
Faisal R. Danka, London, UK
Christopher Fox, ASA, eDelta, New York, USA
Nelson Gibbs, Deloitte & Touche LLP, USA
Frank Hallinan, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP,
USA
Greg Kent, SecureIT, USA
Lemuel Longwe, Ernst & Young Chartered
Accountants, Zimbabwe
Steve Mar, Resources Global, USA
Tom Margosian, Ford Motor Company, USA
James Reinhard, Simon Property Group Inc., USA

Steve Hunt, CIA, CISA, CBM

Steve Hunt is a senior manager in the
risk consulting group of Crowe Horwath
LLP , vice chair of The IIAs Advanced
Technology Committee, and a member
of ISACA and the Association of
Professionals in Business Management.
At Crowe Horwath, Hunt works with
Fortune 1000 mid-sized, and smallmarket companies in different industries, directing the
delivery of financial, operational, and IT risk management
engagements.
Hunt has more than 20 years of experience working in
different industries, including accounting, internal auditing,
and management consulting. More specifically, he has
performed in-depth Sarbanes-Oxley compliance audits and
other internal and external audits, and participated in business process reengineering projects and business development
initiatives. He also has several years of experience configuring
SAP R/3 applications and application security and business
process controls and has been a featured speaker at several
universities and organizations in the United States.
Fernando D. Nikitin, CIA, CISA,
CGEIT, CISM, CISSP
Fernando Nikitin has more than 16
years of experience in internal auditing,
IT governance, and information security
and has worked for banking, government, and multilateral organizations. He
is an internal auditor at the Office of the
Auditor General of the Inter-American
Development Bank. Previously, Nikitin was the IT audit
manager at Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay.
29

The Unique Alternative

to the Big Four

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O SAS 70 audits;

O Technology risk assessment;

O Payment card industry reviews.

O Business continuity and disaster recovery.

With clients throughout the United States and internationally, Crowes practice brings together independent,
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For more information, contact Vicky Ludema at 800.599.2304 or [email protected].

Crowe Chizek and Company LLC is a member of Horwath International Association, a Swiss association (Horwath). Each member firm of Horwath is a separate and independent legal
entity. Accountancy services in the state of California are rendered by Crowe Chizek and Company LLP, which is not a member of Horwath. 2008 Crowe Chizek and Company LLC

RISK8068

Crowe provides a consultative

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O Comply with regulatory requirements

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The Unique Alternative to the Big Four

Oracle and PeopleSoft are registered trademarks of Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.
UNIX is a registered trademark of the The SCO Group.
Crowe Chizek and Company LLC is a member of Horwath International Association, a Swiss association (Horwath). Each member firm of Horwath is a separate and independent legal
entity. Accountancy services in the state of California are rendered by Crowe Chizek and Company LLP, which is not a member of Horwath. 2008 Crowe Chizek and Company LLC

RISK8068

GTAG 11: Developing the IT Audit Plan

Due to the high degree of organizational reliance on IT, it is crucial that chief audit executives (CAEs)
understand how to create an IT audit plan as well as determine the frequency of audits and the breadth
and depth of each audit. However, results from several Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) external quality
assessment reviews reveal that developing an appropriate IT audit plan is one of the weakest links in internal
audit activities. Many times, internal auditors simply review what they know or outsource to other companies,
letting them decide what to audit.
To this end, Developing the IT Audit Plan can help CAEs and internal auditors:
Understand the organization and how IT supports it.
Define and understand the IT environment.
Identify the role of risk assessments in determining the IT audit universe.
Formalize the annual IT audit plan.
This GTAG also provides an example of a hypothetical organization to show CAEs and internal auditors how
to execute the steps necessary to define the IT audit universe.
Wed like your feedback! Visit the GTAG 11 page under www.theiia.org/gtags to rate this Practice Guide and
submit your comments.

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GTAGs are Practice Guides

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