The Institute of Internal Auditors and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants have signed a three-year renewal of their existing agreement.
The renewed memorandum of understanding is expected to further strengthen and extend the current cooperation agreement between the IIA and ACCA and enable both organizations to continue to work closely together to advance their respective professions.
The MoU was signed this month by IIA president and CEO Anthony Pugliese and ACCA chief executive Helen Brand. Under the terms of the deal, the IIA and ACCA intend to focus on advancing their members’ careers, improving governance practices and serving the public interest.
“This MOU builds on an already strong working relationship with ACCA,” Pugliese said in a statement. “We look forward to our ongoing collaboration together. Internal audit plays a vital role in providing the independent, internal assurance that supports all types of external disclosures, so our global organizations represent complementary functions in many areas.”
The IIA and ACCA are teaming on joint research with the goal of discovering new insights and solutions to address the ongoing effects of digital transformation on internal control frameworks. The report will be published next year and will offer perspectives and guidance for internal auditors, boards of directors, regulators and others. On top of that, the two groups are exploring opportunities to do global research related to environmental, social and governance and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The researchers will try to identify data and trends that will help advance the role and impact of internal auditors as leaders in the ESG and DEI areas, which are of vital importance to effective corporate governance and public trust.
”We’re delighted to be signing this new MOU with the IIA,” said Brand in a statement. “We believe that we can develop research together that resonates with a global audience of finance professionals across different disciplines. We already have strong links with the IIA and we look forward to strengthening those in a range of areas for the benefit of our memberships.”
The IIA has been working with ACCA for years in offering a challenge exam to ACCA members so they can receive the IIA’s Certified Internal Auditor designation, a globally recognized certification for internal audit practitioners. Since 2015, over 5,000 ACCA members have sat for the CIA challenge exam. The IIA offers the opportunity to qualified ACCA members because earning the CIA represents an achievement for individuals practicing internal auditing.
The two organizations plan to continue advocating for each other’s qualifications and use their own channels to promote their partnership. They will also raise awareness and promote advocacy of each other’s initiatives and programs to reflect the distinct but complementary roles played by professionals in the fields of accounting, public financial management, external audit and internal audit, in respect to effective governance, including the IIA’s
