Internal and Management Audit

Internal audit services assure partners, board members and top management that the daily transactions conducted in all areas of the company are reliable and follow its policies and procedures.

Different from accounting audit, which is also called independent or external audit, internal audit can be performed by professionals of any area or background, who are not required to be registered with any professional body or council.

However, there is the Institute of Internal Auditors of Brazil (IIA) which issues national and international certificates to those that want to learn more aboutand specialize in the area, as well as value their knowledge and work.

Also, the Federal Accounting Council (CFC)issuedNBC TI 01 (Brazilian Technical Standards in Internal Audit), which sets out basic guidelines for the performance of internal accounting audits by accountants.

With the objective of increasing the confidence and credibility in the Brazilian capital markets, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) requires some companies to promote the rotation of independent auditors every five years, however, companies that have internal audit committeesare allowed to rotate them after a longer term from every five to every ten years.

In this case, the internal audit committee is responsible for hiring and following up the external and internal audit, as well as for the internal controls system and for monitoring risk exposure, and plays an important role in the board of directors.

TheBrazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC) has recently launched the Guidance on Best Practices of Audit Committee, which, besides the responsibilities described in the previous paragraph, also suggests that the audit committee should be responsible for the financial reports issued to external and internal users.

In the US, the Sarbanes-OxleyAct of 2002,Section 301,requires that listed companies have an audit committee composed by members of the Board of Directors. Later, the US Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) allowed Brazilian companies listed in NYSE and Nasdaqto choose between creating an audit committee and appointing a fiscal council to perform the audit committee’s duty.

More than an operational area, the internal audit is a tool of independent control, part of the general internal controls system of the company. And to guarantee its independence and efficiency, the internal audit shall report to the CEO or to the Board of Directors, independent from the executive and department managements.

We have extensive experience in internal audit, and UniQue is able to guide and assist you in analyzing the transactions, policies and procedures of your company, according to your needs.

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