The International Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) defined internal audit as an

independent and objective activity which gives assurance to improve operations and contribute
an additional value to the organization. Based on Murdock (2017), there are four significant
phases in the process of internal auditing. It includes planning, fieldwork, reporting, and follow-
up. These phases are indeed important that if neglected will cause tremendous financial crisis
and imminent regulatory breaches (Courtnell, 2020).
            Auditing process is different and unique to every organization or any auditing firms but
most of such follow broad phases including planning, fieldwork, reporting, and follow-up. These
fundamental phases form part of the improvement and additional value of an organization which
give emphasis on the idea that every step is indeed as important as the other. One phase cannot
be fulfilled without the help of another phase which means every phase contributes to the
succession of the other phases. With that being said, in my own opinion, every phase is
important although planning and fieldwork is the core contributor of the succession of the
internal audit process. Moreover, the planning phase of internal audit is not a simple process
though often overlooked by some companies because according to Gertland (2017) in his article
about the importance of audit planning they emphasize that it involves a lot of consideration of
the client’s industry and varying external factors. Hence, planning is the most crucial part in the
process of internal auditing due to its nature of being the first step whereby the other steps would
follow to attain the objective of the audit. In addition, the planning phase also needs to be as
concrete as possible because it serves as the foundation of the whole internal audit process which
will then be the basis of the succeeding phases (Gertland, 2017). Furthermore, fieldwork as well
is one of the most significant and vital phases aside from planning due to its very nature wherein
every plan that the previous phase establishes will be now put to a test. This phase according to
Murdock (2017) will be the process of execution of the determination of the effectiveness and
efficiency of the system or program implemented as well as how these systems or programs are
performing. Thus, these two phases are truly the most important phases of the internal auditing
but it does not mean the others are not as significant as these. Hence, internal auditing will not be
successful without the need of the auditors to report and follow-up the results that planning and
fieldwork has concluded.
            Auditing phases will really be tested if it were used in an actual scenario. One of the most
successful and well-known companies in the Philippines is the SM Investment Corporation. It is
a pleasure really to have an opportunity to scrutinize this company not only for their financial
greatness but also how their policies and systems work toward their attainment of their goals and
objectives. As a student who just started to learn about the phases of internal auditing, I will
definitely follow the four fundamental phases of internal auditing namely planning, fieldwork,
reporting, and follow-up. To have an effective planning phase, the plan should have the objective
of define the company or client, establish a well-rooted study of the client performance not only
on the present but including its past performances, verify and assess the risks which the client
might face in the present and in the future, make use of realistic timeline and resources, create
the audit plan, and review and revise the plan. Secondly, the fieldwork should be the process of
executing and testing the plan established by the previous step. This should include collection of
evidence, documentation of the programs implemented, application of methodologies,
management of the current work, and report status update of the fieldwork. In continuation, after
planning and fieldwork, reporting will then be the next phase which should include reporting
summary of the internal audit report. Summary that defines the processes that are working on the
client’s organization and how it could be improved or how it could add more value to the
organization and the processes that need to be removed and modified due to its inefficiency in
contributing to the organization’s objectives. And lastly, the follow-up phase where it includes
the status of the implemented processes or systems in the client’s organization and how it does
affect the continuous growth of the organization.
            To sum up, in the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization, the
fundamental internal auditing phases should be followed. Every single phase contributes to the
relative success of the audit. Thus, the auditing process is truly an important procedure that most
of the company should consider for their goals and objectives to be met.

References
Courtnell, J. (2020, February 12). Process.st. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from
https://www.process.st/audit-process/
Daniel J. Gartlan, C. (2017, September 1). Journal of Accountancy. Retrieved October 2020,
from https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2017/sep/importance-of-audit-
planning.html
Murdock, H. (2017). Operational Auditing. Florida: CRC Press.