INTERNAL AUDITING IN COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT: IS REMOTE AUDITING A SOLUTION?

Abstract

The global pandemic caused by the new coronavirus COVID-19 disease flared up around the world and it was very difficult to predict. When it comes to the worldwide economy, there is no doubt that the pandemic will have serious consequences because, besides being a health crisis, pandemic has already turned into a great economic and financial crisis. This, in turn, left the management of service providing entities left with a dilemma –to choose the right model for their business activities and care for their employee’s health at the same time. This paper discusses possible solutions related to internal audit, as a service providing profession. It also analyses advantages and disadvantages of internal auditing activities performed before and during the pandemic. The authors’ findings lead to the conclusion that auditors could use this business environment as an opportunity for complete digital transformation since the function of internal audit can be further improved using new information and communication technologies.