During fieldwork, an internal auditor located a significant internal control issue. Without identifying the origins of the issue, the auditor concluded the engagement and included the issue in the…

Question

Options

• ABusiness acumen.
• BCritical thinking.
• CCommunication.
• DAudit report writing.

• A
  4% (1)
• B
  7% (2)
• C
  85% (23)
• D
  4% (1)

Explanation

Communication is correct because in auditing, communication encompasses more than just report writing - it includes the two-way exchange of gathering information through inquiry, interviews, and dialogue with stakeholders. To identify the origins of a control issue, the auditor must ask probing questions and engage relevant parties; skipping this step reveals a gap in investigative communication, not just in analysis or writing.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Business acumen) relates to understanding the industry/business context, which doesn't directly explain the failure to trace a root cause through inquiry.
• B (Critical thinking) might seem appealing since root cause analysis involves reasoning, but the core failure here is not engaging people to gather the information needed - a communication gap precedes the thinking gap.
• D (Audit report writing) is eliminated because the issue was included in the report; the problem occurred during fieldwork, not during reporting.

Memory tip: Think of auditor communication as a funnel - it starts inward (gathering information through inquiry and interviews) before it flows outward (written reports). Whenever a question describes an auditor who stopped short of fully investigating, ask yourself: "Did they fail to ask the right people?" If yes, the answer is Communication.

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