The chief audit executive (CAE) has decided to outsource an audit of the organization's cloud governance in the annual audit plan. Why would the CAE outsource this audit?

Question

Options

• ALack of internal audit staff proficiency.
• BLack of audit planning.
• CLack of internal assessments.
• DLack of due professional care.

• A
  83% (30)
• B
  11% (4)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Outsourcing the cloud governance audit signals that internal audit lacks the specialized technical knowledge or skills to perform it competently - this is lack of proficiency (A), which is a legitimate and common reason to co-source or outsource an engagement when in-house expertise doesn't cover a specialized domain like cloud infrastructure.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B (Lack of audit planning): Outsourcing is a planning decision, not a symptom of poor planning - the CAE is actively planning by recognizing a skill gap and addressing it.
• C (Lack of internal assessments): The absence of prior internal assessments doesn't drive outsourcing; it might drive adding an audit to the plan, which the CAE already did.
• D (Lack of due professional care): Due professional care is a standard internal auditors must follow, not a cause for outsourcing. In fact, outsourcing because of a skill gap demonstrates due professional care.

Memory tip: Think of outsourcing as the CAE's response to a competency gap - "I don't have the right people for this job." Whenever you see a highly technical domain (cloud, cybersecurity, AI systems) paired with an outsourcing decision, the driver is almost always proficiency, not process failures like planning or care.

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