A comprehensive review of the internal audit quality literature

The internal audit activity is a key element of corporate governance. In recent years, the evolution of internal audit has led to the development of the concept of “internal audit quality”. According to the 2012 practice guide published by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) titled “Quality Assurance and Improvement Program”, the quality of a product or service is the degree to which the product or service meets the customer's expectations. In other words, quality in internal audit is guided by “commitment to meeting customer/auditee expectations” and “perform professional responsibilities in line with standards”.The purpose of the present research is to review the literature on the concept of internal audit quality. To that end, we review and explore quality management systems such as Deming's model, Kaizen, Juran's model, Total Quality Management (TQM), the Sigma Six model, and ISO 9000; quality measurement models such as balanced scorecard, logic and maturity models; alternative conceptualisations of quality such as external audit quality, information system quality, service quality, internal service quality and team performance quality; responsibility for internal audit quality; processes for assessing quality; reporting on quality; and internal audit quality measurement frameworks such as a comprehensive approach to the use of external audit; the Internal Audit Quality Assessment Framework (IAQAF) developed by HM Treasury, Trotman's qualitative research on internal audit quality, the IIA, Protiviti, and the research work of Ziegenfuss.