The Nature of a Dynamic Relationship between Audit Committee and Auditors, Both Internal and External

Abstract

Good corporate governance is now considered a basic condition to accept and register an organization in most of the Stock Exchange Markets all over the world. The audit committee plays a major role in corporate governance regarding the organization’s direction, control, and accountability; part of which is the organization’s internal control which is used to provide reasonable assurance about the integrity of management and reliability of the financial reporting. This paper focuses on the audit committee’s powers and functions. The importance of the audit committee’s oversight and monitoring responsibilities to the organizations’ board of directors, shareholders, and other stakeholders, as well as to governing and regulating bodies, have been increasing, especially after the corporate collapse and the passage of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Consequently, most publicly held companies all over the world have been asked to establish and maintain audit committees. These companies and other types of organizations do establish and maintain audit committees to oversee and monitor their overall financial performance, including overseeing the preparation of the financial statements and other financial reports, as well as monitoring the external and internal auditors’ performance. The relationship between the audit committee and both external and internal auditors is important for all parties to fulfill their job commitments. An organization’s board of directors relies on the audit committee’s reports about matters related to managing, directing and controlling the organization. The audit committee acts as a link, and facilitates the communications, between the board of directors and both internal and external auditors.

Keywords: audit committee, internal auditors, external auditors, corporate governance, internal control