QUESTION $220$ marks

You are the newly appointed CAE for Sharpe Solutions $($Pty$)$ Ltd$.$ You want to evaluate the effectiveness of their existing internal audit function $($IAF$).$ As a point of departure, you thought it would be appropriate to find out how the IAF was established. From your meeting with the Chief

Executive Officer $($CEO$)$ of Sharpe Solutions $($Pty$)$ Ltd$,$ the following points were noted:

From your meeting with the Chief Executive Officer $($CEO$)$ of Sharpe Solutions $($Pty$)$ Ltd$,$ the following points were noted:

$$ The IAF has been in existence for ten months.

$$ The IAF reports to the CFO functionally and the CEO administratively.

$$ The IAF only undertakes projects as instructed by the CEO or the CFO, because the IAF does not have plans, guidelines, or procedures in place.

$$ The IAF consists of seven employees $($consisting of two managers and five auditors$)$ who have four laptops and one printer, which is shared by the internal audit staff. The audit staff mainly use MS Word and Excel for their working papers and reports.

Due to the recent establishment of the IAF and your appointment, you as the CAE want to market the IAF

REQUIRED $(15$ MARKS$)$

$2\mathrm{.}1$ Based on the above information, you are required to critically evaluate the existing IAF against and recommend improvements to fix the deviation, as per the Global Internal Audit Standards.

Structure your answer in a table in the following format:

Current deviation of Sharpe Solutions $($Pty$)$ Ltd & Recommendation as per Global Internal Audit Standards $($GIAS$)$

REQUIRED $(5$ MARKS$)$

$2\mathrm{.}2$ Suggest five $(5)$ tools$/$initiatives to market the IAF.