Welcome to the twelfth edition of the Green Pen Digest!
As you head into the New Year, hopefully after a restful and relaxing break, here are the key changes you may have missed over the festive season of December 2025:
Global Updates
1. New Topical Requirement: Organisational Behaviour Released
The latest Topical Requirement, Organisational Behaviour, provides a minimum baseline and consistent, comprehensive approach to help internal auditors assess the design and effectiveness of control processes related to behaviour.
Issued: 15 December 2025
Effective: 15 December 2026
Both the Topical Requirement and the User Guide can be downloaded here
2. ISO 9001: 2015 –> ISO 9001: 2026
The International Quality Management Standard, ISO 9001, has been revised for 2026.
In this post from ⚡ Lokman Hossain ⚡ he breaks down the key changes by clause, to help ISO auditors understand the key shifts. Thank you, Lokman!
3. Organisational Behaviour’s Impact on Success
This latest edition of Tone at the Top from The Institute of Internal Auditors focuses on the impact of organisational behaviour on achieving strategic objectives, highlighting the need for boards and internal audit leaders to assess culture, leadership incentives, and employee engagement to support long-term success and protect stakeholders.
This members’-only resource can be accessed here
4. OSHA’s Top 10 Violations for 2025
Whether Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations apply to your organisation or not, this one is for all Health & Safety auditors and professionals.
This article from OSHA looks at the Top 10 most frequently cited standards in FY 2025, from Fall Protection coming in at #1, to Personal Protective Equipment at #10. How do your organisation’s H&S controls stack up?
5. Four New Global Practice Guides Released
The Institute of Internal Auditors has had a busy end to the year, releasing four new Global Practice Guides:
- Understanding and Auditing Big Data (2nd Edition)
- Communication Results of Internal Audit Services
- Auditing Credit Risk Management (2nd Edition)
- Auditing Procurement in the Public Sector (2nd Edition)
These members’-only resources can all be accessed here
6. Whitepaper: Setting the Audit Committee Agenda: Key Questions for 2026
As the introduction to this whitepaper from Protiviti points out: “As organisations grapple with rapid technological change, evolving regulations, and increasing risks in areas like AI, cybersecurity, and data privacy, audit committees are being called on to broaden their view of enterprise risk and governance. With oversight responsibilities growing in both scope and complexity, this whitepaper reveals the nine critical priorities that will define effective audit committee leadership in 2026.”
You can read the full whitepaper here
7. The 7th Annual Internal Audit Beacon Awards
First awarded in 2019, the Internal Audit Beacon Awards, awarded by Richard Chambers, have now become an annual tradition in the Internal Audit community.
As Richard says: “The Internal Audit Beacon Awards recognize individuals who actively advance the profession through speaking, publishing, teaching, and engagement across traditional and digital platforms. Beacon recipients are thought leaders, advocates, and influencers. Some are global in reach. Others focus their impact within regions or countries. All move the profession forward.”
This year’s awards recognised 12 recipients across 11 countries. Congratulations to all recipients! You can read about the full list of recipients here
8. AICPA News – January 2026
AICPA News is a round-up of recent announcements from the American Institute of CPAs.
You can find the latest updates for the month here
Australian Updates
1. ASIC Late Lodgement Penalties
In November 2025, ASIC released it’s enforcement priorities for 2026.
Following this announcement, this article from Pitcher Partners looks at what companies need to understand about whether they need to lodge reports; what companies should do if they believe they will be late to lodge; and what they can expect in terms of penalties.
In the news
1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission‘s Chief Accountant has unveiled an ambitious agenda for audit oversight and standard setting, which could bring big changes to SOX programs
2. After initially refusing to do so, the Commonwealth Bank has agreed to refund customers who were charged excessive fees…but only for some. As noted in this article from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) this is a ‘logical and ethical contradiction’
3. ASIC sues BDO in Australia (specifically, BDO Audit (WA) Pty Ltd), alleging materially false or misleading audit reports.
4. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has sanctioned an audit partner and their firm, Fruci & Associates, PS, for violations related to audit evidence and quality control issues.
From the Blogosphere
These blogs / articles / posts came across my desk this month, and are well worth a read:
1. 5 Internal Audit Resolutions for 2026 by Richard Chambers
2. A CAE’s First 90 Days by Tom O’Reilly
Keep an eye out for these next month…
- 5 February, 2026: The first cohort of The Audit Accelerator Program kicks off for 2026! Find out more, and register here
…And beyond
- 1-3 March, 2026: The Institute of Internal Auditors – Australia will be hosting SOPAC, Australia’s premier internal audit, risk and controls assurance event, in Sydney. Registrations are open now via this link
- 9-11 March, 2026: The Institute of Internal Auditors Great Audit Minds (GAM) Conference is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. With 15.6 CPEs available, you can register or find out more here
- 18-20 March, 2026: The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is holding it’s European Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. You can find out more and register here
- 23-24 March, 2026: Gartner will be hosting the Finance Symposium/Xpo™ in Sydney. Preview the agenda, register and find out more here
Joke of the Month!
Why do accountants make great detectives?
Because they always follow the numbers!
That’s all for this month, folks.
If you have any key updates that you feel others should know about, feel free to send me a message and I’ll be sure to include them in next month’s Digest.
Until then, have a great January, and don’t forget to #GetYourNerdOn!
Claire Berry
Founder & Director, Green Pen Consulting
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