The Green Pen Digest – April 2025

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Green Pen Digest!

Global Updates

1. Implementing the new Global Internal Audit Standards in the Public Sector

The The Institute of Internal Auditors Inc., together with the ECIIA | European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing have released a paper for IIA members exploring how the Standards apply in the public sector. This is a members’-only resource, available for download here

2. Internal Audit Month goes Global!

May is Internal Audit Month, and on 2nd May, The Institute of Internal Auditors Inc.‘s National Institutes and Chapters around the world will unite to honor the crucial role of internal auditors. Anthony Pugliese, President and CEO of The IIA, is calling on all IA professionals to “come together on May 2 and throughout Internal Audit Month to create a meaningful, worldwide celebration of our profession!”

You can find more information and shareable resources from the IIA here

3. Audit Committee Institute of Ireland’s Audit Committee Handbook

Are you an Audit Committee member? Do you work in the Company Secretariat or present to Audit Committees?

The Audit Committee Institute of Ireland has updated its Audit Committee Handbook, to reflect the changed priorities and agenda of Audit Committees. As noted in the Handbook, it “draws on insights and learnings from ACI’s interaction with thousands of audit committee members, audit and governance professionals, and business leaders in over 40 countries worldwide over more than 10 years.“

You can find a link to the Handbook in this post from Amer Morgan (CIA, CRMA, CFE) (thank you for sharing, Amer!)

4. Getting Started With: Root Cause Analysis

The Institute of Internal Auditors Inc. have released a new video in their ‘Getting Started With’ series, with the latest one focused on Root Cause Analysis (RCA). This short 6-minute video covers what RCA is, why it matters, a couple of the RCA techniques that are available and how to use RCA in your organisation.

You can watch the video here

5. Insights to Quality: Why Maturity Assessments Add Value to External Quality Assessments

The 2024 edition of the Quality Assessment Manual states, “Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) should strive for more than conformance with the Global Internal Audit Standards. They should also focus on optimizing the internal audit function’s (IAF’s) performance with the goal of addressing the organization’s changing needs and exceeding stakeholders’ expectations. A good start to optimizing the function is assessing its maturity.”

The Institute of Internal Auditors Inc. has released a new Insights to Quality paper that discusses:

why maturity assessments add value to external quality assessments
The definitions of different maturity levels
drivers of maturity.

This is a free resource for members, that can be downloaded here

6. Fraud Risk Management Certificate

COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and The Institute of Internal Auditors Inc. have come together to develop a new certificate program – Fraud Risk Management.

This certificate equips participants with the skills needed to implement a robust fraud risk management framework based on COSO principles. You can find out more, and register for the course, here

In the news…

These blogs came across my desk this month, and both are well worth a read:

1. Raising the Bar: Developing performance measures that truly reflect internal audit’s value, by Sally-Anne Pitt

2. Internal auditors must take ownership of how we’re perceived, by Richard Chambers

From the pencil case

Earlier this month, I spent 2 days #gettingmynerdon at SOPAC 2025, the premier Internal Audit conference for the Asia Pacific region.

But let’s be honest:

👉 Not everyone has the time (or the travel budget) to attend.

👉 And even if you were there… finding the time to digest and implement everything you learnt afterwards? Tough.

That’s why I issued a special edition of The Green Pen Digest.

What’s inside:

🔍 Key takeaways from 4 keynote presentations

✅ Practical actions you can apply RIGHT NOW

🧠 Insight that helps you upskill and add value fast

This special edition is available via the GPC website, here: https://greenpenconsulting.com.au/2025/04/08/the-green-pen-digest-special-sopac-edition/

Keep an eye out for these next month…

May: Draft version of the Culture Topical Requirement is expected to be released by the Global IIA for review and comment
The Institute of Internal Auditors – Baltimore Chapter have a lot going on in May, from AI to report writing to networking. Check out their latest post here to see all of their events, and to register.
11-13 May: Are you a Risk, Continuity or Insurance professional? Then check out the Risk-!n 2025 conference at the Marriott Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. For more information and to register, check out the event website here
13 May: AuditBoard are hosting an online webinar titled “5 Key Questions About Being a CAE”, which will delve into the pivotal role of the Chief Audit Executive (CAE) in today’s dynamic organisations. You can register here
15 May: IIA Luxembourg is presenting a one-day course, Third Party Risk, designed to explore how third-party risk can impact your organisation, and how internal auditors can play a critical role in assessing and mitigating these risks across the service and supply chain. Register here
15 & 16 May: Instituto de Auditores Internos Ecuador IIA Ecuador’s XIII Internal Audit Congress is taking place at the Swissotel de Quito. You can find out more information on the agenda, speakers and register here
20 May: The Albanian Institute of Internal Auditors and Здружение на Внатрешни Ревизори на Северна Македонија – IIA North Macedonia are jointly hosting The Power of Cooperation – Regional Audit Conference in Tirana, Albania. The conference is also available virtually. You can check out the agenda and register here
24 May: The Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa are celebrating Internal Audit Month with the inaugural IIA SA Public Interest Day—an inspiring initiative where internal auditors give back in service of the public interest. For more information and to register, head over here
28 May: Auditopia are hosting a 90-minute webinar on Revolutionizing Audit Reporting: Clarity, Impact, and Technology. You can find out more or register here

…And beyond

17 June: The virtual IIA AuditSphere Small Audit Team Conference is on. This conference is ideal for small audit teams (typically those with fewer than 10 auditors). Find out more here
July: Draft version of the Business Resiliency Topical Requirement is expected to be released by the Global IIA for review and comment
14-16 July: The 2025 International IIA Conference is being held this year in Toronto, Canada & virtually. With 12.8 CPE hours at the ready, you can find out more or register here
13-15 October: The IIA PNG Pacific International Conference is being held in Port Moresby, PNG. To stay tuned for updates, refer to the IIA PNG website here or the IIA PNG LinkedIn group, here

Joke of the Month!

Why did the auditor take a ladder to work?

Because they wanted to reach a higher level of assurance!

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 May, and don’t forget to #getyournerdon!