Salad Days for Internal Auditors

The Institute of Internal Audit (IIA) asserts that Sarbanes-Oxley provisions and desire to protect interests of various stakeholders of corporations have generated tremendous demand for internal auditors. While internal auditors (IAs) still may have to endure stereotypes such as the "financial police," they are increasingly seen as adding value through improving efficiency and effectiveness of organizations and accordingly are seeing job growth and increased salaries. Salaries have grown by 18% since 2004 and the IIA has added over 50,000 members in the last five years. To increase the supply of internal auditors, the IIA is looking to establish IA tracks and even IA major plans at universities.

Given the growth in internal auditing, larger universities would be well advised to work with the IIA toward an IA degree track. For smaller universities, a reasonable option would be to incorporate an IA course as an accounting elective.