Part (d) for 5 marks required a description of additional functions, other than fraud investigations, the IA department could be asked by the directors to undertake. Performance was mixed on this question.

Candidates were able to easily describe different functions such as internal controls reviews, value for money (VFM) audits, review for compliance with laws and regulations and risk assessment/management.

Some candidates just identified these types of functions with no description of what these functions were; answers such as “the IA department could undertake a VFM audit” were common. Candidates must consider the question requirement verb, a describe requirement requires some detailed descriptions.

There was also some confusion as to the types of functions IA would perform, for example they should not prepare financial statements. In addition some candidates focused exclusively on the IA department liaising with the external auditor.