Factors Determining Internal Audit Quality: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopian Commercial Banks

Abstract

Internal audit is an important part of the corporate governance structure within an organization. The central objective of this study is to investigate factors determining internal audit quality in Ethiopian commercial Banks. The study has adopted quantitative research approach by employing survey research as a strategy of inquiry. Survey for the quantitative strategy has been used through distributing self-administered questionnaires to 160 internal auditors’ cross-sectional of 15 commercial banks. The Multiple Regression (OLS) has been employed to regress the data obtained via a structured questionnaire of a 5-point Likert scale. The implication of this paper go to inform the members of corporate governance (or board of directors, audit committee, internal auditors and external auditors) to use the findings in to account in their interactions to better equip internal audit function for their role in corporate governance effectiveness. The results of the study indicate that internal auditors in Ethiopian commercial banks believe the performance, competence and use of information technology by internal auditors as significant factors affecting internal audit quality. As a descriptive and regression result shows “performance” is the highest determinant factor of internal audit quality, followed by “competence” and “Information technology” respectively. The study recommends that Ethiopian commercial banks must work to ensure the availability of the key factors to achieve the quality of internal audit function.

Keywords: Competence; Ethiopia; Information Technology; Internal audit quality; Objectivity; performance