As per the seventh annual Global State of the Internal Audit Profession survey conducted by PwC US, internal auditors can expand their role by aligning their business objectives with new company priorities emerging from the recession. With inputs from more than 2,500 executives across 50 countries, the survey showed that internal audit professionals can play a significant role by supporting company’s growth strategies by constantly monitoring changes in areas of emerging markets, mergers and acquisitions, social media, the cloud and the regulatory labyrinth.

However, the survey also suggests that internal auditors should also address the risks concerning such growth strategies.

In a release, Brian Brown, principal and Internal Audit Performance Improvement leader at PwC said, “Now that the financial crisis has largely passed, the big questions facing CEOs are in growth and the future. While it's a good place to be, there are still risks involved and internal auditors need to offer guidance on these emerging risks, like regulatory compliance in new markets or reputational risks related to social media.”

In terms of risk areas such as growth and technology, the survey found considerable disparity between CEOs and internal auditors’ focus of interest. It was seen that internal auditors were least interested in the areas of growth across newer geographic markets which was the primary focus for CEOs. With more than 70 percent of CEOs planning on investing in IT, less than 25 percent of the auditors were keen on investing in cloud computing or social media.

However, CEOs top concern area is government overregulation and hence 60 percent of internal auditors are expected to pay more attention to regulatory compliance programs in their audit plans.

The three important focus areas identified in the study for internal audit departments include strategic growth covering emerging markets, mergers and acquisition activity, innovation as well as new product development; information technology covering security and data protection risks related to eMobility and cloud computing, data lass and distribution of malware and Regulation that includes financial reform changes and sustainability reporting.

According to Brown, internal auditors with eye on changes in emerging markets, technology and regulation will be able to elevate their importance to the business and will appeal to the CEOs and other company stakeholders.