The Effectiveness of Internal Auditing in Saudi Arabian Local Essay

The Effectiveness of Internal Auditing in Saudi Arabian Local Government - Essay Example Variables used to measure the efficiency include the competence of the staff in the audit department, the size of the department, the independence and autonomy of the audit department, the management support of the audit process, relationship of the internal practitioners with the internal auditors and eventually, the relationship between the audit council and the auditing department (Kamrava, 2010). The methodology used in the survey, archival and the conduction of the research involved the use of unstructured interviews (personalized and intercepted via telephone) and use of survey questionnaires, the respondents in this process included administrators form the Al Sharqiyah Municipal government and in this organization, the internal audit department will be fully utilized as a source of information, Correspondence with the governor or his handlers will be required to evaluate the efficiency of the operations in the local government and to have their opinion ad take on the role and importance of internal auditing in local government. The analysis of the findings will help determine the level of comprehension of the practitioners and stakeholders of the audit process and importance and also gauge their efficiency in the implementation of the same. A review of their competence levels will be of prime importance since it will also indicate the nature of the workforce in the local government versus the kind of work they do which in turn will assist in the evaluation of their efficiency at work. The background information on the structure of local government and audit requirements of local government as mandated by the Generally Accepted Auditing Principles and the Audit Practice in Local Government will be used as a yardstick in the measurement of efficiency of the practitioners, the internal audit process and the compliance of the administrators to the laid rules and regulations of internal auditing (Kamrava, 2010). BACK GROUND / INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY Saudi Arabia, home to a massive population of 22.1 million p eople according to polls done in 2001 by the Saudi Department of Statistics. To manage this population that sits on land and water. The Saudi Arabian government has divided the nation onto fourteen provinces also known as emirates. These are namely Al Banah,Al Hudud as Shamaliyah, Al Jawaf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Al Qurayyaf, Ar Riyadin , Al Sharqiyah ,Asir Hail Jizan, Mkkah, Najra and Tabuk. All these emirates are either headed by brothers, sons and nephews and other kin to the King (currently King Abdullah) according to the economic and political significance of the emirate. This system allows the emirates to be divided into districts and sub-districts relative to their geographical size. With the developments in trade within Saudi Arabia and the world, the economy, social set up and political