Internal Audit and Risk Assurance

Internal audit

Bishop Fleming's Internal Audit Service is designed to provide assurance and peace of mind about your company's risk management and control processes. With our service, you can rest assured that controls are designed and operating effectively with a pragmatic approach to control implementation. 

What is Internal Audit?

Internal audit is an independent assurance function that helps organisations change, strengthen, and operate more efficiently . It is critical for any organisation to know that their control environment can be relied on and is designed to mitigate key risks effectively, Internal audit should be there as critical friend working with you providing value add solutions which pragmatic, and practical to bolster and strengthen core controls.

We offer several areas of support, providing pragmatic, solution-focused, clear and easily understood advice:

• Working with you to assess and strengthen how you monitor, manage and steer your business.
• Helping you reinforce your risk management, governance and internal control environment.
• Provide coaching and knowledge transfer to your management teams and Boards
• Carrying out more bespoke, specific advisory reviews to help you answer particular questions, for example, to demonstrate regulatory or contractual compliance in practice or focus on the efficiency or effectiveness of one of your functions or services.
• Helping set up or tailor your risk register/maps, widening this to fuller assurance “stocktakes” / mapping, facilitating risk workshops and training
• Providing risk appetite setting training, and risk maturity assessment, which allows you to better understand critical gaps within the overall risk management within the organisation. Allowing you to implement and strengthen your organisation-wide risk management systems, processes and culture.

• Our expertise extends to vital aspects such as establishing and maintaining secure access to financial systems, implementing robust password policies, and overseeing meticulous data capture.

• Additionally, we offer comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training for your staff, empowering them to navigate the digital landscape with confidence.

Bishop Fleming’s Governance Advisory Services support organisations in delivering sustainable value to stakeholders. Services include, but are not limited to, external reviews of governance, training, succession planning, board management, corporate governance advisory, governance structures and code of conduct.

Our suite of services is designed to allow an independent view, supporting the board by providing triangulation and assurance of practice within an organisation, by focusing on:

Education

• Our experts understand all Trust governance frameworks, as they work with them daily, both at Bishop Fleming and in their own roles as Trustees of Academy Trusts.
   
• Using various options for external reviews, we can ensure you comply fully with the Governance Handbook, Academy Trust Handbook, the Companies Act 2006, and the Charities Acts.

Charities

• Our team supports charities by providing financial reviews and projections, strategic advice, due diligence, evaluation of governance structures, compliance with the charity governance code, and training for trustees.

Corporate Governance 

• Providing strategic advice, financial due diligence, evaluating the effectiveness of governance structures, offering training on regulatory or compliance requirements, and undertaking board effectiveness reviews. We support organisations with an independent evaluation of accountability structures, strategy and effective decision-making.

What is Governance?

Governance is the rules, practices, and processes that enable an organisation to be accountable and authoritative while maximising outcomes and benefits.  Although it is often associated with schools and charities, governance is increasingly important for profit-making organisations, as it enables them to make strategic decisions that take into account all parties involved.