¹College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA. Tel: +1 404 894 4907; Fax: +1 404 894 6030; E-mail: arnold.schneider@mgt.gatech.edu

²is a professor of Accounting and the Accounting Area Coordinator at Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a BS in Accounting from Case Western Reserve University, a PhD from Ohio State University, and obtained a CPA certificate in Maryland. Professor Schneider was formerly an auditor with the US Government Accountability Office. He has also held visiting faculty positions at Macquarie University (Australia) and Emory University. Dr Schneider has co-authored a managerial accounting textbook and has published over 50 journal articles on auditing and cost/managerial accounting topics. He has also served on the editorial boards of several journals.

Received 7 July 2008; Revised 7 July 2008; Published online 28 August 2008.

Abstract

This paper discusses the professional standards and research findings pertaining to the roles of internal audit in the Sarbanes–Oxley era, particularly under the new Auditing Standard No. 5 Guidelines for the implementation of the Act's Section 404. The paper explains how internal audit resources have been used and should be used to assist corporate management, audit committees, and external auditors in their corporate governance duties. Hence, the analyses in this paper are useful for internal auditors, external auditors, corporate management, and audit committee members. The paper obtains its information from professional auditing standards as well as published research studies pertaining to the roles of internal audit in the Sarbanes–Oxley era.