AD company has recently appointed you as the head of their internal audit department and the head of the risk management committee. The internal audit department consists of a team of ten full time staff and other finance and IT staff are appointed into the internal audit team on an ad hoc basis as required. The rail time staff are all qualified accountants, some with CIMA and some with other professional bodies.
The company prefers to keep the full time staff complement to ten to manage the costs and the team have told you that they are often under considerable pressure to perform their operational and financial audit work and feel short staffed. The team therefore relies on the support of key members of the finance department and IT department, who are experts in their areas
You were appointed to the role by the audit committee and have been given authority to investigate all aspects of the business.
From your initial understanding of the internal audit function which TWO statements describe the strengths of the department?