A Fitting Tribute

WHEN I BEGAN WORKING AT THE IIA SEVEN YEARS AGO, BILL BISHOP was president of The Institute. I can honestly say I have never met anyone who had more passion for, or commitment to, his chosen profession. Before his untimely death in 2004, Bill traveled the globe telling members to stand up and "be

proud to be internal auditors." He was an advocate of quality research to enhance internal auditing and worked tirelessly to make the profession truly global. This month, The IIA Research Foundation will publish the complete Common Body of Knowledge Study 2006 (CBOK), the most comprehensive study of the internal audit profession ever conducted. The study was made possible through The William G. Bishop III, CIA, Memorial Fund, established by The IIA Research Foundation to honor Bill's vision.

The CBOK research report summarizes information about the profession gathered from internal auditors around the world, including audit executives, managers, seniors, supervisors, and staff. The report identifies the attributes of an effective internal audit activity, skills and competencies, audit tools and techniques, and emerging roles of the internal audit activity. The overall purpose of CBOK is to develop the most comprehensive database to date to capture a current view of the global state of internal auditing. The database will be updated as internal audit practices evolve, and future studies will provide data for comparison, analysis, and trending.