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• edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect all of these important changes. I gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Ste- ven A. Solomon, Senior Manager, KPMG LLP; Barbara K. White, Assistant Director for Special Projects, Office of the Comptroller of the Trea- sury, State of Tennessee; and Jon A. Wise, Direc- tor of Professional Practice, Michigan Office of the Auditor General, for their invaluable assis- tance in reviewing the manuscript and offering suggestions for improvement. It is also my plea- sure to thank Rebecca Russum and other mem- bers of the staff of the GFOA who worked with the manuscript at various stages of production. Stephen J. Gauthier August 2002 IN7'EI~NAL 14 ZII~IZ'ING What is the role of the internal auditor? Internal auditors work directly for management, at some level, and are primarily responsible for helping management to fulfill its duties as effec- tively and efficiently as possible. Typically inter- nal auditors play an important role in helping management to ensure that internal controls are well designed, properly implemented, and ade- quately maintained. GFOA recommends that every government con- sider the feasibility of establishing a formal in- ternal audit function.8 As a rule, a formal internal audit function is particularly valuable for those activities involving a high degree of risk (e.g., complex accounting systems, contracts with outside parties, a rapidly changing environ- ment). The internal audit function should be estab- lished formally by charter, enabling resolution, or other appropriate legal means. All reports of internal auditors, as well as the annual internal audit work plan, should be made available to the government's audit committee or its equivalent. BEstablishing an Internal Audit Function (GFOA recommended practice, approved 1997). TO AUDITING 51