Exam CISA topic 1 question 244 discussion

This can create potential conflicts of interest, as the CFO may influence the audit process, raising concerns about the objectivity and independence.

https://www.cfo.com/accounting-tax/2006/10/should-internal-auditor-report-to-the-cfo/ Can an internal auditor examine a company’s books and controls with an objective eye if the person ultimately responsible for those books and controls is his or her boss? Increasingly, audit committees — whose job includes protecting the independence of internal auditors — are hearing that the answer to that question is no. The majority of public companies’ top internal auditors split their reporting duties between the audit committee and the CFO, with their strategy and functionality falling under the committee’s purview and their administrative duties falling under the finance chief’s. While having direct access to the CFO exposes the head auditor to a company’s financial reporting process, it also can undermine that auditor’s independence, according to Moody’s Investors Service’s recently released best practices for audit committees’ oversight of internal auditors.