Acct 3000 - Guest Speaker Summary

Shane Carey

April 1, 2013

ACCT 3000 (Evening)

Guest Speaker Summary

        During last week’s class meeting, we were fortunate enough to have a guest speaker from Alpha Natural Resources come and talk to the class. Chad Bailey is the Director of Internal Auditing for Alpha Natural Resources and his presentation was very interesting and informative. After giving a brief history of the company and how it has expanded tremendously over the last decade, Mr. Bailey went on to talk about his roles as an internal auditor for Alpha Natural Resources.

        First, Mr. Bailey explained that internal auditors use what is known as the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) as guidelines to complete their duties as internal auditors. When deciding on the specific department or process that will be audited, a risk assessment is conducted. Next, if the risk found is significant, an audit plan will be completed and submitted to the Board of Directors for approval. Once that is approved, there will be a “kick-off meeting” in which auditors will meet with members of the department and strategize on how to complete the audit effectively. This will also help the auditors learn more about the processes before they begin to audit them. Once the audit has concluded, reports will be sent out to members of the department as well as higher-level management and will include what needs to be changed and a deadline for completing the changes. Once the deadline has approached, the auditors will follow up with members of the department to see if the processes have been corrected. If they have not, they will continue to follow up, typically, on a quarterly basis until it has been completed.