Assurance mapping is the answer! Have we got the question right?

The question we're asking is: ‘how can an organisation work out whether it has the right assurance in the right place?’ 

With a growing market for externally provided assurance engagements, and many different ways of obtaining internal assurance, it can be tricky to know how to get the best value for an organisation.

We believe that understanding how to get the right assurance in the right place is important both for assurance providers (internal and external) and for senior management in any organisation.

This might be as simple a question as whether a small charity needs an audit or an independent examination, or it might be about coordinating a huge spread of different approaches to getting assurance over dozens of large, complex business units.

Assurance mapping: a vital governance and management tool is an introduction to a series of planned articles by Audit and Assurance Faculty experts. We’re starting with the basics, but we’ve got lots of ideas where to go from here, and we’re keen to get more people involved.

Have your say

The final draft of Assurance mapping: a vital governance and management tool is available for comment and review online. Access it via this log in page and let us know what you think.

Here are some topics we’re considering working on:

1. How to develop an assurance map, practical tips and examples covering both large and small organisations.
2. How to use an assurance map with practical examples setting out how different stakeholders use assurance maps.
3. How to apply the assurance mapping approach in a smaller or less complex organisation, to benefit the executive function and external stakeholders.
4. A review of different kinds of assurance that can be obtained to mitigate risks, with further discussion of how to identify the right assurance for a range of different circumstances.
5. Using assurance maps to unlock the value in the first three lines of defence for stakeholders.
6. Addressing culture in an assurance map.
7. Technology and assurance: is technology the zeroth line of defence?

Comment here – or respond to the poll in the draft article – to let us know what we’ve left out, or what might be most useful to you.