What is CIA or Certified Internal Auditor Certification?
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What is Certified Internal Auditor or CIA certification?
Certification is necessary for improving your career and demonstrating your commitment to any field. This is true in professions such as accountancy, engineering, information technology, and others.
Internal Auditing is no exception. Although considered a sub-domain of Business it is not restricted to people with accounting or business backgrounds – against popular belief.
It is open to people from all backgrounds. The Institute of Internal Auditors confers the Certified Internal Auditor®, or CIA®, certification, which is perhaps the sole and unquestionably the most well-known professional qualification in the field of Internal Auditing. It has been regarded as the ''gold standard'' by which experts demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in the field of internal auditing for more than 45 years.
Journey to CIA Certification
Considering CIA, below are the steps you need to follow:
CIA Exam – entry to the program
a) Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline, or
b) Be an active student in your final year of college, or*
c) Be an active student with an approved Internal Audit Education Partnership (IAEP) school.*
d) Hold an active Internal Audit Practitioner designation within the last three years, or
e) Possess five years of internal audit experience, or
*Note: You are able to take the CIA exams, however, your certification will not be awarded until your degree is completed and all program requirements met - most importantly the experience requirements.
You can see that starting the CIA journey by attempting to pass the CIA exams is quite flexible and relatively easy.
Additionally, you also need to abide by the conditions of exam confidentiality, the Code of Ethics, and Continuing Professional Education (CPE), as well as any terms and conditions set by The IIA's Professional Certification Board (PCB).
Taking CIA Exams
Now you are ready to rumble – meaning take the exams –
CIA exam has three parts and although you can take them in any order, I strongly suggest that you take them in the order of 1, 2 and 3.
The three parts are (as revised in 2019)
Part One: Essentials of Internal Auditing: Six domains, 125 MCQs in 150 minutes
Part Two: Practice of Internal Auditing: Four Domains, 100 MCQs in 120 minutes
Part Three: Business Knowledge for Internal Auditing: Four Domains, 100 MCQs in 120 minutes
There are quite a few preparatory resources available to you. I suggest, to do your own research and find one that is best suited to your style of learning and to your pocket 😊.
We at Skdemy strive to help as many as we can to pass the exams in the first attempt. Check out our Free Preview Course for CIA Exam Part One -
Once you have passed all three exams and fulfilled your experience and other requirements you are ready to take over the world.