Internal Audit As a Key Management Tool: Goal Setting, Assessment and Risk Management

The article reveals the role of internal audit in the process of goal setting and risk management assessment as an integral element of modern management. Companies in modern business conditions and a rapidly changing business environment face many challenges related to potential threats. Internal audit helps management achieve its goals by using a systematic and consistent approach to evaluating and improving the effectiveness of risk management, control and corporate governance processes, which makes it an essential tool for achieving the company's strategic goals. The author updates the modern functions of internal audit in accordance with the International Professional Standards of Internal Audit (IASB), complementing the factors that may affect their content. Highlights the impact of the principles of internal audit, showing their complex impact on the company, ensuring a balance between efficiency, evaluation and rationality. This makes internal audit a key tool for achieving management's goal setting. The research is based on universal scientific methods – observation, practical methods of generalization and professional judgment, the method of critical assessment. The element of scientific novelty is determined by the practical method of generalizing a more in-depth understanding of the role of internal audit to changing market conditions and the business environment. Using professional judgments, the author focuses on the impact of business risks on the risks of distortion of accounting (financial) statements. Internal audit contributes to the creation of a risk management culture where risk management becomes an integrated element in business processes. Revealing the content of the stages of risk assessment and management, the role of internal audit in creating a culture of risk management within the company is assessed, which, in turn, contributes to its sustainable development and competitiveness. The article will be useful for both practicing internal auditors and managers seeking to improve the level of risk management in the organization.