© 2023 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. This presentation, including all supporting materials, is proprietary to Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is for the sole internal use of the intended recipients. Because this presentation may contain information that is confidential, proprietary or otherwise legally protected, it may not be further copied, distributed or publicly displayed without the express written permission of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates.2024 Audit Plan Hot SpotsRESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION2 © 2023 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 779768ObjectivesThe Audit Plan Hot Spots report identifies and analyzes the key risk areas that audit departments anticipate focusing on during the next year. This research enables audit departments to do the following:Benchmark Audit Plan CoverageCompare, validate and further examine audit plan coverage.Educate the Audit CommitteeEducate the audit committee on risk trends that affect global organizations.Drive Audit Team DiscussionsEnable audit teams’ discussions prior to audit engagement planning and scoping.Assess Key RisksDetermine appropriate questions to ask management during risk assessment and audit scoping.RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION3 © 2023 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 779768Executive SummaryThe 2024 Audit Plan Hot Spots report is based on quantitative data from 100+ chief audit executives, interviews and surveys throughout the Gartner global network of client organizations and extensive secondary literature reviews. This year, three themes underlie the 12 hot spots:1. Cost and Growth PressuresThe run-away inflation that characterized 2022 has slowed, but the world economy continues to face stiff headwinds. Tight credit conditions and subdued demand, combined with continued geopolitical rivalries that threaten supply chains, are exerting upward cost pressures. Organizations are transitioning to new, digital strategies to drive growth, but complex digital transformation projects are costly and a sluggish economy limits resources available for project implementation. 2. Increasing FragilityVarious multidimensional pressures are making organizations more fragile. Organizations must align and adapt their growth strategies, operations and governance frameworks to be flexible and responsive to both short- and long-term vulnerabilities. These efforts must also differentiate between internal threats, where organizations have direct control, and external threats, which they can only mitigate.3. Heightened AccountabilityOrganizations are facing higher expectations of accountability from stakeholders such as boards, investors, regulatory bodies and civil society organizations. By a 6-to-1 margin, people expect businesses to be more involved in issues such as climate change, economic inequality and...
