The Perspectives of DEMO Application to COSO Internal Audit Framework Risks Mitigation

Abstract

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Framework is one of the most diffused internal audit (IA) tools. According to some sources 82% of companies use it realizing the IA procedures as their reference framework. Still, it presents some limitations, especially in the field of risk assessment linked to the weak formal distinction between the framework itself (the organizational structures and policies realized to promote, integrate and improve the management of risk) and the process used for risk management (the operations realized to assess, treat and monitor the risk). So, the formal separation of the organizational level from the aspects which the framework seeks to integrate into all critical organizations processes where decisions are made is needed. The COSO framework was realized on the base of principles-based approach. So, the aim of the present paper is to describe the formal approach based on DEMO methodology tools oriented to the elimination or mitigation of limits inherent to COSO framework.