Which statement is least appropriate?

The extent to which the audit manual is kept up to date is one measure of efficiency.

Procedures must be completely relevant or they will not be complied with. If not:

a. It gives out signals that the manual is not considered important by audit management and lowers its status. The objective of the document is to reflect and reinforce changing best professional practice.

b. It is easier to insist on compliance and ensure auditors do not drift into their own interpretations of the audit role.

c. It becomes a procedures document held in a rarely used filing cabinet. Important new events that affect the future of internal audit will certainly be addressed by audit management. If they are left out of the manual, it sends the message that the manual is not meant for real issues. Dusty old rules on time sheets and travel claims may be held unchanged in the manual and we return to the old view of the manual as a set of basic administrative procedures.

d. It means newly appointed audit staff, particularly at manager level, will have no firm commitment to adopt the audit style and methodology or to view the internal standards before accepting appointment. Conflict may arise that leads to a disjointed and uncoordinated service. The role of the manual in pulling together the audit resource around professional standards is lost.