You are the senior manager in the internal audit department of Octball, a limited liability company. You report to the chief internal auditor and have a staff of six junior auditors to supervise although the budget allows for up to ten junior staff. In a recent meeting with the chief internal auditor the difficulty of staff recruitment and retention was discussed . Over the past year, five junior internal audit staff have left the company , but only two have been recruited. Recruitment problems identified include the location of Octball's head office in a small town over 150 kilometres from the nearest major city and extensive foreign travel, often to cold climates Together with the chief internal auditor you believe that outsourcing the internal audit department may be a way of alleviating the staffing problems. You would monitor the new outsourced department in a parttime role taking on additional responsibilities in other departments and the chief internal auditor would accept the post of finance director (FD) on the board, replacing the retiring FD. i Two firms have been identified as being able to provide the internal audit service: The NFA Partnership, a large local firm specialising in the provision of accountancy and internal audit services. NFA does not audit financial statements or report to members . + T&M, Octball's external auditors who have offices in 75 countries and employ in excess of 65,000 staff. Required: (a) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of appointing NFA as internal auditors for Octball.