Professional competence of internal auditors in public institutions: A research in public universities

The importance of the internal audit, which is carried out by experts who have knowledge about the systems, culture and processes of the organization and which shows the effectiveness and adequacy of the mechanism created to eliminate the problems that may arise in the realization of the objectives of the organization, has increased in recent years. The research examining the qualifications of internal auditors performing this important activity in the public sector has not been found in the literature. In this study, the effect of professional competence of internal auditors on their activities in internal audit has been examined at the level of public institutions. The effects of the internal auditors' professional qualifications on the internal audit effectiveness were discussed at the level of public universities. Public institutions are considered as the working universe. In this context, public universities were selected as the research sample. A questionnaire was sent to 140 internal auditors from 127 public universities, 32 people were reached by survey method and the data were analyzed. As a result of the analyzes, it was found that the professional competencies of the internal auditors had an effect on the effectiveness of the internal auditors. Keywords: İnternal Auditor, İnternal Audit, public concept, Internal Audit in Public Institution Professional Competence of Internal Auditors