SIA 230 requires a written record of how the internal audit function is formed and how it operates, whether it is in-house or outsourced. That record links what is expected of the function to ICAI's Framework Governing Internal Audits and sets down accountability, authority and roles.
This page covers SIA 230 as it stands in ICAI’s October 2022 compendium. ICAI’s February 2026 compendium, applicable from 1 April 2026, renumbers the standards, so check the current number and text in that compendium before citing it in a report.
The file checklist and the mistakes above are practice points drawn from the requirements of the standard. They are not text from the standard.
The IIA's Global Internal Audit Standards (effective 9 January 2025) are a separate set from a different body, and there is no paragraph-for-paragraph match. The IIA covers this ground in its first domain, Purpose of Internal Auditing, and in the principle Authorized by the Board.
This standard is described here as it stands in the October 2022 compendium, which is the earlier set. ICAI's Internal Audit Standards Board lists its Compendium of Standards on Internal Audit (as on February 2026) as applicable from 1 April 2026 (source: the Board's compendium page, checked on 1 October 2026). That compendium renumbers the standards, so check the current number and text there before citing this standard in a report. ICAI's compendium page does not say whether the standards are mandatory or recommendatory, so we do not describe any standard as mandatory. The effective-date clause in each 2019 standard said it applied to internal audits beginning on or after a date to be notified by the Council of ICAI.
These pages summarise each standard as it stands in ICAI's Compendium of Standards on Internal Audit (as on 1 October 2022), working from an extract of that document. They are summaries and close paraphrases, not the text of the standards. ICAI's Internal Audit Standards Board lists its Compendium of Standards on Internal Audit (as on February 2026) as applicable from 1 April 2026 (source: the Board's compendium page, checked on 1 October 2026). For that current set we have only the titles, taken from the Board's 2025-26 annual report; its text is available from ICAI through a registration form on the compendium page and is not summarised here. ICAI's compendium page does not say whether the standards are mandatory or recommendatory, so we do not describe any standard as mandatory. Before you cite a number, a paragraph or a status in a report, check the February 2026 compendium. internalaudit.icai.org
Editable formats and tools from CORAA’s internal audit library that put SIA 230 into practice. Free to use.
SIA 230, Objectives of Internal Audit, is a Standard on Internal Audit issued by the Internal Audit Standards Board of ICAI. SIA 230 requires a written record of how the internal audit function is formed and how it operates, whether it is in-house or outsourced. That record links what is expected of the function to ICAI's Framework Governing Internal Audits and sets down accountability, authority and roles.
ICAI's compendium page does not say whether the Standards on Internal Audit are mandatory or recommendatory, so we do not describe SIA 230 as mandatory. ICAI's Internal Audit Standards Board lists its Compendium of Standards on Internal Audit (as on February 2026) as applicable from 1 April 2026 (source: the Board's compendium page, checked on 1 October 2026). SIA 230 as described on this page is from the earlier October 2022 compendium. The February 2026 compendium renumbers the standards, so check the current number and text there before citing it in a report.
A written document recording how the function is formed and operates, with accountability, authority and roles. In practice this is usually the internal audit charter for an in-house function or the engagement letter for an outsourced one.
The number is the same but the title is not. In ICAI's February 2026 compendium, which ICAI lists as applicable from 1 April 2026, SIA 230 is titled "Internal Audit Evidence". This page covers SIA 230 as it stands in the October 2022 compendium, titled "Objectives of Internal Audit". Only the titles of the February 2026 set are listed here; check its text in that compendium before citing it.
