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CISA Information System Auditing Process Practice Question

Which of the following is a key difference between an internal audit and an external audit?

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Internal auditors are employees of the organization, which may affect independence.

Internal auditors are employees of the organization, which may create independence concerns, while external auditors are independent third parties.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    External audits are always required by law, while internal audits are voluntary.

    Why it's wrong here

    External audits may be required for public companies, but internal audits are also often required for governance.

  • ✓

    Internal auditors are employees of the organization, which may affect independence.

    Why this is correct

    Independence is a key concern for internal auditors.

  • ✗

    External auditors issue a report to management, while internal auditors report to the board.

    Why it's wrong here

    Both may report to management or the board depending on structure.

  • ✗

    Internal audits focus only on financial controls.

    Why it's wrong here

    Internal audits cover a broad range of areas.

About these practice questions

Courseiva writes every CISA question from scratch — 995 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

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JA

Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.