In addition, senior management support was crucial. Without this backing, many typical barriers to change would have blocked COSO implementation. Such support included:
Memoranda from our general auditor communicating the need to adopt the COSO framework as the basis for reporting and tracking the condition of company-wide internal controls.
Senior management assistance and active participation at our COSO workshop training sessions, conveying support for the COSO model and the need for employee buy-in.
Audit director use of control evaluation metrics to prepare assessments of the control environment.
Project management support of the COSO guidance, including checks to ensure proper application of COSO criteria in the audit process.