What the CIA Is, and What This Course Is Not

The Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) is the global professional certification of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the international professional body for internal auditors. It is held by internal auditors, audit managers, chief audit executives and many people in risk, compliance and control roles. Employers and audit committees read it as evidence that a person knows the profession’s standards and can apply them.

The exam is built on the IIA’s Global Internal Audit Standards, published in 2024. The IIA revised the CIA exam in 2025 so that it follows these Standards. The three parts now test the fundamentals of internal auditing, how to perform an engagement, and how to run the internal audit function. This course follows that revised exam.

Internal auditing in one sentence

Internal auditing gives the board and senior management independent, objective assurance and advice about governance, risk management and control. The internal auditor works inside the organization but reports in a way that keeps them independent of the activities they review. That position is what separates internal audit from management’s own monitoring and from the external auditor, who gives an opinion on the financial statements to shareholders.

The word "audit" also appears in quality auditing, where the auditor checks conformity with a management system standard such as ISO 9001. That is a different profession with its own credential, covered by the ASQ Certified Quality Auditor Exam Preparation course. Fraud examination, which overlaps with Part 1 of the CIA, has its own credential too, covered by the ACFE CFE Exam Preparation course.