Current governance disclosure requirements include reports
from management, the audit committee, and the external
auditor. However, despite internal audit’s prominence as a
critical governance mechanism, external stakeholders lack
information about the function. This study evaluates the extent
that a descriptive Internal Audit Report (IAR) affects investor
confidence and investment decisions. The results indicate that
participants provided with an IAR had more confidence in
financial reporting reliability and higher perceived company
oversight effectiveness than participants without access to an
IAR. The IAR effect on confidence in financial reporting
reliability is particularly evident for high fraud risk
companies. Tests for mediation reveal that the IAR effect
on confidence is mediated by perceptions of oversight
effectiveness. Furthermore, we find that confidence in
financial reporting reliability and perceived oversight
effectiveness mediate the IAR-investment recommendation
relation. Self-insight results show that the IAR was perceived
to be as useful as several currently required disclosures