The term ‘‘self-assessment’’ is often used to describe circumstances where process owners evaluate the controls for which they are responsible and communicate the results of their self-review to management. Self-assessment has been widely regarded as a cost-effective means of assessing controls, even before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted. It is a versatile tool that internal audit and management have used to identify risk, evaluate controls and improve processes.
This tool describes the components of a process-based self-assessment program and provides a list of diagnostic questions and best practices to consider.