of a high magnitude eliminates massive and hard - earned gains made over many years. that is why performance is so vital and important. it is therefore timely that the management accountants are focusing on the re - positioning of the profession. it is wise that you are talking about how to project yourselves and promote yourselves in the future. it is refreshing that you are talking with your stakeholders and then planning your repositioning, because the relevance of your position is of paramount importance, if you are to survive and thrive. my learning as a chartered accountant as well as a management accountant helped me a great deal in my activities and in my performance over the years. i believe my own successes can be traced to the roots of such learning, education, and training. like me, i am sure we have all benefited immensely by the initial training and guidance we have received from our respective institutes. let us now build on those foundations and strengths and move forward with confidence and certainty even in the midst of tremendous challenges and competition. i am sure our profession, notwithstanding the numerous changes that are taking place, would remain relevant to the business and commercial world. we owe it to our respective economies to keep it that way. i congratulate all of you for the interest you are taking and the contribution you are making. i wish you all success and prosperity.

auditors and internal auditors. the role of the internal auditor internal audit, as against the external audit, is the first safeguard available to the management and owners to run their business free from financial irregularities and misbehaviour. internal auditor is available on site throughout the period and, therefore, can play his role as an effective watchdog continuously. his screening and evaluation of the operations of an organization makes the work of the external auditor easier. it cuts the cost of the external audit which otherwise has to conduct all audit examinations and tests on his own in order to arrive at his audit conclusions. by relying on the audit trails continuously conducted by the internal auditor, the external auditor could complete his audit examinations on time by conducting only the relevant sample tests. in this sense too, an internal auditor is a necessary element in modern organizations. internal auditor or management auditor? over the years, the scope of the internal audit has expanded to cover new areas which have become important to an organization from the point of view of efficiency and productivity. modern business is fiercely competitive and, unless an organization acquires a competitive edge over its rivals, it would not be able to continue in business. this is specifically relevant to banking institutions. hence, in addition to the normal routine surveillance over financial matters, internal auditor was required to comment on the efficiency of operations as well. this involved his examination of processes, systems and methods to gauge whether the money spent by a business really makes a contribution to the business in return. the new work - load changed the title of the internal auditor to management auditor. he was, therefore, required to function as an in - house management consultant and advisor to the top management of organizations. today, we do not make any distinction between “ internal audit ” and “ management audit ”. whatever the term we use to call him, an internal auditor has to function as a management auditor as well. new challenges for internal auditors the expansion of banking business both horizontally and vertically over the years has posed new challenges to the internal auditor. this expansion has resulted in creating giant banking holding companies encompassing almost all areas of financial services. a bank which was confined only to borrowing and lending some six to seven decades ago is now a universal bank that provides all types of financial services to its customers. they may do it through different units or departments set up under one umbrella or through the establishment of a host of associate and subsidiary companies under one holding company. an internal auditor in a bank, therefore, cannot simply con