Phase 2 · Strategy & Planning · From Idea to Executable Plan
Internal Audit Programme
The internal audit function is not the finance team checking its own work. It is the independent assurance that the controls the business believes are working are actually working.
Internal audit programme is the design and delivery of the independent assurance function that tests the effectiveness of the business's internal controls, risk management, and governance processes — providing the board and audit committee with objective evidence that the framework in place is functioning as designed rather than as assumed. We design the internal audit programme that is proportionate to the business's size and provides genuine assurance rather than compliance theatre.
The Pain We Solve
You may recognise yourself in one of these.
Three audience scenarios · because the same service produces a different transformation depending on where you are in the business journey.
Scenario 1
The business required to implement an internal audit function by its investor, its bank, or its regulatory environment
The requirement to have an internal audit capability has been specified. The business does not have one, does not know what it should look like for a business of its size, and is concerned that implementing it will be disproportionately expensive or bureaucratic.
Scenario 2
The board that has no independent assurance that the controls it has put in place are actually working
The board approved the risk management framework. The management team has confirmed that the controls are in place. The board has no independent view of whether the controls are actually being followed and whether they are effective — because nobody has tested them.
Scenario 3
The business that has experienced a control failure — a fraud, an error, a process breakdown — that an internal audit would have identified earlier
The control failure occurred. The loss was real. And the root cause was a control that existed on paper and was not being followed in practice — a gap that an internal audit would have identified and that could have been corrected before it caused the damage.
The Impact It Creates
The Moment You Will Feel the Difference.
Independent assurance that internal controls are working as designed
Control failures identified before they cause loss
Board confidence in the governance framework supported by objective evidence
Investor and regulatory internal audit requirements met
What You Receive
The Specific Deliverables.
Tangible outputs · documented, dated, and yours to keep.
- Internal audit charter and programme design
- Annual audit plan — which areas to audit and in what sequence
- Audit fieldwork and findings reporting
- Management action tracking — agreed actions and completion monitoring
- Internal audit reporting to audit committee
- Internal audit quality assessment
The Outcome
Where You Will Be on the Other Side.
The business has a proportionate, effective internal audit programme that provides the board with genuine assurance that the controls, the risk management, and the governance processes are working — not just assumed to be working.
Primary Focus
Designing and delivering an internal audit programme that provides independent assurance that internal controls and governance processes are functioning as intended.
KPI Measurement
- Control failures identified by internal audit vs those discovered externally
- Management action completion rate from audit findings
- Audit committee satisfaction score
- Control testing coverage per cycle
- Time from issue identification to resolution
Investment & ROI
Pricing Engineered Around the Value You Create.
Every engagement is sized against the value we believe we can create with you · the fee is always a fraction of the outcome. Four tiers · so the investment matches your stage of business.
Tier 1
Foundations
£5,000 – £15,000
Right for
Pre-startup, startup, and micro-business founders ready to build on evidence rather than instinct.
Typical Value Created
£100K+ in sharper resource allocation and avoided strategic missteps
Engagement
4 – 8 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 2
Acceleration
£15,000 – £50,000
Right for
Growing SMEs and established small businesses ready to scale a working model into the next revenue band.
Typical Value Created
£500K – £3M in faster execution and pipeline acceleration
Engagement
8 – 16 weeks
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 3
Transformation
£50,000 – £250,000
Right for
Medium enterprises and scale-stage businesses ready to commit to a multi-quarter, organisation-wide shift.
Typical Value Created
£2M – £20M in strategic value through repositioning, model redesign, and growth-system installation
Engagement
3 – 9 months
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Tier 4
Enterprise
£250,000 – £2M+
Right for
Large enterprises, global operators, and complex organisations ready for a multi-year strategic partnership.
Typical Value Created
£10M+ in major strategic initiatives, capital deployment efficiency, and competitive repositioning
Engagement
12 months and onward
Target Return
5 – 10× ROI
within 12 – 18 months
Why We Price This Way
Every engagement is sized around the value we believe we can create with you. The fee is always a fraction of the outcome · typically 10 – 20% of the expected first-year return.
This is how we make sure pricing aligns with results. The conversation is never “what does this cost?” · it is always “what is this worth to your business?” We answer that together in the first call, transparently, and decide the right tier from there.
If we cannot articulate a credible 5–10× return for your specific situation, we will tell you in the first call. That honesty is part of why our clients trust us with the work that matters most.
Why This Conversation Matters
“The internal audit is the function that finds what everything else assumes is fine. The businesses that value it most are the ones that have discovered what can go wrong when it is not there. We design the programme that finds problems when they are small — before they become losses.”
A 90-minute structured strategy session · produces a usable roadmap whether you engage further or not.
More in Phase 2