External assurance supercharges internal auditors.
“Internal audit builds your confidence. External assurance builds everyone else's. Smart organizations invest in both”
Lindy Palmberg, Auditor in Environmental
Six reasons why we Assurance is complimentary to your internal audit team.
Specialized Expertise That Internal Audit Can't Match.
Internal audit teams are typically trained in financial controls, operational risk, and compliance processes, not the technical complexities of sustainability measurement and reporting.
External assurance like Speeki providers maintain specialized practitioners with deep expertise in environmental science, carbon accounting methodologies, social impact measurement, supply chain sustainability, and the nuances of evolving frameworks like GRI, ISSB, CSRD, and TCFD.
Speeki’s specialists undergo continuous professional development specific to sustainability standards and maintain technical credentials that internal auditors rarely possess.
When your sustainability report involves Scope 3 emissions calculations, biodiversity impact assessments, or social materiality determinations, you need professionals who've conducted hundreds of similar engagements across industries—not generalist auditors learning sustainability on the job.
Benchmarking and Industry Intelligence You Can't Get Internally.
External assurance providers Like Speeki work across hundreds of clients in multiple sectors, giving us unparalleled visibility into industry best practices, emerging risks, and competitive benchmarking that internal teams cannot access.
When an external auditor like Speeki reviews your sustainability reporting, we bring insights from comparable organizations, what peer companies are measuring, how your performance stacks up, where methodological weaknesses commonly appear, and what leading practices look like in your sector.
This cross-industry intelligence helps you strengthen reporting quality and identify improvement opportunities that internal audit, operating solely within your organization, simply cannot provide.
You're not just getting verification; you're getting strategic intelligence from practitioners who see the entire playing field.
Only External Providers Can Issue Recognized Certificates and Opinions.
Here's a fundamental limitation: internal audit cannot issue the certificates, assurance opinions, or verification statements that stakeholders, regulators, and markets recognize and accept. When you pursue ISO certifications, carbon neutrality claims, or assurance opinions under ISAE 5000, only accredited external bodies like Speeki can provide these credentials.
Internal audit reports are valuable for governance, but they don't satisfy tender requirements, regulatory mandates, investor due diligence, or supply chain verification demands.
If your sustainability credentials need to open commercial doors, secure green financing, or meet regulatory requirements, internal audit simply cannot deliver the recognized third-party validation the market demands.
External assurance from Speeki isn't just better, it's the only option that produces stakeholder-recognized credentials.
External and Internal Audit Are Complementary, Not Competing.
The smartest sustainability programs don't choose between external assurance and internal audit—they deploy both strategically. Internal audit excels at continuous monitoring, control testing, quarterly reviews, and providing real-time feedback to management throughout the reporting cycle.
Speeki delivers the periodic, independent validation that gives external stakeholders confidence in your annual disclosures. Used together, internal audit helps you build robust processes and catch issues early, while external assurance provides the credible, third-party stamp that markets demand.
This isn't an either/or decision; it's about using the right tool for the right purpose. Internal audit strengthens governance; external assurance delivers market credibility. Organizations that treat them as mutually exclusive miss the value of a comprehensive assurance ecosystem.
True Independence Creates Credibility.
No matter how professionally your internal audit function operates, it cannot escape the fundamental conflict: it's employed by the organization, reports to management, and operates within the same governance structure it's meant to scrutinize.
External assurance providers like Speeki stake their accreditation, professional licenses, and market reputation on the independence and integrity of their opinions. We answer to accreditation bodies, professional standards boards, and regulatory oversight, not to your CFO or board.
This structural independence means external providers can challenge assumptions, question data quality, and issue qualified opinions without career consequences or organizational pressure.
When stakeholders evaluate your sustainability claims, they understand this difference instinctively: internal audit serves management; external assurance serves the market.
Liability Protection and Professional Standards Enforcement.
External assurance providers like Speeki operate under professional indemnity insurance, accreditation oversight, and enforceable professional standards that create accountability beyond your organization's walls.
If an external provider issues an incorrect assurance opinion, they face potential loss of accreditation, professional sanctions, insurance claims, and reputational damage across their entire client base. This creates powerful incentives for rigorous, conservative assurance work. Internal audit faces no equivalent external accountability, errors may have internal consequences, but there's no accreditation body monitoring quality, no insurance backing opinions, and no external enforcement of methodology.
When litigation arises or regulators investigate, pointing to work performed by accredited external providers under recognized professional standards provides far stronger liability protection than relying solely on internal audit reports.
