Internal Auditing in the Federal Network of Professional Education: A Look at the Federal Institutes of the Brazilian Northeast

The purpose of theis study was to analyze the activities conducted by the internal auditing units of the eleven Federal Institutes of Education, Sciences and Tecnology (IFs) in the Northeast region of Brazil from 2015 to 2017. The methodology applied developed a descriptive study of quantitative -qualitative approach whose research strategy was of multiple case study. Data were collected through documental analisis and interviews. Simple descriptive statistics and descriptive analisis were used for the data processing. Among results achieved, it was observed that the Federal Institutes (IFs) prioritize the use of, mainly, operational, special, managerial and accounting auditings. It was found that the institutions investigated carried out, almost with the same intensity and frequency, the planned activities (79,36 %) and 65 unplanned activities in their respective plannings.