What do the IIA standards aim to promote?

The IIA standards, which are set forth by the Institute of Internal Auditors, aim to promote broad value-added internal audit activities. These standards focus on enhancing the overall effectiveness of internal auditing by ensuring that auditors provide insights that benefit the organization beyond mere compliance and accuracy checks. By emphasizing value-added activities, the IIA encourages auditors to not only assess financial operations and controls but also to contribute to the organization's strategic objectives, risk management, and governance processes.

This focus on value addition means that internal auditors are expected to deliver assessments that help organizations recognize opportunities for improvement, operational efficiency, and overall performance enhancement. In this way, the IIA standards advocate for a role of internal auditors as strategic partners within organizations, which can lead to more informed decision-making and better-aligned objectives.

The other options do not encapsulate the primary focus of the IIA standards as effectively. While technology plays a role in modern auditing, it is not a core aim of the standards. Likewise, standardization of financial reporting pertains more to accounting standards rather than internal audit functions. Lastly, while performance assessment is essential, the IIA standards prioritize broad value contributions over regular evaluations.