Audit Liaison, Corrective Action Planning, and Control Compliance in Multinational Organisations: A Systematic Literature Review

The audit process does not end with the issuance of the audit report. In multinational organisations, the effectiveness of the internal and external audit function depends on the capacity of management to translate audit findings into corrective action and then into sustained control compliance. This article presents a systematic literature review, conducted in line with PRISMA guidance, of peer-reviewed research published between 2005 and 2022 on three related constructs: audit liaison, the organisational arrangements through which auditee and auditor coordinate evidence-gathering and finding resolution; corrective action planning (CAP), the management response to audit findings; and control compliance, the state of sustained conformance with control requirements. Seventy-one studies were retained after screening. The review synthesises evidence on the design and operation of audit liaison functions, the determinants of CAP quality and execution, and the relationship between CAP execution and downstream control compliance. Findings indicate that audit liaison quality, operationalised through dedicated liaison roles, standardised evidence-request management, and defined escalation protocols, has a measurable effect on audit efficiency and on the quality of findings captured. CAP quality is shaped by the specificity of remediation actions, the ownership assigned, the timeline realism, and the linkage to performance management. Control compliance outcomes depend on CAP execution discipline but also on the integration of CAP outcomes with the broader internal control environment. The review identifies three research priorities: the moderating role of internal audit maturity on the audit-liaison-to-CAP relationship; the effect of CAP tracking technology on remediation latency; and the interaction between regulatory-driven and management-driven CAP streams in multinational groups.