COVID-19 BLACK SWAN'S IMPACT ON THE INTERNAL AUDIT PROFESSION: THE CASE OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA.

In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been identified with the "black swan”, an unpredictable event beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. After the initial health shock later complemented by the economic crisis we lived in, we needed to learn some lessons. In search of an answer to the question of what we learned from the pandemic and what it was like to work and 'survive' in the shadow of many uncertainties, this research focuses on the internal audit profession in the Republic of North Macedonia. The research was conducted with a detailed structured questionnaire submitted to the internal auditors from the public and private sector in the Republic of North Macedonia who are members of the Institute of Internal Auditors - North Macedonia. The obtained answers were analyzed through descriptive statistics and ANOVA. From the results, it can be seen that there is a small significant difference between the answers of the groups of respondents, but, in general, it can be concluded that the internal auditors have already adapted to the situation with COVID-19, also that the unpredictable situation did not lead to a violation of the Code of Ethics' principles and rules of conduct for internal auditors in the Republic of North Macedonia. In the post-covid period, internal auditors expect to live in the 'New Normal' by using more technology for work. The internal auditors' current mental health is exceptionally good. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the only one that explores the COVID-19 impact on the internal audit profession in the Republic of North Macedonia. Furthermore, it provides a good basis for further detailed research on areas relevant to the issue. We believe that this research will enrich the existing body of literature on internal audit by offering empirical evidence for the internal audit functioning in terms of crisis and the internal auditors’ mental health. The limitations concern the measurement of the variables from the survey being based only on the perception of the internal auditors. Such a measurement method might be considered less accurate in describing the actual situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]