As the person above me went into great detail about the pros and cons of internal audits. I will add that it depends on the company you are working with. Some companies may play tricks to hide any inefficiencies while others will audit in great lengths. Here is the benefit of doing a fair unbiased internal audit. In the long run, the company will not run into major issues on their quality system. If a company hides something in the internal audit and after two years FDA or ISO do a complete audit of their quality system, it will do more damage than the minor inefficiencies that were hidden from an internal audit. In addition, at the end of the day its a business and companies that are way ahead of everyone else make sure their internal audits are unbiased and point out any inefficiencies which may create a loss for the company’s business in the long run.

So its the matter of where a company sees itself in the future when it comes to internal audits. I rather have the internal audit point out flaws than an outsider which will result in major loss of business.