Thijs Smit, Associate Partner Internal Audit Leadership at ONE Risk Advisory, is the first interviewee in Getekend, a new video series from the NBA, the professional body for accountants in the Netherlands (Nederlandse Beroepsorganisatie van Accountants). In the series, Janine Abbring talks with accountants about what happens beneath the surface of the profession. The NBA published the interview on 16 October 2024. It is available as a video of just over half an hour and as a podcast, both in Dutch.
We are proud that Thijs opens the series. In the interview he looks back on his years as an internal accountant at companies including Ahold and SNS REAAL, and on the moments when he had to make a choice. The conversation covers rules of conduct, acting in the spirit of the profession and dealing with resistance. His advice to fellow professionals and students: invest in understanding people, because at its core accountancy is a profession of people.
About Thijs Smit
Thijs Smit is a Dutch chartered accountant (RA) and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and has been Associate Partner at ONE Risk Advisory since 1 January 2023. He was the Chief Audit Executive of six companies and, besides The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht, has worked in Brussels and London. At IIA Netherlands he served for more than 25 years as a committee member, board member and chair of the board, and spent seven years on the Quality Assessment Board, the last three as chair. He also served for five years on the board of the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA), two of them as president, and from 2009 to 2013 he was a board member of the global IIA.
At ONE, Thijs focuses on internal audit leadership, quality assessments and coaching audit management. You can read more about him on our team page.
Integrity and professional courage
In its description of the video, the NBA notes that standing your ground takes a great deal more than knowing the standards. For internal auditors, that theme has its own place in the IIA’s Global Internal Audit Standards (2024): the first standard under the principle Demonstrate Integrity is 1.1, Honesty and Professional Courage. Our knowledge base explains the concepts behind this conversation, such as integrity, fraud risk and the internal audit function.
The NBA’s announcement
Below is the text with which the NBA announced the interview on 16 October 2024, translated from Dutch by ONE Risk Advisory and reproduced with attribution.
In the video series Getekend, Janine Abbring interviews a number of accountants with their own stories about what happens beneath the surface of the profession. Conversations about the considerations, character traits and dilemmas of professional practice. Accountant Thijs Smit, former internal accountant at companies including Ahold and SNS REAAL, is the first interviewee in the series.
Background: Ahold
Smit played a crucial role in the Ahold scandal, which came to light in 2003. It turned out to be one of the largest accounting scandals in Europe. At the supermarket company, irregularities came to light at its American subsidiary U.S. Foodservice. Smit also uncovered bribes paid by the South American subsidiary and a management fraud concerning the ownership and control of the Scandinavian subsidiary ICA. The irregularities had inflated profits, making the company’s stock market success greater than reality justified. Ahold manipulated its financial figures by overstating income at U.S. Foodservice by hundreds of millions of dollars. This was done by reporting false revenue figures, mainly by accounting for supplier discounts incorrectly.
Management was responsible for the fraud. Senior executives, such as CEO Cees van der Hoeven and CFO Michiel Meurs, had to leave the company as a result of deliberately concealing its true financial position, and were later convicted in criminal proceedings.
The interview
In the interview, Smit tells his story as an internal accountant: how he was able to take crucial decisions by following his gut feeling. The conversation covered rules of conduct, acting in the spirit of the profession and a healthy way of dealing with resistance.
For fellow professionals and students, Smit argues for a focus on understanding people. At its core, accountancy is a profession of people: dealing with people, in situations of resistance. That is what makes the profession enjoyable, according to Smit.
In short, an engaging and instructive interview that is well worth watching, listening to or reading. Watch the video, listen to the podcast or read the background article on Accountant.nl.
Source: NBA, Interview met accountant Thijs Smit, 16 October 2024 (in Dutch; translation by ONE Risk Advisory).
Watch or listen to the interview (in Dutch)
- Video: Interviewreeks Getekend, interview met Thijs Smit (the NBA’s YouTube channel, 32:54)
- Podcast: NBA Getekend on Spotify
- Podcast: NBA Getekend on Apple Podcasts
- Article: Interview met accountant Thijs Smit (NBA, 16 October 2024)
- Background: Reeks NBA-interviews start met oud-Ahold-accountant Thijs Smit (Accountant.nl)
Frequently asked questions
What is Getekend?
Getekend is a video and podcast series from the NBA, the professional body for accountants in the Netherlands, launched in October 2024. Janine Abbring interviews accountants about the considerations, character traits and dilemmas of professional practice. Thijs Smit was the first guest.
Who is Thijs Smit?
Thijs Smit is Associate Partner Internal Audit Leadership at ONE Risk Advisory. He is a Dutch chartered accountant (RA) and a Certified Internal Auditor, was the Chief Audit Executive of six companies and chaired the board of IIA Netherlands.
Where can I watch or listen to the interview?
On this page, on the NBA’s YouTube channel and as the podcast NBA Getekend on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The interview is in Dutch. The NBA also wrote an article about it, and Accountant.nl published a background article.
Further reading
- A good internal audit plan, by Robert Bogtstra and Thijs Smit
- Thijs Smit becomes Associate Partner of ONE Risk Advisory
- The ONE Risk Advisory team
Would you like to talk with Thijs about the role of the Chief Audit Executive or a quality assessment of your internal audit function? Get in touch.