Management Has Asked the Internal Audit Activity to Perform an Operational

Management has asked the internal audit activity to perform an operational audit of a division that recently reported an increase in expenditures in addition to a decrease in profits. However, existing internal audit resources are currently engaged in a legal compliance audit. Which factor would be considered least important in deciding whether resources should be removed from the legal compliance audit to the operational audit?

A) The increase in expenditures at the division over the past year.
B) The probability that the legal compliance audit will detect fraud.
C) The results of the external auditor's most recent financial audit.
D) The potential for regulatory fines associated with the legal compliance audit.