Top watchdogs inside many companies bark louder these days.

They are known as chief audit executives, or CAEs, and they assess the effectiveness of corporate controls, risk management and governance processes. As boards worry more about cyberattacks, regulatory compliance and personal liability, these executives are gaining clout and commanding higher pay.

CAEs are becoming more visible in part because directors are playing a bigger roles in selecting, evaluating and rewarding internal audit chiefs. In North America, about 83% of those executives report to their employer’s full board or audit committee, according to a 2016 report by the Institute of Internal Auditors, a professional association. That’s up from 76% in 2013.

Another sign of their rising influence: this year, for the first time, the proportion of audit leaders who report to their CEO matched those overseen by the CFO, the report found.

Solid support from audit committees and top company leaders often give CAEs more freedom to raise red flags, experts said. It can also bring them sizable paychecks. 

Recruiters agree. “Chief audit executives hired by large companies now command total pay packages approaching $1 million—about 30% more than a decade ago,’’ said Scott Simmons, a managing director at Crist|Kolder Associates, which recruited nearly 15 current CAEs.

Sarbanes-Oxley, the sweeping corporate-reform law enacted in 2002, raised boards’ expectations for heads of internal audit, according to Charles Noski, chairman of the audit committee at Microsoft Corp. , Priceline Group Inc. and Avon Products Inc. “Internal audit really is the eyes and ears of the audit committee,’’ he said, adding that CAEs today “are stronger executives’’