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< Home > < Open Courses > < Outlines > Advanced Auditing Skills

ADVANCED AUDITING SKILLS

3 day course

If internal audit is to be recognised as a real business enabler and partner, and rise to the significant challenges faced, a fundamental re-think of the whole audit process and the effectiveness of written reports is essential.

The Role of Internal Audit is being redefined by the Institute of Internal Auditors to provide wider assurance relating to the wide variety of risks faced and to take a more consultancy based approach

This seminar will present the latest methods to identify, employ and implement the skills required in this new arena, notably those related to audit reporting, planning and automation. It will also prepare Internal Audit to audit the emerging risks such as e-commerce.

Copies of extensive research material and electronic models will be made available to all delegates.

Course Outline

Day 1 Planning, and Automation


Course Introduction

The Internal Audit Role

  • Audit’s primary roles, objectives and concerns
  • What is best practice? – Sharing results of recent benchmarking surveys
  • The role of the function – policeman, risk assessor or consultant?
  • The reputation of the function and how to assess it
  • Key performance indicators

    Exercise 1 Assessing the reputation of your function

Audit Planning

  • Strategic audit planning
  • Best practice audit risk planning model – (an electronic version will be provided)
  • Assignment planning and control – with explanation of tools available
  • Audit programme development – including use of the Internet for research
  • Managing audit requests
  • Fieldwork techniques
  • How to cover specialist areas

    Exercise 2 Audit universe planning using the model

Audit Automation

  • Computer assisted audit techniques
  • Covering the whole population of data rather than a sample
  • Benfords Law and its importance
  • Options available

    Demonstration of ACL – the market leading audit software

Marketing of Internal Audit

  • Success measures
  • Methods of Marketing
  • Key Performance indicators
  • Tolls and techniques

    Exercise 3 Marketing the function

Skills required

  • Results of recent surveys
  • Outlining the broader range of skills needed
  • How to carry out a skills inventory
  • Facilitation skills – tips and techniques
  • How to recruit personnel with the skills you need
  • Achieving a blend of experience, competencies and innovation

    Exercise 4 The skills inventory

Relationships With The Board And Audit Committees

  • Board requirements of Internal Audit
  • Developing regular contact with the Chief Executive
  • Role of the audit committee
  • The Audit Committee relationship – how to develop this
  • Evaluating the audit committee requirements
  • How to anticipate requests etc
  • How to develop effective audit committee reports

    Exercise 5 Board and Audit Committee reports


Day 2 The new challenges for Internal Audit


Fraud and the Internal Audit Role

  • Fraud explained: definitions and nuances
  • Who commits fraud?
  • Trends and statistics regarding detected fraud
  • Why fraud is probably being perpetrated now in your organisation.
  • 20 fraud case histories and the lessons to learn

    Exercise 6 Typical Fraud Scenario

  • Fraud Indicators
  • Spotting the danger signs
  • Auditors fraud toolkit
  • Proactive fraud detection
  • Use of data mining
  • Fraud profiling – how to target the right systems
  • How to get the information you need
  • The use of data mining

    Exercise 7 Identifying the fraud risks

Reputation

  • Reputation Risk
  • What is reputation?
  • How do you measure the value of your reputation?
  • The risks associated and the implications if they are not properly managed
  • How to develop a reputation risk audit
  • A model for evaluating the effectiveness of reputation management

    Exercise 8 Audit of Reputation and Brand

E-Commerce And Internet Risks

  • Statistics about e-business growth
  • Management expectations
  • The biggest concern – security
  • The risk of not embracing e-commerce
  • The risks
  • The control environment needed to protect your organisation
  • How to develop an effective internal audit programme

    Exercise 9 Audit of E-business and other new risks

Corporate Governance

  • Why is Corporate Governance so important
  • The enhanced role of stakeholders
  • Opportunities and Threats
  • The options for Internal Audit involvement
  • Should Audit lead the process?
  • Control Risk Self Assessment
  • How to focus the audit attention

    Exercise 10 Corporate Governance


Day 3 Innovative Audit Reporting

Audit Reports – your shop window

  • Challenges of audit reporting
  • Who are the reports really for?
  • How do you know a good report when you see one?
  • Management expectations – recent survey of 600 Directors
  • IIA guidelines
  • The need for reports with impact

    Exercise 11 : Characteristics of a successful report

The problems with audit reports

  • 20 questions about your audit reports
  • What are the factors impacting achievement of these best practice
  • Tips, techniques and ideas to help you score 20 out of 20

    Exercise 12 : 20 more best practice questions
  • Discussion of the implications
  • Advice and guidance to help you achieve best practice
  • Explanation of a proven method to evaluate your own reports

    Exercise 13 : Analysis of a real report (posted on the Internet)

  • Feedback and discussion

Assessment and evaluation of your own reports

  • Self evaluation against the model provided (delegates are asked to bring along 2 or 3 recent reports)
  • Reports are then swapped with another delegate who will evaluate using the same model
  • Discussion of findings/ comparison with own evaluation/ identification of opportunities for improvement
  • Key challenges and their implications

Best practice internal audit reports – the way forward

  • Key requirements of the audit report of the future
  • How to draft a report with impact
  • Highlighting the issues that matter
  • The psychological problem with reports
  • Why audit reports are taken as a criticism of management
  • How to get recipients to react positively
  • How to write balanced reports
  • How to get 95% of your recommendations actioned
  • Title pages and indexes
  • The Executive Summary –best practice

    Exercise 14 The Executive summary

The main report

  • Audit Objectives
  • Scope
  • Forming and expressing the audit opinion
  • Benefits and deliverables
  • Conclusions
  • The power of Senior management comments

Exercise 15 Individually redrafting one of your reports using the techniques

  • Words and phrases to avoid
  • Best practice format
  • Reducing the number of words
  • The power of pictures and graphics
  • The need to relate the issues to objectives and risk
  • Recommendations and actions
  • Management Comments
  • Action plans
  • A Best practice report template will be shared

    Exercise 16 : Redrafting the main body of the report

  • 20 steps to success
  • Follow up audits – using the action pla
  • How to get management to take responsibility for chasing actions
  • Determining your reporting key performance indicators (KPI’s).

    Exercise 17 : Reporting KPI’s

The course includes extensive documentation and a copy of the following: -

  • Phil Griffiths research report into the expectations of Chief Executives towards Internal Audit and its future
  • Phil’s acclaimed work entitled ‘ Optimising Assurance’
  • An electronic copy of the best practice Audit planning model

©Business Risk Management Ltd 2005

Course Outlines

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