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Essentials of Internal Audit |
Day 1 - Modern Internal
Audit
- What is modern Internal Audit?
- How the profession has changed over
the last decade
- What it means to be an internal
auditor
- Exercise 1 – a
thought provoking exercise to set the scene
- Definitions and trends
- Internal Audit role and
responsibilities
- The Professional Standards
- Assurance and the challenges for IA
- Exercise 2 – The
challenges for an inexperienced auditor
- How does the role differ from other
Assurance Providers?
- How should you coordinate your
efforts with other assurance providers
- Independence and objectivity
- Reporting lines – influence and
impact
- The Audit Committee and the audit
relationship
- Relationships with management
- The need for breadth of thinking
- Exercise 3 An
opportunity to think ‘out of the box’
- Frequently asked questions
- Misconceptions about the role
- Audit as a career move
- Skills required
- Language and impact
- How to get your message across
- Active Listening
- The competency framework
- Exercise 4 – Audit
skills
Day 2 - The Internal
Audit Role
- Perceptions of Internal Audit –
results of surveys
- What is best practice?
- Exercise 5 – how
to ensure you adopt the best practices
- The audit charter
- The different approaches to Internal
Audit
- Compliance
- Systems based audit
- Risk Based audit
- Exercise 6 – risk
and audit
- VFM audit
- Governance audit
- Audit as a catalyst for change
- Corporate Governance and the Audit
role
- How should IA link with external
audit
- Exercise 7 –
Coordination with External Audit
- Management expectations – and how to
exceed them
- The issues to consider when assigned
an audit
- Exercise 8 –
determining the audit priorities
Day 3 - Planning an Audit
- Developing Terms of Reference for the
assignment
- Determining sources of information
- Getting management input
- Exercise 9 –
Developing a terms of reference
- The link between control, risk and
objectives
- Deciding who you will need to
interview
- Developing the audit file
- Determining the audit objectives
- Exercise 10 –
problem solving( practical exercise)
- Determining the objectives of the
function to be audited
- Evaluating the threats to achievement
of these objectives
- Exercise 11 –
determining the audit objectives
- How to deal with your audit customers
- The need to treat your customers with
respect
- Meeting with management to discuss
the audit
- Exercise 12 –pre-
meeting with management – role play
Day 4 - Completing an
Audit
- Explaining the audit approach to
staff of the function being audited
- Building a picture of the system and
processes
- Documenting the system
- Audit interviews
- Exercise 13 –
audit interviews – role play
- Walk through tests
- Fieldwork Techniques (compliance,
transactional, analytical review, sampling etc) – the
differences and how to use them
- Exercise 14 –
fieldwork techniques
- How to decide the depth of testing
required
- Audit working papers
- The clearance meeting
- Exercise 15 – the
clearance meeting – role play
- Computer assisted audit techniques (CAAT’s)
- Audit planning software
- Computer assisted audit techniques (
inc demonstration)
- Audit KPI’s (key performance
indicators)
- Exercise 16 – how
to assess your performance
Day 5 - The Audit Report
- The need for reports with impact
- The report as your shop window
- How to build the report during the
audit
- How do you know a good report when
you see one
- Exercise 17 –
features of a best practice report
- What management expects
- Determining who the report is for
- How to assess a report
- Exercise 18 –
evaluation of an actual report
- Key requirements of the audit report
of the future
- How to draft a report with impact –
discussion of banner headlines and their relative 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 –the benefits
of writing the Executive summary before the main report.
- Influence and Persuasion
- The main report
- Words and phrases to avoid
- Tips and techniques for success
- Exercise 19 –
writing a report in best practice style
- 20 steps to success
Course Outlines
Course Diary
Booking Information
In-House Training |
