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The
Developing Internal Auditor |
Modern Internal Audit is light years away from the
basic compliance and checking function it once was.
Energised by the need to provide broader assurance
and a new definition of Internal Auditing, many Internal Audit
functions find they need to perform a much more comprehensive
spectrum of audits than ever before –leading an audit
assignment therefore has become a much more demanding role.
In particular the addition of internal consultancy has introduced
an entirely different dimension to the profession. Practitioners
have now to expand their role as facilitators and advisors at
the same time demonstrating that they are adding measurable
added value.
These responsibilities and challenges require a new set of techniques,
skills, and tools. Strong communication skills are particularly
essential in this highly challenging environment, whether you
are facilitating control self- assessment workshops, negotiating
your ideas with management or communicating your observations
in the form of audit reports.
This seminar has been designed to provide those responsible
for leading audit assignments with the most up to date information
on this worldwide best practice and provide you with practical
and proven techniques to help you increase your personal impact
and career prospects.
Who Should Attend
Internal Auditors with 1-3 years
experience
Auditors responsible for planning
and leading audit assignments
Internal Auditors who have been or are about to be appointed
to an audit management role
Any senior auditor responsible
for managing people.
Audit managers that would like
to help their auditors leading the assignments to enhance their
impact and effectiveness.
Course Outline
Day 1 – Meeting
Management’s expectations
- Exercise 1 ‘
The Bamboo Cane’ - a thought provoking exercise to set
the scene
- Internal Audit primary roles, objectives and challenges
- What are the keys to success?
- Management expectations – and how to exceed
them
- Determining the level of Assurance required
- Definitions and trends
- The Professional Standards
- Misconceptions about the role
- Exercise 2 –
The challenges (using SWOT analysis)
- How should you coordinate your efforts with other
assurance providers?
- Reporting lines – influence and impact
- Relationships with management
- Expressing yourself effectively
- Creating rapport with your customers – tips
and techniques
- The 4 management styles – Activists, Reflectors,
Theorists and Pragmatists - and the implications for auditors
- Personal drivers and success
- Exercise 3 –
management styles - working in small groups delegates are
asked to determine and compare individual management styles
and personal drivers
- Language and impact
- The use of ‘powerwords’ in your communications
- How to get on the same wavelength as your customer
- Business Communication techniques
- Facilitation – the key skills
- Communication in writing – the audit report
- What management expects
- The IIA Competency framework
- Active listening
- Exercise 4 –
The Skills Inventory
- Preparing for an assignment
- Objectives and risk
- Areas to cover
- Getting management input
- Explaining the approach to staff of the function
being audited
- Treating your customers with respect
- Deciding who to interview
- Audit interviews
- Testing – how to determine how much is necessary
- Walk through tests
- Fieldwork Techniques (compliance, transactional,
analytical review, sampling etc)
- How to decide the depth of testing required
- Exercise 5 –
meeting with management
Day 2 – The Audit
in practice
- Developing Terms of Reference for the assignment
- Determining sources of information
- Getting management input
- Deciding who you will need to interview
- Deciding on the audit team
- Risk based audit
- The transition from systems based to risk based
assurance
- The steps needed to embrace a risk based approach
- Translating key risks from the business risk process
into the basis of the audit programme
- Assessing actual versus perceived controls
- Monitoring the effectiveness of risk management
- The link between control, risk and objectives
- The Audit manual
- Exercise 6 –
The audit manual – format and content
- Determining the audit objectives
- Determining the objectives of the function to be
audited
- Exercise 7 Undertaking
a Risk based Audit (interactive)
- Audits of your choice will be used
- Brainstorm the issues
- Build a picture of the risks
- Consider threats and opportunities
- Plan the assignment
- Determine types of test and techniques to use
- What use could be made of CAAT’s?
- Determine the threats to success
- Exercise 8 A team
event – ‘The big picture’
- Fieldwork Techniques (compliance, transactional,
analytical review, sampling etc) – the differences and
how to use them
- Exercise 9 –
Fieldwork techniques
- Measuring Success and Adding value
- What do management think of you?
- Have they embraced the wider role for IA?
- How have they responded to changes already
introduced?
- What challenges have they posed?
- Exercise 10 Audit
reputation and measures of Success
- Problem solving
- Dealing with difficult customers
- Reacting to challenges
- Exercise 11 – The Puzzle –
a real challenge to complete the event
Course Outlines
Course Diary
Booking Information
In-House Training |
