Assurance Services

(3 hours)

Revised CAS 315 is effective for financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2021 – that means it will impact planning for December 2022 year-ends!

Specifically, the auditor’s risk identification and risk assessment processes have changed due to revisions to CAS 315. This workshop provides an overview of key changes and enhancements to the standard, as well as tips and strategies for incorporating the changes into your audits effectively and efficiently.

This workshop is for everyone but will be focused on partners and senior staff involved in the planning phase of your audits. Let’s discuss HOW the revisions will change your planning, and you can start this NOW! We can tailor the delivery of this workshop to your firm if you provide an example of your current planning and risk assessment documents in advance.

(3 hours)

The suite of quality management standards referred to as the Canadian Standard on Quality Management (CSQM) include the following:

• CSQM 1 – Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Statements, or Other Assurance or Related Services Engagements
• CSQM 2 – Engagement Quality Reviews
• Revised CAS 220 Quality Management for an Audit of Financial Statements

CSQM 1 requires the design and implementation of the SOQM for audits or reviews of financial statements or other assurance engagements by December 15, 2022, and the evaluation of the SOQM to be performed within one year following December 15, 2022. SOQM for related services engagements are required to be designed and implemented by December 15, 2023, and the evaluation of the SOQM to be performed within one year following December 15, 2023.

This workshop provides an overview of the new ‘risk-based approach’ to quality management. It will provide guidance on the design, implementation, operation and evaluation of your firm’s SOQM. The workshop will facilitate the discussion on design and implementation your SOQM.

This workshop is designed for decision makers within your firm, usually partners and senior staff = responsible for quality management matters, and with responsibility for the various practice-related = matters such as HR, IT, etc.

Let us introduce the requirements of the new suite of quality management standards at both the firm-level AND engagement-level. We can tailor the delivery of this workshop to your firm if you provide an example of your current policies and procedures (For example, QAM, IT Manual, HR Manual, etc.) documents in advance.

(3 hours)

This course will revisit key concepts and requirements of:

• Engagements to Review Historical Financial Statements, CSRE 2400
• Compilation Engagements, CSRS 4200

It will look at some of the areas where we can improve efficiency and effectiveness of these engagements.

The course will focus on a reflection on the first-time implementation of CSRS 4200, Compilations -lessons learned and how your can improve these engagements going forward.

We can tailor the delivery of this workshop if you provide specific questions or a completed compilation engagement file to review in advance. With this customized approach, this course can provide an opportunity to explore your firm’s typical engagement trouble spots and obtain tips for documenting work appropriately and identify opportunities for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of your engagements.

(5 hours)

This course revisits key audit requirements as it relates to planning, performing and reporting on engagements. By providing Neverest with a few completed engagement files to review in advance to identify training focus points, explore your firm’s typical engagement trouble spots and obtain tips for documenting work appropriately. Identify opportunities for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of your audit engagements.

(4 days – 20 hours)

This training course is designed for firm professionals at all levels (juniors to experienced managers and partners) who:

• work together in an assurance practice, and
• are interested in identifying practical techniques for planning, performing and wrapping up their engagements more effectively and efficiently.

The Neverest instructor works with a firm designated representative to learn about your practice, including reviewing excerpts of working papers from completed assurance engagements. The Neverest instructor will use this understanding of the firm’s approach to appropriately customize course delivery.

Participants learn practical tools and techniques to “re-engineer” each engagement to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of all future audit and review engagements.

(3 days – 15 hours)

This course enables participants to understand the practical differences between the various types of assurance engagements. It explores the risk based audit approach and enables participants to recognize common risks and objectives for each audit area. It encourages staff to understand the link between planned audit procedures and the identified overall and financial statement assertion level risks. It provides an opportunity to execute audit procedures and learn how to effectively and efficiently create working paper documentation to demonstrate the nature, timing and extent of procedures performed. Finally, it reviews active listening techniques to enable participants to develop their abilities to gather relevant and reliable audit evidence through client interviews.

Using a case study approach, participants work in small group ‘audit teams’ to plan, execute and report on an audit engagement. Teams learn to identify the risks and objectives of each audit area and work together to ensure planned audit procedures are appropriately targeted to risks. At the conclusion of each audit area, teams compare the approach and procedures used to those that would typically be used in review engagements.

(3 days – 15 hours)

This course develops the technical and supervisory skills of individuals. It provides an in-depth examination of how to perform a risk assessment. It explores gaining the appropriate depth of understanding of entity level and activity level risks and controls, including a sufficient understanding of information technology risks and controls. It provides technical guidance in areas that are common trouble spots: using sampling and analytical procedures effectively and auditing complex areas such as management estimates, payroll, and revenues. Participants learn techniques for performing working paper file reviews effectively and efficiently. In addition, this course targets the development of some key soft skills when interacting with clients and colleagues. In the spirit of continuous improvement, participants will also gain strategies for soliciting constructive and timely feedback from supervisors and partners and learn how to contribute to the firm by providing meaningful performance feedback to staff in a professional manner.

(2 days – 10 hours)

This course advances the skills of experienced professionals by improving their abilities to lead assurance engagements, manage engagement teams and interact with clients and other stakeholders. Using project management techniques, participants explore each phase of an assurance engagement to find opportunities to improve engagement effectiveness and efficiency. The benefits of coaching and mentoring staff are explored while introducing a framework that encourages flexibility for success in leading teams.