Internal Audit

(5 hours)

Boards of directors, audit committees and management have constantly rising expectations of internal auditors. Once a best practice, now a necessity, risk based auditing is critical to effectively and efficiently deliver on ever-increasing audit mandates. Enhance your understanding of risk-based auditing and uncover proven techniques for success.

This course focuses on the essential tools and techniques of internal auditing. It sets out an approach for identifying and assessing risks and for identifying controls to mitigate those risks appropriately. It describes how to design and execute relevant audit programs. It presents best practices for preparing audit working papers. It shares best practices for reporting, including gaining client acceptance of audit findings and recommendations.

(2 days – 10 hours)

Managing an audit engagement successfully is a challenge. It depends in large measure on how well the person managing the audit understands and applies project management techniques. When the right techniques are properly applied, they help achieve an audit that is effective and efficient and truly adds value. Besides strengthening the organization, such results enhance the internal audit function’s stature in the mind of management and other stakeholders.

This course explains project management techniques and shows how they apply to managing an audit. It sets out techniques for defining an audit’s objectives and scope. It addresses how to plan an audit. It examines key aspects of executing an audit, including the supervising of audit staff, the documenting of audit work, the recording of audit findings, and the drafting of audit reports. Finally, it outlines steps for concluding – and learning from – an audit.

(5 hours)

Every organization is faced by risk. Risk can harm the organization; and also provide opportunities from which the organization could benefit. The challenge for management is to recognize and assess the risks and, then, to ensure that a suitable system of internal control is in place to mitigate the risks appropriately within the organization’s overall risk environment.

This course explores risk. It defines risk. It presents approaches for identifying individual risks. It explains risk and control matrices and shows how they can be used in assessing the inherent and residual risk associated with individual risks.

The course also explores internal control. It defines control. It explores different types of controls. It discusses the limitation of controls as regards the mitigation of risks. It explains the COSO Internal Control Framework and demonstrates how the Framework can assist in identifying controls to mitigate risks appropriately in computerized and non-computerized environments.