Essential Audit Skills

Audience

This course is aimed at staff moving into audit functions, either as (internal) auditors or prime business contact to auditors, and therefore need gain an understanding of audit principles and mechanics.

Prerequisites

None, however basic desktop computing skills and some experience with auditing, eg having been audited, will be helpful.

Duration

5 days. Hands on.

Course Objectives

Delegates will learn various skills required to successfully prepare and perform audits. Discussions and hands on labs will allow the students to practise each subject on real world examples.

Course Content

1. Planning the Audit
a. The purpose of audits
b. Establish the scope of the audit
c. Preparing the audit (test plans etc.)
d. Scheduling the audit (resources, dependencies etc.)

2. Communication
a. Involving the right people across teams, departments & hierarchies
b. Creating the right atmosphere
c. Opening and closing meetings with management

3. Performing the Audit
a. Assessing documentation and evidence
b. Interviewing and corroborative enquiry
c. Sampling approaches
d. Identifying exceptions and deficiencies

4. Reporting
a. Establishing documentation standards
b. Creating workpapers
c. Presenting results (statistics, deficiencies, conclusion etc.)
d. Adding recommendations for improvements

5. Remediation
a. Root cause analysis
b. Agreeing and monitoring corrective actions
c. Re-assessment