COURSE SUMMARY
Our newly updated Best Practices in Risk-Based Auditing course offers the opportunity for auditors of all levels of experience to take a fresh look at the value of risk-based auditing and its impact on audit quality and efficiency. The content and length of this course can be tailored to the specific needs and goals of your audit team. For example, the agenda could be designed to increase focus on areas of higher need for your team or expanded to dive more deeply into topics such as disaggregated risk assessment, using data analytics in planning, performing effective journal entry testing, or designing substantive procedures using automated tools and techniques. Please contact us for more information.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this session, participants will be able to:
- Summarize key concepts in risk-based auditing
- Describe the value of adherence to the risk assessment standards as it relates to audit quality and efficiency
- Describe the most significant areas of opportunities for increasing audit quality and efficiency on your own engagements
- Apply key concepts in risk-based auditing to your own engagements to increase audit efficiency and effectiveness
COURSE OUTLINE
While the course is highly customizable, below is an example agenda for a 12-hour version of the course:
| TOPIC | MINUTES | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 30 | |
| Understanding the Entity | 75 | This section is designed to demonstrate the value of gaining a thorough UTE (including preliminary analytical procedures). |
| Understanding the System of Internal Control | 75 | This section reinforces the downstream impact of the auditor’s understanding of internal control — with a focus on why and how time spent in this area can drive audit quality and efficiency. |
| Risk Assessment | 120 | Risk assessment topics will include assessing financial statement level risks and assertion level risks, including significant risks. The content will spotlight recently updated guidance from SAS 145 |
| Responding to Financial Statement Level Risks | 25 | This section provides an overview of responses to financial statement levels risks, including the risk of management override of controls. |
| Responding to Assertion Level Risks | 150 | This section includes tests of details (sampling and non-sampling), analytical procedures and internal control testing |
| Documentation | 50 | This topic can include a focus on one or more the following topics: linkage between risk assessment and risk response, documenting rationale for key decisions, and best practices for tick marks and review notes |
| Project Management | 50 | This topic includes budgeting, scheduling, supervision and review, and wrap-up/completion |
| Closing | 25 | A review activity and goal setting will allow participants to reflect on the topics previously covered, increasing retention and impact of the content delivered during the session. |
| 600 |
