Objective:
Participants often leave these courses with the ability to:
- Develop a roadmap for implementing continuous auditing.
- Identify opportunities to automate audit procedures.
- Improve audit efficiency and reduce the need for manual testing.
- Create comprehensive and actionable audit reports in a fast-paced environment.
Content:
Fundamentals and Strategic Overview
- Continuous Auditing vs. Continuous Monitoring: Understanding the distinction between audit-driven testing (CA) and management-driven remediation (CM).
- The Business Case: Justifying the investment through increased efficiency, coverage, and real-time risk assessment.
- Evolution of Audit: Moving from ad hoc, manual, and reactive audits to proactive, technology-driven, and automated procedures.
Planning and Risk Assessment
- Setting Objectives and Scope: Identifying which processes (e.g., procurement, revenue, payroll) are suitable for continuous auditing.
- Risk Identification: Pinpointing areas with high transactional volume or high fraud risk.
- Data Discovery Walkthroughs: Conducting interviews and identifying data sources necessary for monitoring.
Technology and Data Analytics
- Data Access and Integrity: Techniques for accessing ERP systems and validating data accuracy.
- CAATs and Advanced Tools: Using Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) and data analytics tools (e.g., SQL, Python, specialized software) to identify anomalies.
- Automation Techniques: Building scripts for automated data extraction, analysis, and reporting.
Implementation and Testing
- Designing Test Procedures: Converting manual, sampling-based tests into automated, full-population tests.
- Developing Alerts: Creating automated notifications to report potential anomalies to management in real-time.
- Building Dashboards: Using data visualization to present key risk indicators (KRIs) and control performance to stakeholders.
Reporting and Sustainability
- Continuous Reporting: Creating ongoing reports for faster remediation and better governance.
- Maintaining the System: Reviewing and refining automated tests, managing false positives, and adapting to process changes.
- Change Management: Securing management buy-in and integrating the approach into the organizational culture.
For Whom:
Internal Auditors desirous of adopting modern internal auditing techniques in their workplace.