Tools for Audit Managers

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is intended to equip participants with the essential understanding, skills, and techniques to effectively, and confidently, complete their critical role as internal audit managers. This course is designed for the newly appointed audit manager — with 3+ years’ internal audit experience, who want to enhance their effectiveness as an audit manager and become an effective and trusted advisor within their organization.

Course Objectives

• Identify the core elements of the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) as they relate to the lead auditor role.
• Describe the components of the audit model.
• Compare the roles and responsibilities of audit management, the lead auditor, and the auditee.
• Identify the roles and responsibilities of team members involved in QAIP.
• Identify key concepts necessary to becoming an effective leader.
• Identify key concepts necessary to leading and mentoring staff.
• Identify the components of the audit planning and opening conference.
• Identify best practices for conducting an audit risk assessment, walkthrough, and audit program development.
• Identify the components required for auditing fieldwork and testing.
• Identify best practices for audit observations and findings and recommendations.
• Identify the components of effective audit reporting and the exit conference.
• Demonstrate the steps necessary to wrap up the audit after the report is issued.
• Identify the key metrics and performance indicators necessary to measuring internal audit productivity.
• Recognize the formal quality assurance standards that the internal audit function is required to follow.

Course Topics

Overview of the Audit Model

• Mission of internal audit.
• The International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF).
• The audit model.

Overview of the Internal Control Environment

• Control terms.
• Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s (COSO) Framework.
• U. S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley) overview.
• Risk in the control environment.
• Enterprise risk management (ERM).

Audit Governance, Roles & Responsibilities

• Governance.
• Audit governance roles and responsibilities.
• Qualifications of audit team members (by level).
• Mission statement, vision statement, and audit charter.
• Audit manager responsibilities during the engagement.
• Independence and reporting relationships.

The Audit Cycle – Audit Planning

• Defining the audit plan.
• Applicable Standards.
• Setting the audit budget, resources, and schedule.
• Project management tools.
• Reviewing the risk assessment, risk matrix, and internal controls.

The Audit Cycle – Audit Fieldwork

• Workpapers and workpaper attributes.
• Applicable Standards.
• Standardized workpapers.
• Audit review steps.
• Effective monitoring and feedback.
• Root cause analysis.
• Strategy for presenting audit finding.

The Audit Cycle – Audit Report & Wrap Up

• Preparing and reviewing the audit report.
• The exit conference.
• Reviewing and closing out the audit project.
• Feedback from audit customers.
• Common audit survey questions.

Quality Assurance & Improvement Program

• What is a QAIP?
• Applicable Standards.
• The QAIP Framework.
• Five characteristics of a successful QAIP.
• Reporting the results of a QAIP.
• Balanced scorecards.

Supervising and Developing Staff

• The hierarchy of needs.
• Motivation and the outcome of human interaction.
• Manipulators vs. motivators.
• Managing conflict.
• Changing behavior.
• Effective monitoring and feedback.
• Performance reviews.
• Mentoring to provide guidance.

Leadership Skills

• Becoming a leader and a manager.
• Leadership skills for managers.
• Managing vs. leading.
• Characteristics of an effective leader.
• Challenges of a leadership role.
• What type of leader are you?
• Leadership identification tools.

Managing Change

• The Change Model.
• The effects of change.
• The TACTFUL Approach.
• Dealing with change.
• Communicating change to the client.
• Communicating results and criteria.
• Communicating change – Additional concepts.

Managing Relationships and Marketing Internal Auditing

• Internal auditing’s role in an organization.
• Typical internal audit functions.
• Internal audit and external auditors.
• Internal auditing and outsourcing, co-sourcing, and partnering.
• Promoting the internal audit function.
• Communicating with the audit committee.

Innovative Problem Solving

• Defining innovative problem solving.
• Innovative thinking.
• The innovation process.
• Steps in the innovation process.
• Creative problem solving.