Auditing

Complying with auditing and ethical standards is essential of course, but perhaps more complex to achieve than might be thought. We can help by providing that extra technical support or training that you might not have the time or expertise for internally, or where you specifically need an outside perspective. 

Our consulting services include:

• Technical writing or reviewing, including policies and procedures, books, articles or internal guidance
• ISQM implementation work or training sessions
• Root cause analysis of audit quality issues
• Audit manual updates or reviews
• Subject matter expert services for software houses
• Technical queries related to the application of auditing and ethical standards

Our training:

• We are able to provide a variety of courses in audit, both standard presentations for public courses and bespoke sessions for in-house use both online or in person.
• If you are looking for something more imaginative then a typical presentation, then we can work with you to design workshops or "brain-friendly" training sessions. These involve much more audience participation and require delegates to work together to increase engagement and to share knowledge between different team members. They can result in a more powerful learning experience for delegates with the result that staff and partners have a better understanding and retain more of the topics covered in the course than in a traditional course.
• All our courses are presented by experienced and engaging speakers who have a thorough knowledge of their topic areas.
• If you need e-learning or webinars so that staff and partners can access the courses more flexibly, then we can work with you to create these.

Here is a list of some of the courses that we can run that may be of interest:

Getting less complex audits right (under ISAs(UK))

o   This course looks at key areas that tend to cause problems for the smaller/less complex audit and how firms can tackle these including sampling and non-sampling techniques to gather evidence, planning and risk assessment and professional scepticism

Auditing under the LCE ISA (International audiences where Less Complex Entity ISA is available)

o   An introductory course on the requirements of the LCE standard – only suitable for jurisdictions which are adopting the standard, which is not the UK.

Quality vs Efficiency – it’s not a trade off

o   This course looks at the requirements for quality under ISQM 1 and 2 and ISA 220 and how doing an efficient audit aids quality and vice versa. From planning, to fieldwork, review, and completion the course will provide opportunities for delegates to think about their processes and identify improvements.

 ISQM 1 on quality management

o   This course will look at the requirements for implementing and operating a system of quality management that complies with ISQM 1. It will be useful to help firms conduct a post implementation review of their systems or for staff or partners with new responsibilities in this area.

Root Cause Analysis – what it is and how to do it

o   This course looks at the requirements in ISQM 1 for RCA and explains, with examples and case studies, how a root cause analysis can be performed and the process required for identifying and embedding improvements to address the root causes.

ISA 600 revised on group audits

o   What you need to know as a group or component auditor under the Revised ISA 600.

The FRC ethical standard for auditors and general ethical requirements of professional accountants

o   This course will look at the ethical requirements for auditors – it can be run either as a version aimed at audit staff or as a version aimed at all staff/partners (it is vital that all staff/partners understand the impact of their work on auditor independence).

Professional scepticism and cognitive bias

o   This course looks at why our brains make it so hard to be professionally sceptical and the practical tools that we can use to help stop our brains falling into thinking traps that lead to incorrect audit opinions.

Other audit courses can be arranged as required if you have a specific need or the above can be adapted.