How to Conduct an Audit Engagement

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Recognize the situations in which engagement risk increases.
• Identify the situations in which an auditor could be charged with negligence.
• Specify how to reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level.
• Define a material misstatement.
• Identify detection risk reduction strategies.
• Specify how to determine when an audit objective has been achieved.
• Recognize the different planning documents used in an audit.
• Recognize the activities involved in gaining an understanding of the client.
• Identify the circumstances under which a client’s accounting policies are a particular concern.
• Identify the circumstances under which the auditor might use a client’s internal audit function.
• Specify the different types of risk assessment procedures.
• Describe the use of prior audit information by the auditor.
• Recognize the different types of risks of material misstatement.
• Specify the indicators of risks of material misstatement.
• Recognize the various types of benchmarks that could be used as a materiality threshold.
• Identify the types of service auditor reports on the effectiveness of a service organization’s controls.
• Identify the contents of and best practices for an engagement letter.
• Specify how tests of controls can reduce the need for substantive procedures.
• Specify the uses to which computer assisted audit techniques can be put.
• Identify the characteristics of nonstatistical sampling.
• Recognize the components of audit risk.
• Specify the nature of attribute sampling.
• Describe how to use a sampling unit to maximize sampling efficiency.
• Specify the nature of the tolerable rate of deviation.
• Recognize how sequential sampling works.
• Cite the proper documentation for tests of controls.
• Identify the various indicators of fraud.
• Specify the situations in which a misstatement should not be extended to an entire population.
• Recognize the various alternative sources of audit evidence.
• Describe the nature of the relevance and reliability concepts.
• Identify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of cash.
• Specify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of investments.
• Recognize the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of receivables.
• Identify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of inventory.
• Identify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of fixed assets.
• Specify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of liabilities.
• Recognize the phrases used by attorneys to indicate the outcomes of lawsuits.
• Specify the audit procedures pertaining to the audit of equity.
• Identify the situations in which negative and positive confirmations should be used.
• Recognize the situations in which analytical procedures should be used.
• Recognize the issues that can impact the precision of an analytical procedure.
• Identify the precision levels of the various types of audit testing.
• Identify the probable causes of unexpected variances.
• Describe the situations in which an accounting estimate may have high estimation uncertainty.
• Identify the components of the fraud triangle.
• Specify who is responsible for fraud prevention and detection.
• Recognize the pressures for a client to falsify its financial statements.
• Describe the appropriate staffing for an engagement where the presence of fraud is suspected.
• Identify the characteristics of fraudulent journal entries.
• Specify the signs that a document has been altered.
• Specify who should sign off on the written representations document.
• Define the unique characteristics of the liquidation basis of accounting.
• Identify the types of laws or regulations that could impact a client’s financial statements.
• Recognize the procedures that may be used by a client to ensure its compliance with laws and regulations.
• Recognize how one might identify which components are significant at the group level of a group audit.
• Cite the circumstances under which there could be a risk of material misstatement in a group audit.
• Specify the situations in which an auditor may elect to use the work of a specialist.
• Recognize which documents should be included in audit working papers.
• List the auditor’s objectives in relation to subsequent events.
• Identify the indicators of a related party relationship.
• Recognize the characteristics of an arm’s length transaction.
• Recognize the various elements of independence for the auditor.
• Cite the different types of financial interest that an auditor may have in a client.
• Identify the circumstances under which an employment arrangement could impact an auditor’s independence.
• Recognize the issues for an auditor when accepting a gift from a client.
• Specify the different types of audit opinions.
• Identify the situations in which it may be difficult to identify those charged with governance of a client.
• Identify the different designations for control weaknesses and deficiencies.
• Recognize the situations in which an engagement team relies on a system of quality control in the conduct of an audit.