Advanced Auditing Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Audit Managers, Audit Seniors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-A-133

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in external audit, internal audit, financial control, risk assurance or financial reporting.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Advanced audit work requires more than completing standard programmes and documenting procedures. Senior auditors must identify where material misstatement is most likely, challenge management assumptions, assess the reliability of systems and data, and reach defensible conclusions under review pressure. This course addresses demanding audit areas including revenue recognition, accounting estimates, fraud risks, IT controls, group reporting, going concern and modified audit opinions. It focuses on the judgment, evidence and documentation expected on complex financial statement audits.

Participants apply International Standards on Auditing to plan and perform risk-based audit work. They learn to translate assessed risks into responsive procedures, evaluate control reliance, use audit data analytics appropriately, test significant estimates, assess management bias, and evaluate misstatements. The course also covers audit quality management, engagement supervision, consultations, communications with those charged with governance, and reporting decisions. Participants strengthen their ability to explain why evidence is sufficient and appropriate, not merely record what procedures were performed.

Teaching combines concise technical briefings with financial reporting cases, audit-file reviews, group analysis, simulations and structured professional judgment discussions. Cases reflect issues commonly encountered in banks, multinational groups, regulated businesses, public-interest entities and large operational companies. Participants leave with reusable audit-planning, risk-assessment, evidence-evaluation and reporting tools, together with an individual application plan. The course is delivered instructor-led over five days in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits experienced auditors and finance professionals who already work with financial statements and want stronger capability in complex audit judgments, evidence evaluation and audit-file leadership.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess financial statement risks using ISA 315, assertions and inherent risk factors
  • Design ISA 330 audit responses linked to significant risks and control reliance
  • Test revenue, journal entries and related-party transactions for fraud risk indicators
  • Challenge accounting estimates using sensitivity analysis, back-testing and management-bias indicators
  • Evaluate IT general controls, application controls and data reliability for audit evidence
  • Perform group audit planning, component auditor evaluation and consolidation testing
  • Formulate audit conclusions on misstatements, going concern and modified opinions
  • Prepare review-ready working papers, governance communications and quality remediation actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence challenging management estimates and unsupported explanations
  • Stronger audit-file review and coaching capability for senior responsibilities
  • Practical methods for documenting professional judgment and evidence sufficiency
  • Improved ability to identify fraud indicators and respond to significant risks
  • Clearer communication with audit committees, partners and finance leadership

For your organisation

  • More focused audit work on material risks and relevant financial statement assertions
  • Improved quality of evidence, review notes and audit-file documentation
  • Earlier identification of revenue, estimate, fraud and control issues
  • More consistent application of ISA requirements across engagement teams
  • Better prepared governance communications and defensible audit reporting decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can set defensible engagement objectives, evaluate acceptance conditions and document ethical safeguards.

  • ISA 200 objectives, professional judgment, scepticism, and reasonable assurance boundaries
  • Engagement acceptance decisions using ethical requirements, competence, resources, and independence
  • IESBA Code threats arising from self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation
  • Terms of engagement assessed against scope limitations and management responsibilities
  • Professional scepticism demonstrated through contradictory evidence and management challenge
  • Materiality judgments linked to users, benchmarks, qualitative factors, and aggregation

Participants can develop a risk-based audit strategy from business, control and financial reporting evidence.

  • ISA 315 risk assessment procedures linked to financial statement assertions
  • Risk assessment of IT applications, interfaces, reports, and access rights
  • Documenting inherent risk factors: complexity, subjectivity, change, uncertainty, management bias
  • Significant risk determination and rationale for fraud-sensitive account balances
  • Entity-level controls evaluated through COSO principles and governance evidence
  • Data analytics used to identify unusual populations and risk indicators

Participants can design and revise audit procedures that respond directly to assessed risks.

  • ISA 330 responses designed around assessed risks and relevant assertions
  • Tests of controls: inquiry, observation, inspection, reperformance, and sample selection
  • Substantive analytical procedures with expectation precision and investigation thresholds
  • Tailoring substantive procedures for revenue, estimates, related parties, and journals
  • Audit sampling risk, tolerable misstatement, expected error, and sample size
  • Revising audit plans when exceptions alter control reliance conclusions

Participants can address heightened fraud risks in revenue, journals and related-party transactions.

  • IFRS 15 performance obligations mapped to revenue recognition risks
  • Contract testing for variable consideration, returns, rebates, and cut-off
  • Journal-entry testing focused on manual overrides and period-end postings
  • Revenue analytics using disaggregation, trend analysis, and targeted corroboration
  • Related-party revenue assessed through ISA 550 procedures and disclosures
  • Fraud risk responses under ISA 240 for presumed revenue risks

Participants can test complex estimates and evaluate management forecasts, assumptions and disclosures.

  • ISA 540 work on estimates, models, assumptions, and management bias
  • Challenging fair-value inputs using market data and valuation specialists
  • Back-testing prior estimates to assess estimation uncertainty and bias
  • Discounted cash-flow models tested through sensitivity and scenario analysis
  • Evaluating going-concern forecasts under ISA 570 and disclosure requirements
  • Subsequent events procedures under ISA 560 through report release

Participants can assess system-generated evidence and plan audit work over key technology controls.

  • IT general controls over access, changes, operations, and interfaces
  • Application controls traced from initiation through processing to reporting
  • Using CAATs to test full populations, duplicates, gaps, and outliers
  • Data reliability procedures for extracted ledgers and system-generated reports
  • Cybersecurity incidents assessed for financial reporting and disclosure implications
  • Spreadsheet controls examined through logic checks, access, and change histories

Participants can coordinate group audit work and evaluate evidence obtained from components and third parties.

  • ISA 600 group audit strategy, component materiality, and team directions
  • Component auditor communications evaluated for scope, findings, and evidence
  • Consolidation testing for eliminations, foreign currency, and acquisition accounting
  • Related-party identification using registers, minutes, ownership records, and confirmations
  • ISA 505 external confirmations designed, controlled, and evaluated for reliability
  • Cross-border evidence restrictions, data privacy, and audit documentation

Participants can evaluate final audit matters and determine appropriate communications and reporting outcomes.

  • ISA 450 misstatements accumulated, evaluated, and communicated to management
  • Materiality reassessed using actual results, qualitative factors, and aggregation
  • ISA 260 governance communications covering significant judgments, risks, and deficiencies
  • ISA 265 control deficiencies classified and reported with clear recommendations
  • Management representations evaluated under ISA 580 and corroborating evidence
  • Modified opinions under ISA 705 and emphasis paragraphs under ISA 706

Participants can strengthen engagement quality through supervision, review, consultation and remediation.

  • ISQM 1 quality objectives applied to engagement-level supervision and review
  • ISA 220 responsibilities for direction, supervision, review, and consultation
  • Working papers structured for re-performance, review notes, and evidence linkage
  • Consultation protocols for contentious accounting, auditing, and ethical matters
  • Independence threats assessed using IESBA Code safeguards and documentation
  • Root-cause analysis of inspection findings and remedial action tracking

Participants can communicate and document difficult audit judgments while leading stronger audit decisions.

  • Professional scepticism documented when management explanations conflict with evidence
  • Bias mitigation techniques applied to anchoring, confirmation, and groupthink
  • Audit committee discussions prepared around risks, estimates, and control themes
  • Defensible audit judgments linked to evidence, standards, and review conclusions
  • Managing time pressure without reducing evidence quality or challenge
  • Individual application plan identifies priority files, methods, and stakeholders

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. ISA 315 risk-assessment documentation template
  2. Risk-to-procedure audit response matrix
  3. Accounting estimate challenge checklist
  4. IT controls and data-reliability assessment model
  5. Audit completion and reporting decision checklist
  6. Individual advanced audit application plan

Who should attend

  • Audit Managers — need to lead complex engagements and review high-risk audit areas
  • Audit Seniors — need stronger judgment for planning, testing and concluding significant risks
  • Internal Audit Managers — need to assess financial control design and audit evidence quality
  • Financial Controllers — need to prepare support for challenging external audit judgments
  • Risk and Compliance Managers — need to understand audit expectations for controls and governance
  • Finance Directors — need to challenge audit findings, estimates and reporting implications

Skills and tools covered

Risk-based audit planningAudit evidence evaluationAccounting estimate testingIT controls auditingGroup audit coordinationAudit reporting judgments

Tools and standards

International Standards on Auditing, ISA 315, COSO Internal Control Framework, ISQM 1

How the course runs

Training methodology

The instructor uses short technical briefings to establish the relevant ISA requirements, followed by case work drawn from complex audit files. Participants analyse risk assessments, audit evidence, control descriptions, data exceptions, accounting estimates and reporting scenarios in small groups. Simulations focus on management challenge, audit committee communication and review-note resolution. Facilitated discussions compare alternative audit responses and evidence thresholds. Each participant develops an application plan for improving planning, testing, review or reporting on their current assignments.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in external audit, internal audit, financial control, risk assurance or financial reporting. They should be able to read financial statements, understand materiality and assertions, and recognise the purpose of audit evidence and internal controls. Prior exposure to International Standards on Auditing is useful, particularly ISA 315 and ISA 330. This is not a foundation course in bookkeeping or basic audit procedures. Participants do not need prior data analytics software experience, specialist IT audit certification or detailed valuation-model expertise.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should already understand financial statements, audit evidence, materiality and basic audit procedures. The course assumes practical exposure to audit, internal control, financial reporting or assurance work and does not teach bookkeeping fundamentals.

Bring a laptop if you are attending live online or prefer to work with electronic course materials in class. It is also useful to bring non-confidential examples of recurring audit issues, review comments or reporting questions from your work.

It is designed primarily for audit seniors, audit managers, internal audit managers and experienced finance professionals. It is particularly relevant for people reviewing complex audit work or preparing evidence for external auditors.

Basic audit courses focus on audit cycles, standard procedures and introductory control concepts. This course concentrates on complex judgments: significant risks, estimates, fraud, IT evidence, group audits, audit quality and reporting decisions.

Participants can use the risk-response matrix, estimate checklist, IT evidence model and completion checklist on current assignments. The application plan identifies priority audit files, stakeholder discussions and methods to introduce after the course.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between technical instruction, audit-file cases, group analysis, simulations, discussion and structured application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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