Diligent HighBond Audit Management Training Course

Course overview

Internal audit teams need more than a repository for workpapers: they need a controlled audit workflow that links risk assessment, audit planning, fieldwork, review notes, issues and reporting without losing accountability. Diligent HighBond Audit Management can provide that structure, but its value depends on users configuring engagements, assigning ownership, applying consistent documentation and producing evidence that stands up to executive, audit committee and external scrutiny. This course addresses the practical challenge of turning established audit methodology into repeatable, traceable work in HighBond.

Participants learn to use Diligent HighBond Audit Management across the audit lifecycle. They create audit universes and plans, set up engagements from templates, define scopes and objectives, build risk-and-control work programs, assign procedures, manage workpapers, document test results, route review points and record issues. The course also covers dashboard reporting, status monitoring, workflow governance and the connection between audit evidence, findings, action plans and management reporting. Exercises use realistic internal-audit scenarios rather than isolated software demonstrations.

Instruction combines guided platform configuration, instructor demonstrations, audit-case workshops and peer review of completed workpapers. Participants build a reusable audit engagement pack containing an engagement setup, risk assessment, work program, testing documentation, review notes, issue records and a management-ready status report. This tangible deliverable can be adapted to the participant's own audit methodology and used as a blueprint for more consistent use of HighBond after the course.

The course suits experienced auditors, audit managers, risk professionals and HighBond administrators who already understand audit fundamentals and now need stronger operational control over audit delivery, evidence quality and reporting.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure a Diligent HighBond Audit Management engagement with scope, objectives, milestones, owners and approval stages
• Build a risk-and-control matrix that links auditable risks, controls, test procedures and workpaper evidence
• Create reusable audit templates for planning, fieldwork, review and issue follow-up
• Document test results and conclusions in controlled HighBond workpapers with supporting attachments and references
• Assign procedures, monitor completion status and manage review notes through the engagement workflow
• Record audit findings, root causes, agreed actions, owners and target dates in an issue-management process
• Produce audit status and issue reports for audit management and audit committee stakeholders
• Design a HighBond adoption plan that maps the organisation's audit methodology to platform roles, templates and controls

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Internal Audit Managers — who need consistent engagement delivery, review control and portfolio visibility
• Senior Internal Auditors — who lead fieldwork and must produce defensible, traceable audit documentation
• Audit Supervisors — who review workpapers, clear review points and monitor audit milestones
• Head of Internal Audit — who needs reliable reporting on plan delivery, findings and overdue actions
• Risk and Compliance Managers — who coordinate assurance activity and require clear issue ownership
• Diligent HighBond Administrators — who configure user access, templates and workflow structures for audit teams

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of internal audit, including audit planning, risk assessment, control testing, workpapers, findings and management action tracking. They should be comfortable using web-based business applications and interpreting their organisation's audit methodology, risk taxonomy and reporting requirements. Prior use of Diligent HighBond is helpful but not essential; the course explains the relevant Audit Management navigation and configuration concepts from first principles. Participants do not need programming, database administration or data-analytics expertise. Access to a training HighBond environment is provided for exercises; organisations may also bring anonymised templates for application planning.

Training methodology

Each day combines instructor-led walkthroughs of Diligent HighBond Audit Management with structured work in a training environment. Participants configure an audit engagement, build work programs, complete testing records and review one another's workpapers against a realistic internal-audit case. Short case discussions focus on choices that affect evidence quality, reviewer accountability and reporting reliability. The instructor provides configuration patterns and audit-methodology guidance rather than simply demonstrating screens. On the final day, participants convert their completed engagement pack into a practical implementation plan for their own audit function.

Course outline

Day 1: HighBond audit operating model and engagement setup

• Diligent HighBond Audit Management navigation, roles and permission concepts
• Audit lifecycle configuration from annual plan to issue follow-up
• Creating audit entities, engagements and engagement metadata
• Defining audit scope, objectives, criteria and key stakeholders
• Setting milestones, budgets, staffing assignments and engagement status
• Using engagement templates to standardise audit delivery
• Establishing naming conventions, document structures and evidence traceability

Workshop: Participants create a scoped audit engagement in HighBond, assign the audit team and produce an approved engagement setup record.

Day 2: Risk assessment, planning and work-program design

• Translating audit-universe risks into engagement-level risk assessments
• Building risk-and-control matrices for audit planning
• Defining inherent risk, residual risk and control-rating criteria
• Linking audit objectives to risks, controls and test procedures
• Creating work programs with procedure owners, due dates and dependencies
• Designing sample-selection and evidence-requirement fields
• Using planning review checkpoints and sign-off workflows

Workshop: Participants build a risk-and-control matrix and a linked work program for a procurement audit case.

Day 3: Fieldwork, workpapers and quality review

• Creating testing workpapers and procedure-level documentation
• Attaching evidence, cross-referencing documents and recording sources
• Recording test populations, samples, exceptions and conclusions
• Using standardised test steps and workpaper templates
• Assigning fieldwork tasks and tracking completion progress
• Raising, responding to and clearing reviewer notes
• Applying audit-trail, version-control and documentation-quality practices

Workshop: Participants complete sample control tests, attach evidence and submit a set of workpapers for supervisory review.

Day 4: Findings, action plans and stakeholder reporting

• Converting test exceptions into evidence-based audit findings
• Documenting condition, criteria, cause, consequence and recommendation
• Assessing finding severity and prioritising remediation
• Assigning management action owners, due dates and validation requirements
• Managing issue status, extensions and overdue-action escalation
• Producing engagement status reports and finding summaries
• Preparing audit committee-ready reporting from HighBond records

Workshop: Participants create findings and management action plans from their testing results, then produce a concise audit-status report.

Day 5: Governance, reporting and HighBond adoption planning

• Configuring role separation, approval responsibilities and access governance
• Defining template governance and controlled methodology updates
• Using portfolio views to monitor audit-plan delivery and engagement health
• Designing key performance indicators for audit progress and issue closure
• Connecting Audit Management records to Diligent HighBond Results reporting
• Aligning HighBond workflows with IIA Global Internal Audit Standards
• Building a phased team adoption and continuous-improvement roadmap

Workshop: Participants present their completed engagement pack and produce a 90-day HighBond implementation plan for their audit function.

Tools & standards covered

Diligent HighBond Audit Management, Diligent HighBond Results, Diligent HighBond Analytics, IIA Global Internal Audit Standards

A typical training day

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

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions