Process Risk Assessment Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Managers, Financial Controllers 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-RM-065

Before you join: Participants should understand core finance processes such as procure-to-pay, record-to-report, payroll, treasury or financial close.

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

Finance and accounting processes depend on correct handoffs, approvals, data feeds and reconciliations. A missed vendor-master review, unsupported journal, failed interface or delayed bank reconciliation can create misstatement, fraud, liquidity and regulatory exposure before management sees it. Process risk assessment gives finance leaders a disciplined way to identify where breakdowns can occur, judge their significance, test whether controls address them and assign action before losses or reporting errors become material.

This five-day course teaches a structured approach to assessing risk in processes such as procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, record-to-report, payroll, treasury and financial close. Participants use ISO 31000 principles, Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA), process mapping, FMEA, bow-tie analysis, control design assessment and key risk indicators. They learn to distinguish inherent from residual risk, identify root causes, assess control effectiveness, score risks consistently and present decision-ready findings to process owners, finance leadership and risk committees.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with finance-process cases, facilitated group analysis, control-testing simulations and application planning. Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30, providing about 6.5 contact hours. Participants leave with a reusable process risk assessment pack containing a process map, risk register, control assessment, scoring rationale, KRI set and remediation plan. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

The course suits professionals responsible for financial controls, operational risk, internal control, assurance, compliance and finance transformation. It is particularly useful where teams need a consistent method for assessing process risks rather than relying on informal issue lists or audit findings alone.

What you will be able to do

  • Map end-to-end finance processes using SIPOC, swimlanes, walkthroughs and RACI analysis
  • Facilitate an RCSA to identify event-based process risk scenarios and root causes
  • Assess inherent and residual risk using calibrated likelihood, impact and FMEA criteria
  • Design control objectives and key controls linked to financial assertions and risk responses
  • Test control design and operating effectiveness using walkthroughs, sampling and evidence criteria
  • Build KRIs, thresholds and escalation triggers for priority finance process risks
  • Prepare risk registers, heat maps and deficiency papers for management decision-making
  • Produce a prioritised remediation and governance plan for a selected finance process

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Apply a repeatable RCSA method to finance process reviews
  • Explain risk ratings and control gaps with defensible evidence
  • Assess key controls beyond simple checklist completion
  • Present risk findings clearly to finance leadership and committees
  • Create a practical first-ninety-day process risk assessment plan

For your organisation

  • More consistent risk assessments across finance processes and business units
  • Earlier identification of reporting, fraud and transaction-processing control failures
  • Clearer ownership for risk treatments, controls and overdue actions
  • Better evidence for internal audit, external audit and regulatory reviews
  • Prioritised remediation spending based on residual risk and control weakness

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish the governance, scope and risk language for a finance process assessment.

  • ISO 31000 principles, risk appetite and governance accountabilities defined
  • Three Lines Model roles for process risk ownership and assurance
  • Risk taxonomy linking financial reporting, treasury, procurement and payroll exposures
  • Process-risk events distinguished from strategic, market and credit risks
  • Risk appetite statements translated into process-level tolerance thresholds
  • Materiality, likelihood and velocity considered when prioritising process risks
  • Finance control failures traced to statements, balances and disclosures

Participants can map a finance process, establish its boundaries and identify critical handoffs.

  • Supplier-to-pay process maps built with SIPOC and swimlane conventions
  • Identify handoffs, exceptions, manual journals and system interfaces
  • Walkthrough evidence gathered through interviews, document inspection and transaction tracing
  • Process narratives reconciled with policies, delegations and accounting procedures
  • RACI analysis assigns accountable owners for controls and risk treatments
  • Data lineage maps expose spreadsheet dependencies and reconciliation breakpoints
  • Boundary definitions separate outsourced activities, shared services and retained responsibilities

Participants can identify credible process risk scenarios, causes and consequences using structured methods.

  • Structured RCSA workshops generate event-based process risk scenarios
  • Cause-and-effect analysis separates root causes, events and consequences
  • Failure mode analysis identifies breakdowns within critical transaction steps
  • Fraud risk factors assessed using the Fraud Triangle
  • Scenario prompts cover error, misconduct, disruption and third-party failure
  • Historical incidents coded by process, cause, loss and control failure
  • Emerging risks identified from regulatory change, technology releases and outsourcing

Participants can assess inherent and residual process risk using defined scoring criteria and documented rationale.

  • Five-by-five matrices calibrated using defined likelihood and impact criteria
  • Inherent and residual ratings distinguished through control-effectiveness assumptions
  • Impact dimensions quantify financial loss, reporting error, liquidity and compliance
  • Bow-tie diagrams connect threats, preventive controls, recovery controls and consequences
  • FMEA scoring applies severity, occurrence and detectability ratings consistently
  • Risk aggregation identifies correlated exposures within end-to-end finance processes
  • Documented scoring rationales support challenge, auditability and management approval

Participants can identify and assess controls that address priority finance process risks.

  • Control objectives linked to assertions, obligations and stated risk responses
  • Preventive, detective and corrective controls classified by timing and purpose
  • Control design tests specify performer, frequency, evidence and precision
  • Key controls selected using materiality, susceptibility and compensating-control analysis
  • Segregation-of-duties conflicts assessed through incompatible access and approval combinations
  • IT-dependent controls evaluated for interfaces, configurations, access and change management
  • Evidence standards distinguish completed controls from merely documented procedures

Participants can test control design and operation, document exceptions and classify deficiencies.

  • Design effectiveness assessed against risk, objective, frequency and evidence requirements
  • Operating effectiveness sampled using populations, attributes and test periods
  • Attribute sampling plans define tolerable deviation and sample-selection methods
  • Walkthrough testing traces one transaction from initiation through financial posting
  • Control deficiencies classified by severity, pervasiveness and compensating measures
  • Root-cause analysis distinguishes people, process, system and governance weaknesses
  • Testing documentation records criteria, evidence, exceptions and conclusions

Participants can design KRIs and monitoring routines that provide early warning of control deterioration.

  • KRI design links leading indicators to named process risk scenarios
  • Thresholds use appetite limits, control tolerances and escalation triggers
  • Loss-event registers capture gross loss, recovery, cause and timing
  • Reconciliation exceptions analysed for ageing, value, recurrence and ownership
  • Dashboard metrics distinguish exposure, control performance and remediation progress
  • Data-quality checks test completeness, accuracy, timeliness and traceability
  • Trend analysis separates normal variation from deteriorating control performance

Participants can select proportionate treatments and build accountable remediation plans for process risks.

  • Risk treatment options compare avoidance, reduction, transfer and acceptance
  • Action plans define owners, milestones, dependencies, costs and success measures
  • Residual-risk acceptance documented against delegated authority and appetite limits
  • Control rationalisation removes duplicate checks without weakening risk coverage
  • Remediation prioritisation considers urgency, benefit, effort and implementation risk
  • Third-party treatment plans assign contractual controls and monitoring duties
  • Change-management gates reassess process risks before system deployment

Participants can prepare clear process risk reports and escalation materials for management and assurance teams.

  • Risk registers record scenarios, ratings, controls, owners and treatments
  • Heat maps communicate prioritised exposures without obscuring scoring limitations
  • Management reports separate decision requests from background risk information
  • Control deficiency papers state condition, criteria, cause, impact and action
  • Escalation protocols trigger timely reporting to executives, committees and audit
  • Risk committee packs align metrics, narratives, decisions and accountability
  • Assurance maps coordinate first-line, second-line and internal-audit coverage

Participants can plan and govern a structured process risk assessment for a priority finance area.

  • Assessment scope selects a priority finance process and risk boundary
  • RCSA timetable sequences mapping, interviews, scoring, challenge and approval
  • Stakeholder plans assign process owners, control owners and reviewers
  • Quality reviews test register completeness, evidence linkage and rating consistency
  • Monthly governance cadence tracks actions, overdue items and residual exposure
  • Application plans specify first ninety days of assessment activity
  • Personal implementation commitments identify sponsor, resources and review dates

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

What you take back to work

  1. Finance process risk assessment template
  2. RCSA facilitation guide
  3. Risk and control register
  4. Control effectiveness testing checklist
  5. KRI threshold dashboard model
  6. Ninety-day remediation plan

Who should attend

  • Finance Managers — need consistent assessments of risks affecting reporting, close and transaction processing
  • Financial Controllers — need evidence-based evaluation of controls over financial reporting
  • Internal Auditors — need stronger process-risk analysis before planning assurance work
  • Operational Risk Managers — need RCSA methods for finance and shared-service processes
  • Compliance Managers — need traceable assessments of process obligations and control gaps
  • Finance Transformation Leads — need risk analysis during system, process and outsourcing changes

Skills and tools covered

Process risk assessmentRCSA facilitationControl design testingRisk scoringKRI designRemediation governance

Tools and standards

ISO 31000, COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework, Risk and Control Self-Assessment, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to establish methods and terminology, followed by finance-process cases involving reconciliations, approvals, journals, vendor data and system interfaces. Participants work in groups to map processes, identify risk scenarios, score exposure, assess controls and draft treatment actions. Simulations examine control evidence, exceptions and escalation decisions. Instructor feedback focuses on scoring discipline, clear documentation and decision-ready reporting. Individual application planning helps participants adapt the method to a priority process after the course.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand core finance processes such as procure-to-pay, record-to-report, payroll, treasury or financial close. Experience working with policies, reconciliations, approvals, controls, audit findings or operational risk registers is helpful. Participants should be comfortable reading process documents and discussing financial reporting or transaction-processing risks. Prior audit, accounting or risk-management qualifications are not required. The course does not assume prior knowledge of ISO 31000, COSO ERM, FMEA, statistical sampling or specialised governance software.

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 understand at least one core finance process and have some exposure to controls, reconciliations, policies, audit or risk activities. Formal qualifications in audit, accounting or risk management are not required.

Bring a laptop if possible, together with a non-confidential example of a process you want to assess, such as financial close, accounts payable or payroll. Course templates and case materials are provided.

The course is designed for finance managers, controllers, internal auditors, operational risk professionals, compliance staff and transformation leads. It is most useful for people who assess or own risks in transaction-processing and financial reporting processes.

General ERM courses focus on organisation-wide risk governance, appetite and strategic risk. This course concentrates on detailed process-level assessment, controls, testing evidence, finance-process risks and remediation management.

Participants can use the supplied templates to scope a priority process, conduct interviews, build a risk register and assess controls. The final module produces a first-ninety-day plan for starting or improving an RCSA cycle.

The course runs for five days, 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instruction, case analysis, group work, testing simulations, reporting practice and 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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