Value for Money Audit Training Course

Participants can convert a broad audit mandate into focused scope and answerable audit questions.

• Translate strategic concerns into a defined audit problem statement
• Scope boundaries: entities, periods, locations, processes and populations
• Primary and secondary audit questions structured around the Three Es
• Criteria matrix linking questions, standards, evidence sources and methods
• Exclusions documented to prevent scope drift during fieldwork
• Stakeholder interests analysed without compromising audit independence

Participants can set relevant, reliable and agreed audit criteria for value for money testing.

• Criteria sources: legislation, policy, contracts, benchmarks and targets
• SMART measures adapted for audit criteria and expected performance
• Condition, cause, consequence and criteria within finding development
• Test criterion relevance, reliability, understandability and attainability
• Benchmarking comparators selected with contextual differences clearly documented
• Management validation of criteria without surrendering auditor judgement

Participants can prioritise audit work using risk, materiality and potential improvement value.

• Risk-based planning identifies significant expenditure and service failure risks
• Materiality assessed through financial, operational, legal and reputational factors
• Inherent risk, control risk and detection risk applied
• Risk registers connect causes, events, impacts, controls and evidence
• Prioritisation scoring ranks audit areas by significance and auditability
• Fraud, waste and abuse indicators considered within value assessments

Participants can model how resources and activities should produce outputs and outcomes.

• Logic model links inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts
• Theory of change identifies assumptions and external influencing factors
• Outcome indicators distinguish service delivery from beneficiary change
• Causal pathways tested against programme design and available evidence
• Unintended consequences included when assessing programme effectiveness
• Performance measures assessed for validity, reliability and timeliness

Participants can map end-to-end processes and identify controls affecting cost, quality and timeliness.

• SIPOC diagrams define suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers
• Swimlane process maps clarify handoffs, ownership and approval points
• Identify rework, delays, bottlenecks and non-value-added activities
• Control objectives linked to process risks and expected outcomes
• Walkthroughs confirm documented procedures against actual operating practice
• Root-cause hypotheses recorded before detailed evidence collection begins

Participants can design a proportionate evidence plan for each audit question and criterion.

• Evidence plans specify sources, methods, timing, ownership and limitations
• Triangulation combines documents, interviews, observation and quantitative data
• Interview protocols obtain consistent, relevant and challengeable evidence
• Document review schedules record source, date, purpose and findings
• Data dictionaries test field definitions, completeness and period coverage
• Chain of custody protects sensitive records and audit evidence

Participants can select and document suitable samples for testing transactions, cases and processes.

• Population definition establishes units, time periods and inclusion rules
• Judgemental sampling targets high-risk, high-value and unusual items
• Random sampling supports representative transaction and case selection
• Stratified samples separate material, routine and exceptional population segments
• Sample sizes justified against risk, resources and intended conclusions
• Sampling limitations disclosed when drawing audit conclusions from tests

Participants can assess whether goods, services and resources were acquired at appropriate cost and quality.

• Economy tests examine price, quality, quantity and procurement timing
• Should-cost analysis compares supplier pricing with defensible cost drivers
• Spend analysis identifies concentration, fragmentation and off-contract purchasing
• Competitive tendering records tested for fairness, evaluation and award rationale
• Whole-life cost considers acquisition, operation, maintenance and disposal
• Supplier performance measures connect contract obligations with delivered value

Participants can assess productivity, capacity use and process performance using relevant operational measures.

• Efficiency measures relate inputs consumed to outputs delivered
• Unit-cost analysis compares expenditure per case, customer or output
• Productivity ratios combine staffing, workload, throughput and quality data
• Capacity utilisation distinguishes available capacity from productive capacity
• Cycle-time analysis identifies delays between process initiation and completion
• Variance analysis explains differences between planned and actual resource use

Participants can assess whether programmes and services achieved intended outputs, outcomes and impacts.

• Effectiveness tests compare intended outcomes with actual measured results
• Baseline data establishes conditions before an intervention or service change
• Output, outcome and impact measures interpreted without causal overstatement
• Counterfactual reasoning considers what may have occurred without intervention
• Beneficiary feedback assessed for representativeness, bias and supporting evidence
• Target achievement analysed by geography, customer group and delivery channel

Participants can analyse financial and operational datasets to identify patterns requiring audit investigation.

• Data profiling identifies missing values, duplicates, outliers and invalid codes
• Trend analysis tracks cost, volume, quality and timeliness over time
• Ratio analysis compares resources, output levels and service performance
• Pareto analysis isolates categories driving most cost or failure
• Variance bridges explain movement between budget, forecast and actual results
• Dashboards assessed for calculation logic, source integrity and decision usefulness

Participants can manage fieldwork records that support review, challenge and audit conclusions.

• Working papers link objectives, criteria, procedures, evidence and conclusions
• Audit programmes sequence tests, responsibilities, milestones and review points
• Evidence indexing enables retrieval and traceability during quality review
• Exception logs record condition, source, owner, impact and follow-up
• Supervision notes document review comments, revisions and cleared issues
• Fieldwork status reporting tracks progress, blockers and emerging findings

Participants can develop balanced findings that identify conditions, causes, consequences and corrective action.

• Finding matrices connect criteria, condition, cause, consequence and evidence
• Five Whys analysis distinguishes immediate symptoms from underlying causes
• Fishbone diagrams structure people, process, technology and policy causes
• Quantify financial, service, risk and opportunity consequences where feasible
• Contrary evidence assessed before confirming a proposed audit finding
• Management explanations tested against records, data and observed practice

Participants can formulate practical recommendations with clear ownership, timescales and success measures.

• Recommendations address root causes rather than restating audit observations
• SMART action plans specify owner, deadline, resource and completion evidence
• Prioritise recommendations by risk reduction, cost, feasibility and urgency
• Management responses distinguish acceptance, alternative action and disagreement
• Benefits realisation measures track savings, quality improvements and risk reduction
• Follow-up protocols verify implementation and sustained corrective action

Participants can write clear audit reports that communicate evidence, conclusions and required action.

• Executive summaries state conclusion, significance, key evidence and action
• Report structure follows objective, scope, methodology, findings and recommendations
• Use precise language separating facts, analysis, judgement and opinion
• Charts and tables communicate trends, comparisons and performance gaps
• Evidence sufficiency tested before issuing findings and overall conclusions
• Exit meetings resolve factual accuracy without negotiating audit judgement

Participants can apply quality and ethical safeguards before communicating value for money audit results.

• Quality reviews test scope alignment, evidence sufficiency and logical conclusions
• ISSAI 300 quality principles applied to performance audit documentation
• Conflicts of interest identified, declared and managed appropriately
• Confidential information handled through access controls and reporting protocols
• Audit committee papers focus on significance, assurance and management action
• Challenge sessions prepare auditors for senior stakeholder questioning

Participants can build, review and present a complete value for money audit plan and findings report for a realistic assignment.

• Select a material audit subject with defined accountability and concerns
• Build audit questions, scope boundaries and criteria matrix
• Prepare risk assessment, logic model and evidence collection plan
• Map the process and identify economy, efficiency and effectiveness tests
• Develop findings supported by analysed data and documented evidence
• Draft recommendations, management action measures and follow-up arrangements
• Present audit conclusions and respond to structured review challenge