Audit Risk Assessment Made Easy

Teaches auditors how to use risk assessment to plan their engagements.

This book assists auditors in planning, performing, and completing audit engagements. It is designed to make auditing more easily understandable.

Drawing on her many years as a consultant to numerous companies big and small, author Rose Hightower infuses Internal Controls Policies and Procedures with her wealth of experience and knowledge. Instead of reinventing the wheel, your company can use this useful how-to manual to quickly and effectively put a successful program of internal controls in place. Complete with flowcharts and checklists, this essential desktop reference is a best practices model for establishing and enhancing your organization's control framework.

Designed specifically to help practitioners prevail in the current climate of intense scrutiny, Audit Procedures presents the conservative and cost-effective approach needed to conduct a higher-quality audit of nonpublic commercial entities. Practical discussion and consideration of the day-to-day management of audit engagements enhance the quality of the auditor's practice while easy-to-read and easy-to-understand advice, procedures, and practice aids enable practitioners to put official pronouncements into action immediately. The 2008 Edition integrates Knowledge-Based Audits of Commercial Entities and explains the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board's new risk assessment standards, which represent significant changes to existing audit practice.

"How can you argue with the core principles of Lean, that you focus on what provides value to your customer and eliminate work that is not necessary (muda)? Internal auditors need to understand not only who their primary customers are, but what is valuable to them - which in most cases is assurance that the risks that matter to the achievement of objectives are properly managed. We need to communicate what they need to know and not what we want to say. This incessant focus on the customer and the efficient production of a valued product should extend to every internal audit team. How else can we ensure that we optimize the use of our limited resources to address the dynamic business and risk environment within which our organizations operate?" Norman Marks, GRC Thought Leader Using lean techniques to enhance value add and reduce waste in internal auditing Lean Auditing is a practical guide to maximising value and efficiency in internal audit through the application of lean techniques. It is an ideal book for anyone interested in understanding what progressive, value adding audit can be like. It is also ideal for anyone wondering whether audit activities can be streamlined or better co-ordinated with other activities. The book contains practical advise from the author's experience as CAE of AstraZeneca PLC; from his work as a consultant specializing in this field; as well as insights from leading CAEs in the UK, US and elsewhere. In addition, there are important insights from thought leaders such as Richard Chambers (IIA US) and Norman Marks (GRC thought leader) and Chris Baker (Technical Manager of the IIA UK). Increasing pressure on resources is driving a need for greater efficiency in all areas of business, and Internal Audit is no exception. Lean techniques can help streamline the workflow, but having only recently been applied to IA, lack the guidance available for other techniques. Lean Auditing fills this need by combining expert instruction and actionable advice that helps Internal Auditors: Benchmark their efficiency against lean ways of working Understand warning signs of waste and lower added value Understanding practical ways of working that improve added value and reduce waste Gain confidence about progressive ways of working in internal audit Understand how improved ways of working in audit can positively impact the culture of the wider organization One of the keys to the lean audit is finding out exactly what the stakeholder wants, and eliminating everything else. Scaling back certain operations can delineate audit from advisory, and in the process, dramatically improve crucial outcomes. To this end, Lean Auditing is the key to IA efficiency.

The easy way to master the art of auditing Want to be an auditor and need to hone your investigating skills? Look no further. This friendly guide gives you an easy-to-understand explanation of auditing — from gathering financial statements and accounting information to analyzing a client's financial position. Packed with examples, it gives you everything you need to ace an auditing course and begin a career today. Auditing 101 — get a crash course in the world of auditing and a description of the types of tasks you'll be expected to perform during a typical day on the job It's risky business — find out about audit risk and arm yourself with the know-how to collect the right type of evidence to support your decisions Auditing in the real world — dig into tons of sample business records to perform your first audit Focus on finances — learn how both ends of the financial equation — balance sheet and income statement — need to be presented on your client's financial statements Seal the deal — get the lowdown on how to wrap up your audit and write your opinion After the audit — see the types of additional services that may be asked of you after you've issued your professional opinion

Providing a comprehensive framework for building an effective fraud prevention model, Fraud Risk Assessment: Building a Fraud Audit Program presents a readable overview for developing fraud audit procedures and building controls that successfully minimize fraud. An invaluable reference for auditors, fraud examiners, investigators, CFOs, controllers, corporate attorneys, and accountants, this book helps business leaders respond to the risk of asset misappropriation fraud and uncover fraud in core business systems.

Deliver increased value by embedding quality into internal audit activities Internal Audit Quality: Developing a Quality Assurance and Improvement Program is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to better practice internal auditing. Written by a global expert in audit quality, this guide is the first to provide complete coverage of the elements that comprise an effective internal audit quality assurance and improvement program. Readers will find practical solutions for monitoring and measuring internal audit performance drawn from The IIA's International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, and complemented by advice and case studies from leading audit practitioners from five different continents. Major corporate and financial collapses over the past decade have challenged the value of internal audit. With an increased focus on internal audit's role in good governance, management is increasingly demanding that internal audit provides assurance of the quality of its own activities. The IIA standards provide a framework for audit quality in the form of mandatory guidance . Recent research indicates that the majority of internal audit functions do not fully comply with the standards and, as a result, are not servicing the needs of their organizations as well as they might. Internal Audit Quality offers a roadmap to internal audit quality, providing readers the guidance they need to: Embed quality into all elements of internal audit from strategic and operational planning down to day-to-day tasks Create well-defined internal audit programs and procedures Independently self-assess internal audit quality and performance Conform with the IIA standards and better practice Provide assurance over internal audit efficiency and effectiveness Deliver value by meeting stakeholder expectations As a key component of good governance, internal audit is on the rise. The days of retrospective, compliance-focused auditing is a thing of the past. Organizations expect more of internal audit, and many internal audit activities are accepting the challenge. Rather than relying on audit supervision and external assessments, modern auditors are embedding quality into audit activities to create effective programs. For the auditor looking to distinguish themselves as leading edge, Internal Audit Quality provides the guidance that enables the right work, at the right time, in the right way.