Up COSO-Based IA Sarbanes-Oxley Best Practices ERM Soft Controls Operational New Auditor Leadership Relationship Report

 

COSO-Based Internal Auditing

(2-3 days)

What you will gain from this seminar:

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How to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Sections 302 and 404, and how to add value beyond mere compliance

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Proven evaluation tools for the Control Environment and for process controls

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How to plan, monitor and aggregate audit results to support an entity-wide opinion on internal control

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How to apply COSO to every audit project, with hands-on exercises and a case study

Who should attend: Internal auditors who want to base their audit work on the COSO control framework.

Course Outline

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Sarbanes-Oxley and COSO
bulletSarbanes-Oxley internal control requirements and related rulings
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Internal Control – Integrated Framework (the COSO report)
The challenge: how to evaluate soft controls
Five principles for evaluating soft controls
A “working inventory” of soft controls

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Components, Factors, Points of Focus,  sample evaluation tools—and how to use these elements

 

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Implementation Guides for Sections 302 and 404
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Emerging principles for organizations and internal audit

 

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How World-Class Audit Departments Are Evaluating Soft Controls
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Overview of IIA research study, Control Model Implementation: Best Practices

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The critical components:
Self-assessment
Risk assessment

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The types of tools used for COSO-based internal control evaluation

 
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Tools & Techniques for Entity-Wide Evaluation
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Overview of Internal Controls – Commercial Federal

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Management Interview Guide and Self-Assessment Tool

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Self-Assessment Survey – Ameritech

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New tools for the Control Environment and related entity-wide controls
– El Paso Corporation’s Internal Control Assessment Survey
– United Stationers’ Self Assessment Survey
– Alcatel’s Internal Control Questionnaire

 

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Tools & Techniques for Process-Level Evaluation
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Management Assessment of Risks and Controls – Freddie Mac

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New Tools for Activity-Level Evaluation: ALLTEL, Bemis, Supervalu, Land O’Lakes

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Self-Assessment Workshops – Two Common Techniques, Case Study

 

   (Participants are invited to bring their own tools to share and get feedback)
 

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The Role of Internal Audit
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How to plan and monitor audit coverage to support an entity-wide opinion on internal control

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How to roll up results of audit projects into an entity-wide opinion
 – from IIA Research Study: A Framework for Internal Auditing’s Entity-Wide Opinion on Internal Control
– Williams Companies

 

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COSO-Based Auditing, Using the Risk/Control Matrix as a Self-Assessment Tool
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The Traditional Audit Process

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A Better Audit Process

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Audit Simulation: Introduction to Monolithic Diversified Industries

 

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Phase I: Planning
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Planning steps for a participative audit

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The acquisition audit approach

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Audit Simulation: Notes on research of the human resource function

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Audit Simulation: Participative audit planning meeting

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Identifying and assessing risks: four helpful categories

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Characteristics of well-defined audit objectives

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Audit Simulation: Define audit objectives and scope for MDI Human Resources audit

 

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Phase II: Evaluate the Adequacy of System Design
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Documenting internal controls: traditional methods vs. the risk/control matrix

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Concepts and exercises in using the risk/control matrix

– Defining objectives
– Identifying and analyzing risks
– Identifying controls

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Alternative versions of the risk/control matrix
– COSO-ized
– Designed for Sarbanes-Oxley: Ameritrade, TCF
– Sample completed matrix

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Key points in using the tool

 
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Phase III: Evaluate the Effectiveness of Controls
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Fieldwork: purpose and methods

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Rules of audit evidence, and how they apply to soft controls

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Five principles for evaluating soft controls

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A risk/control matrix for evaluating the control environment

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Tool for evaluating effectiveness of soft controls: the CSA Questionnaire

 

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Phases I-III: Develop Recommendations for Improvement
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The five attribute approach

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Form for developing and reporting audit findings

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Participative reporting

 

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Phase IV: Reporting
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Techniques and formats to support participative auditing

 

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How to Make It Happen
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Six Critical steps in implementing your new tools and techniques

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Internal control training for management and/or all employees – Cargill

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Benefits of implementing COSO

 

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