Course Description
Internal auditors are expected to determine the reliability of financial and operational reporting; assess the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of operations; and verify that the organization's assets are being properly used and safeguarded.
In today’s business environment, an ever-demanding board counts on IA to verify that internal controls are operating as intended and to determine if processes are efficient and support organizational objectives. All of these expectations point to the need for internal auditors to perform high-quality operational reviews.
Learning ObjectivesIn this pragmatic three-day seminar you will learn the fundamentals of operational auditing, including the key requirements you must meet to conduct an effective operational review.
You will gain an understanding of management practices and discover how to determine if they help or hinder the achievement of the organization’s objectives. You will identify conditions that reduce cycle time and create waste.
You also will find out how you can leverage the COSO framework, Six Sigma, CAATs Balanced Scorecard, and other business tools to better understand operating areas, plus master techniques for quantifying the value of your recommendations, and cover ways to enhance your audit process, accelerate the identification of issues, and provide more timely feedback to management.
Throughout the seminar you will work through exercises and apply the skills you learn here to audits of key functional areas.
What You Will Learn1. Terminology and Key Concepts- changing roles and responsibilities of internal auditors
- the link between financial, compliance, and operational audits
- incorporating operational risks into Internal Audit’s risk-based auditing approach
- evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of operations
2. The Operational Audit- planning and performing operational audits: the essential elements
- identifying, measuring, and assessing operational objectives
- operational procedures and management’s response to deviations
- evaluating the tools management uses to set and monitor organizational goals
- quality and performance improvement methodologies
- developing and using metrics to monitor performance and risks
- key operational audit tools
3. Payroll- identifying the risks in the payroll function
- objectives, controls, procedures, and personnel
- payroll fraud schemes
- evaluating improvement opportunities
4. Production- auditing production risks
- key elements of the production process: labor, materials, equipment, facilities, and costs
- production methodologies
- identifying key cost drivers to protect bottom-line results
- adapting production concepts to service-based organizations
5. Project Management- auditing high-risk/high-impact projects within the organization
- common project management problem areas
- performing project risk assessments
- examining the project life-cycle
- IT projects and the system development life cycle
6. Quality Control- why quality control is important for organizational success
- safety, returns, facilities, warranties, equipment and labor issues
- the importance of design and the link to quality
- locating quality issues: prevention or detection
7. Human Resources- the critical role of human capital management
- evaluating the employee’s work life-cycle: recruitment to termination
- assessing employee morale and the effectiveness of communications
- focusing on often-neglected aspects of personnel management
8. Energy- examining the benefits beyond monetary savings
- Performing energy audits even if you are not an energy expert
- investigating key aspects of the organization for costly wasteful practices
- evaluating company assets and practices for cost reduction opportunities
9. Building Synergies- operational auditing, COSO, and ERM
- the role of other gatekeepers within the organization
- monitoring and reporting
- Six Sigma, CAATs, and Balanced Scorecard
Prerequisite: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Learning Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group-Live
Date & Time8:30 am and conclude at 5:00 pm, with the exception of the final day, which ends at 1:00pm