Group Accounts and Consolidation Audit Training Course

Course Introduction

Group accounts and consolidation audits require auditors and finance professionals to understand how the financial information of multiple entities is combined into a single group reporting framework. Complex ownership structures, subsidiaries, associates, joint arrangements, intercompany transactions, foreign operations, acquisition activity, and differing accounting practices can create significant risks to the completeness, accuracy, classification, and presentation of consolidated financial information.

This course provides a practical and structured approach to auditing group accounts and consolidation processes from initial group-structure assessment through final consolidated financial statement review. Participants will examine how individual entity financial information flows into group reporting packages, how consolidation adjustments are generated and reviewed, and how auditors can determine whether group-level accounting treatments and disclosures are appropriately supported by evidence.

A central focus of the programme is the audit of consolidation adjustments and intercompany relationships. Participants will develop techniques for testing intercompany balances, sales, purchases, loans, interest, dividends, management charges, unrealised profits, and other intra-group transactions. The course also addresses the identification and resolution of mismatches, timing differences, foreign exchange differences, incomplete eliminations, and unsupported manual consolidation journals.

The programme explores the audit implications of subsidiaries, associates, joint ventures, changes in ownership, non-controlling interests, business combinations, goodwill, and foreign operations. Participants will learn how to assess control and significant influence judgments, evaluate acquisition accounting, test ownership calculations, examine goodwill and impairment assessments, and determine whether changes in group structure have been appropriately reflected in consolidated accounts.

Group reporting increasingly relies on consolidation software, enterprise resource planning systems, shared-service centres, automated data transfers, and centralised reporting platforms. The course therefore incorporates technology-enabled audit techniques, including data analytics, automated population testing, consolidation-journal analysis, intercompany matching, exception identification, and system-control evaluation, while maintaining appropriate professional skepticism and human review.

By completing this course, participants will be able to plan and perform more effective group accounts and consolidation audits, evaluate the reliability of subsidiary information, test consolidation adjustments, assess component audit evidence, and identify significant reporting risks. They will also develop stronger skills for documenting conclusions and communicating complex group accounting matters to finance teams, management, audit committees, boards, and other stakeholders.

Duration

10 days

Who Should Attend

• Group accountants responsible for preparing consolidated financial statements.

• Group financial controllers overseeing consolidation and subsidiary reporting.

• Internal auditors reviewing group accounts and consolidation processes.

• External auditors performing group and consolidated financial statement audits.

• Audit managers and supervisors responsible for complex consolidation engagements.

• Finance managers responsible for subsidiary reporting and group financial information.

• Accounting professionals involved in intercompany reconciliations and elimination processes.

• Professionals responsible for group reporting packages and consolidation adjustments.

• Risk and compliance professionals assessing group financial reporting risks.

• Internal control specialists evaluating consolidation and group reporting controls.

• Forensic accountants investigating unusual group transactions and financial reporting issues.

• Finance professionals working with multinational or geographically dispersed organisations.

• Audit and accounting consultants advising on consolidation, reporting, and assurance matters.

• Senior finance professionals preparing for group accounting, reporting, and audit leadership roles.

Course Objectives

• Develop advanced practical capabilities for preparing, reviewing, testing, and auditing group accounts and consolidated financial statements.

• Understand how group structures, ownership arrangements, control relationships, and component significance affect consolidation accounting and audit procedures.

• Evaluate subsidiary financial information and group reporting packages for completeness, accuracy, consistency, appropriate classification, and reliable supporting evidence.

• Apply systematic audit techniques to consolidation adjustments, elimination entries, intercompany transactions, and other group-level accounting procedures.

• Identify and resolve intercompany mismatches involving balances, transactions, financing arrangements, interest, dividends, management charges, and unrealised profits.

• Assess accounting and audit implications arising from acquisitions, disposals, changes in ownership, business combinations, goodwill, and non-controlling interests.

• Evaluate foreign subsidiary reporting and currency translation processes, including exchange rates, translation adjustments, and cross-border reporting risks.

• Strengthen audit planning and component assessment by considering materiality, financial significance, risk characteristics, reporting complexity, and professional judgment.

• Evaluate the work and evidence of component auditors and determine whether additional group-level procedures are required to support reliable audit conclusions.

• Apply data analytics and technology-enabled audit procedures to consolidation populations, intercompany data, manual journals, elimination entries, and unusual reporting patterns.

• Improve professional skepticism, documentation, communication, review, and escalation when complex group accounting issues or unresolved reporting differences arise.

• Develop advanced group assurance strategies that address emerging technology, regulatory, geopolitical, sustainability, and cross-border financial reporting risks.

Comprehensive Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Group Accounts and Consolidation Auditing

• Principles, objectives, scope, and professional responsibilities associated with group accounts and consolidated financial statement audits.

• Understanding the relationship between individual entity accounts, group reporting packages, consolidation procedures, and consolidated financial statements.

• Key risks arising from multiple entities, different management teams, accounting systems, jurisdictions, currencies, and reporting processes.

• Professional skepticism, independence, objectivity, judgment, ethics, documentation, and quality considerations in group accounting assurance.

Module 2: Group Structure, Ownership and Control Assessment

• Mapping subsidiaries, associates, joint arrangements, branches, special-purpose entities, holding companies, and other components within complex group structures.

• Assessing control, significant influence, joint control, ownership rights, voting arrangements, contractual relationships, and other factors affecting group accounting.

• Identifying changes in ownership, new investments, disposals, restructurings, and other events that may change consolidation requirements.

• Developing group structure documentation and risk assessments that connect ownership relationships to accounting treatment and audit procedures.

Module 3: Group Reporting Processes and Consolidation Planning

• Understanding group reporting calendars, reporting instructions, consolidation packages, account mapping, reporting hierarchies, and group financial close processes.

• Developing group audit plans based on component significance, materiality, financial reporting risks, complexity, geographical spread, and reporting dependencies.

• Establishing reporting deadlines, information requirements, communication protocols, review responsibilities, and escalation arrangements across group entities.

• Allocating audit resources, specialists, technology capabilities, component coverage, supervision, and quality review responsibilities for group engagements.

Module 4: Subsidiary Financial Reporting and Group Reporting Packages

• Evaluating the completeness, accuracy, consistency, and reliability of financial information submitted by subsidiaries for group consolidation.

• Reviewing group reporting packages, trial balances, supporting schedules, account reconciliations, management certifications, and consolidation adjustments.

• Assessing differences in accounting policies, reporting periods, classifications, estimates, and local accounting practices across subsidiaries.

• Testing controls over subsidiary reporting, data submission, review, approval, account mapping, and communication of significant financial issues.

Module 5: Consolidation Adjustments and Elimination Entries

• Understanding consolidation adjustments required for subsidiaries, associates, joint arrangements, intercompany balances, and group-level accounting matters.

• Auditing elimination entries involving intercompany receivables, payables, income, expenses, loans, interest, dividends, and other intra-group transactions.

• Testing manual consolidation journals for authorization, accuracy, completeness, supporting documentation, appropriate classification, and management review.

• Identifying incomplete, duplicated, unsupported, or incorrectly calculated consolidation adjustments and determining their financial reporting implications.

Module 6: Intercompany Transactions and Reconciliation Auditing

• Auditing intercompany sales, purchases, service charges, financing, management fees, royalties, dividends, and other intra-group transactions.

• Performing intercompany reconciliation procedures to identify differences in timing, currency, recording practices, valuation, and transaction classification.

• Testing elimination of unrealised profits arising from intra-group inventory, asset transfers, and other internal transactions.

• Applying data analytics and exception reporting to identify unmatched balances, unusual relationships, duplicate entries, and unexplained intercompany differences.

Module 7: Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Arrangements

• Auditing the consolidation of subsidiaries and evaluating the financial reporting implications of control and changes in control.

• Assessing associates and joint arrangements, including equity accounting, share of results, distributions, impairment, and related disclosures.

• Testing investment balances, equity-accounting adjustments, ownership percentages, earnings allocations, and movements in investment carrying values.

• Evaluating judgments concerning control, significant influence, joint control, governance rights, contractual arrangements, and unusual ownership structures.

Module 8: Business Combinations, Acquisitions and Goodwill

• Auditing acquisition accounting, acquisition dates, consideration transferred, identifiable assets, liabilities, and acquisition-related adjustments.

• Evaluating purchase price allocation, fair value measurements, identifiable intangible assets, contingent consideration, and deferred tax implications.

• Testing goodwill recognition, allocation to cash-generating units or relevant reporting units, impairment indicators, valuation models, and assumptions.

• Identifying acquisition accounting risks involving incomplete information, inappropriate valuations, management bias, classification errors, and inadequate disclosures.

Module 9: Foreign Subsidiaries and Currency Translation

• Auditing financial information from foreign subsidiaries, branches, associates, and other international components included in group accounts.

• Evaluating functional currency assessments, transaction translation, closing rates, average rates, and currency translation adjustments.

• Testing foreign exchange gains and losses, cumulative translation differences, intercompany foreign currency balances, and related disclosures.

• Addressing cross-border risks arising from exchange-rate volatility, local accounting requirements, different reporting systems, and international transactions.

Module 10: Non-Controlling Interests and Ownership Changes

• Accounting and audit procedures for non-controlling interests, ownership percentages, profit allocations, dividends, and equity movements.

• Evaluating partial disposals, additional investments, changes in ownership, transactions with non-controlling shareholders, and changes in control.

• Testing calculations of non-controlling interests, acquisition adjustments, equity movements, and related financial statement disclosures.

• Identifying errors arising from incorrect ownership data, incomplete records, inappropriate calculations, and inconsistent group reporting methodologies.

Module 11: Group Audit Risk Assessment and Component Auditing

• Identifying significant risks across group entities, account balances, transaction streams, disclosures, consolidation processes, and component operations.

• Determining component significance and audit coverage using financial magnitude, qualitative risk factors, complexity, susceptibility to misstatement, and professional judgment.

• Developing component audit instructions that establish scope, materiality, reporting requirements, significant risk procedures, and communication expectations.

• Evaluating component audit findings, identified misstatements, control deficiencies, accounting issues, and unresolved matters affecting consolidated reporting.

Module 12: Consolidation Systems, Data Analytics and Technology

• Evaluating consolidation software, enterprise resource planning systems, reporting interfaces, automated workflows, account mappings, and data transformation processes.

• Applying data analytics to test complete consolidation populations, identify unusual journals, analyse intercompany activity, and detect reporting anomalies.

• Using automated procedures to identify duplicate entries, unexpected eliminations, unmatched balances, unusual ownership adjustments, and abnormal consolidation patterns.

• Assessing technology risks involving access management, data integrity, system changes, cybersecurity, automation, artificial intelligence, and reporting-system dependencies.

Module 13: Fraud, Related Parties and Group Reporting Risks

• Identifying fraud risks involving related parties, fictitious subsidiaries, concealed transactions, inappropriate eliminations, asset transfers, and group-level manipulation.

• Assessing management override, earnings management, unusual period-end transactions, intercompany pricing, and unsupported consolidation adjustments.

• Testing journal entries, manual consolidation adjustments, related-party transactions, ownership changes, and unusual group reporting activities.

• Developing fraud-responsive audit procedures, escalation mechanisms, documentation requirements, governance communication, and appropriate follow-up.

Module 14: Group Accounting Estimates and Complex Judgments

• Assessing significant estimates within group accounts, including impairment, fair value, provisions, expected credit losses, taxation, and valuation assumptions.

• Evaluating consistency of accounting policies, estimates, methodologies, and assumptions across subsidiaries and identifying inappropriate reporting differences.

• Applying sensitivity analysis, retrospective review, external evidence, independent expectations, and specialist input to assess significant group-level judgments.

• Evaluating estimation uncertainty, management bias, model limitations, contradictory evidence, and adequacy of consolidated financial statement disclosures.

Module 15: Group Audit Evidence, Documentation and Reporting

• Developing comprehensive group audit documentation connecting risk assessments, component procedures, consolidation testing, evidence, judgments, and conclusions.

• Evaluating audit evidence from subsidiaries, component auditors, management, specialists, external parties, confirmations, reconciliations, and independent sources.

• Communicating significant accounting issues, control deficiencies, audit adjustments, unresolved differences, and reporting risks to group management and governance.

• Preparing group audit reports, management communications, audit committee presentations, and follow-up documentation for significant consolidation matters.

Module 16: Emerging Issues and Advanced Group Assurance Strategy

• Assessing emerging group reporting risks associated with cloud consolidation platforms, digital finance, artificial intelligence, automated reporting, and technology-enabled business models.

• Evaluating cross-border regulatory developments, geopolitical conditions, sustainability information, climate-related financial impacts, and changing group disclosure expectations.

• Applying continuous monitoring, advanced analytics, scenario analysis, risk intelligence, and dynamic assurance approaches to complex group reporting environments.

• Developing advanced group accounts assurance strategies that strengthen consolidation accuracy, reporting transparency, governance oversight, audit quality, and stakeholder confidence.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808

Training Venue 

The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.

Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808

Terms of Payment:

Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.