Course Introduction
Internal Audit Planning, Execution and Reporting Training Course provides a comprehensive and practical framework for professionals responsible for designing, conducting, documenting, and reporting internal audit engagements. The program follows the complete audit cycle, helping participants understand how effective planning creates a strong foundation for efficient fieldwork, reliable evidence, meaningful findings, and high-quality audit reports.
The course examines how internal auditors translate organizational objectives, risks, governance requirements, and control expectations into focused audit plans and engagement procedures. Participants will learn how to define audit objectives and scope, conduct preliminary risk assessments, establish audit criteria, develop work programs, allocate resources, and determine appropriate testing approaches while maintaining professional judgment and independence.
A significant emphasis is placed on audit execution and fieldwork. Participants will explore practical techniques for conducting walkthroughs, interviews, observations, inspections, sampling, analytical procedures, control testing, and evidence evaluation. The training also addresses working-paper preparation, supervision, review, documentation standards, issue identification, root-cause analysis, and the effective management of audit engagement timelines.
The reporting component focuses on transforming audit evidence into clear, objective, risk-focused, and actionable communications. Participants will learn how to develop findings, evaluate the significance of control deficiencies, determine business impact, formulate practical recommendations, document management responses, and prepare reports that communicate important matters effectively to senior management and audit committees.
Modern internal audit engagements increasingly involve technology, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, remote auditing, third-party risks, regulatory change, and rapidly emerging organizational threats. The course therefore incorporates contemporary issues that influence audit planning, execution, evidence gathering, reporting, follow-up, and the overall expectations placed on internal audit functions.
By completing the program, participants will be better prepared to manage internal audit engagements from initial planning through final reporting and follow-up. The course develops practical capabilities that can improve audit consistency, evidence quality, stakeholder communication, control evaluation, issue resolution, and the overall value delivered by internal audit to governance, risk management, and organizational performance.
Duration
10 days
Who Should Attend
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Internal auditors responsible for planning, executing, documenting, and reporting audit engagements.
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Chief audit executives and heads of internal audit seeking to strengthen the complete audit engagement lifecycle.
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Internal audit managers and supervisors responsible for engagement management, quality review, and staff development.
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Senior internal auditors seeking advanced techniques for audit planning, fieldwork, reporting, and follow-up.
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Risk management professionals who collaborate with internal audit teams on organizational risk assessments and assurance activities.
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Compliance professionals involved in internal reviews, regulatory assurance, control testing, and audit-related activities.
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Finance and accounting professionals seeking practical knowledge of internal audit planning and control evaluation.
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External auditors who want to understand internal audit engagement methodologies and reporting practices.
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Audit committee members seeking a deeper understanding of how internal audit engagements are planned and communicated.
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Information technology auditors responsible for technology, cybersecurity, systems, and digital control audits.
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Fraud risk professionals involved in audit planning, investigative reviews, fraud risk assessment, and control evaluation.
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Governance, risk, and compliance professionals seeking stronger internal audit coordination and assurance capabilities.
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Operational managers responsible for responding to audit findings and implementing corrective actions.
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Quality assurance professionals involved in reviewing processes, controls, compliance, and organizational performance.
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Professionals preparing for greater responsibilities in internal audit, assurance, governance, risk, and control functions.
Course Objectives
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Develop advanced knowledge of the internal audit lifecycle and understand how planning, execution, reporting, and follow-up integrate into an effective assurance engagement.
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Design comprehensive audit engagement plans that establish appropriate objectives, scope, criteria, risks, resources, timelines, responsibilities, and expected deliverables.
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Apply practical risk assessment techniques to identify significant risks and determine appropriate audit priorities, procedures, testing approaches, and resource requirements.
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Develop effective audit programs that translate engagement risks and objectives into structured procedures capable of generating sufficient and reliable audit evidence.
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Strengthen fieldwork capabilities through effective application of interviews, walkthroughs, observation, inspection, sampling, analytical procedures, and control testing techniques.
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Evaluate the sufficiency, relevance, reliability, and persuasiveness of audit evidence while maintaining appropriate professional skepticism and judgment throughout the engagement.
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Improve working-paper documentation by creating clear audit trails that demonstrate procedures performed, evidence obtained, conclusions reached, and supervisory review completed.
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Identify control deficiencies and audit issues systematically while evaluating their root causes, consequences, significance, risk implications, and potential organizational impact.
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Develop clear and persuasive audit findings that connect observed conditions with appropriate criteria, underlying causes, business risks, consequences, and corrective opportunities.
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Formulate practical, risk-focused recommendations that address root causes and support sustainable improvements in governance, risk management, controls, and operational performance.
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Prepare high-quality audit reports that communicate significant findings, risk implications, management responses, agreed actions, and conclusions effectively to relevant stakeholders.
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Establish effective engagement follow-up practices that monitor corrective actions, validate remediation, identify recurring issues, and support continuous improvement of audit outcomes.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Foundations of Internal Audit Engagements
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Role and purpose of internal audit engagements within governance, risk management, internal control, and organizational assurance structures.
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Key stages of the audit lifecycle from preliminary planning and scoping through fieldwork, reporting, follow-up, and closure.
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Professional expectations relating to independence, objectivity, integrity, confidentiality, professional skepticism, and ethical audit conduct.
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Contemporary internal audit expectations involving advisory services, strategic insight, technology-enabled assurance, and organizational value creation.
Module 2: Understanding the Organization and Audit Environment
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Understanding organizational strategies, objectives, structures, processes, operating models, systems, and external factors before commencing an audit.
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Identifying key stakeholders, process owners, control owners, management responsibilities, governance bodies, and other assurance providers.
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Developing a preliminary understanding of business processes, significant risks, critical controls, regulatory obligations, and performance expectations.
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Considering organizational changes, digital transformation, emerging risks, restructuring, acquisitions, outsourcing, and other factors affecting audit engagement planning.
Module 3: Audit Universe and Risk-Based Planning
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Developing and maintaining an audit universe that reflects organizational units, processes, systems, projects, strategic priorities, and significant risk exposures.
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Applying risk assessment methodologies to prioritize potential audit engagements according to likelihood, impact, control maturity, and organizational significance.
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Preparing strategic and annual audit plans that align audit coverage with organizational objectives, risk appetite, regulatory requirements, and stakeholder expectations.
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Using dynamic planning approaches to adjust audit priorities when significant events, emerging risks, business changes, or technology developments occur.
Module 4: Audit Engagement Planning and Scoping
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Establishing clear engagement objectives that define what the audit is intended to assess, evaluate, determine, or provide assurance over.
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Defining audit scope, boundaries, criteria, locations, processes, systems, transactions, periods, and organizational activities subject to review.
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Developing engagement risk assessments that identify significant risks, control dependencies, information requirements, and areas requiring focused testing.
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Preparing engagement timelines, staffing plans, resource requirements, communication arrangements, milestones, and quality-control expectations.
Module 5: Audit Programs and Procedures
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Designing structured audit programs that translate engagement objectives and identified risks into specific, logical, and appropriately sequenced procedures.
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Selecting audit procedures according to risk characteristics, control objectives, evidence requirements, materiality, and professional judgment.
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Incorporating walkthroughs, interviews, observations, inspections, confirmations, analytical procedures, sampling, and reperformance into audit programs.
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Maintaining appropriate flexibility in audit programs so auditors can respond to unexpected findings, changing risks, and significant issues discovered during fieldwork.
Module 6: Audit Fieldwork and Execution
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Conducting effective audit fieldwork through systematic evidence gathering, control testing, transaction examination, interviews, observation, and process walkthroughs.
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Managing audit engagement timelines, assignments, communications, information requests, access requirements, review points, and fieldwork dependencies.
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Applying professional skepticism when evaluating management explanations, documentation, system outputs, control operation, exceptions, and contradictory evidence.
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Managing unexpected issues, scope changes, control failures, delays, unavailable information, and other challenges that can affect audit execution.
Module 7: Audit Evidence, Sampling, and Testing
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Evaluating whether audit evidence is sufficient, relevant, reliable, accurate, complete, and persuasive enough to support documented audit conclusions.
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Applying statistical and non-statistical sampling techniques to select representative transactions, records, populations, controls, and audit evidence.
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Testing preventive, detective, manual, automated, and compensating controls to determine whether they operate as intended during the relevant audit period.
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Using analytical procedures to identify unusual relationships, trends, anomalies, fluctuations, exceptions, and potential areas requiring additional investigation.
Module 8: Working Papers and Audit Documentation
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Preparing comprehensive working papers that document objectives, procedures, evidence, testing results, conclusions, findings, recommendations, and supporting information.
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Creating clear audit trails that allow reviewers to understand what was tested, how evidence was obtained, and why conclusions were reached.
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Applying documentation principles for electronic records, automated testing, data analytics, remote audits, system-generated information, and digital evidence.
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Conducting effective supervisory reviews that identify documentation gaps, unsupported conclusions, inconsistent evidence, and opportunities to improve engagement quality.
Module 9: Data Analytics and Technology-Enabled Auditing
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Applying data analytics to large transaction populations to identify exceptions, unusual activity, patterns, trends, anomalies, and potential control weaknesses.
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Using continuous auditing and continuous monitoring techniques to improve audit coverage, risk responsiveness, exception detection, and assurance timeliness.
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Evaluating the audit implications of artificial intelligence, automation, cloud systems, digital platforms, and technology-enabled business processes.
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Addressing data quality, completeness, accuracy, privacy, access controls, analytical reliability, and governance considerations when using audit technologies.
Module 10: Identifying Findings and Root Causes
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Identifying audit findings by comparing observed conditions with established criteria, policies, procedures, control objectives, laws, regulations, or performance expectations.
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Applying structured root-cause analysis to distinguish underlying control weaknesses from symptoms, isolated errors, process failures, and systemic organizational problems.
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Evaluating the likelihood and potential impact of identified issues while considering financial, operational, compliance, strategic, reputational, and technology-related consequences.
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Distinguishing significant findings from minor exceptions and determining appropriate escalation, documentation, management communication, and reporting requirements.
Module 11: Audit Reporting and Communication
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Developing clear audit reports that communicate scope, objectives, methodology, findings, risk implications, conclusions, recommendations, and management responses.
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Writing concise and evidence-based audit findings that explain the condition, criteria, cause, consequence, risk exposure, and required management action.
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Communicating sensitive or significant findings effectively to process owners, senior management, executives, audit committees, and governing bodies.
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Managing disagreements, disputed findings, differing interpretations, management responses, and challenging stakeholder discussions while preserving audit objectivity.
Module 12: Recommendations and Corrective Action Planning
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Developing practical recommendations that address root causes and provide realistic opportunities to strengthen controls, processes, governance, and risk management.
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Evaluating proposed management actions for adequacy, feasibility, accountability, resource requirements, timelines, and alignment with identified risk exposure.
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Establishing clear corrective action plans with responsible owners, implementation milestones, measurable outcomes, and appropriate monitoring arrangements.
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Avoiding overly broad recommendations by ensuring proposed actions are specific, risk-focused, achievable, measurable, and capable of producing sustainable improvement.
Module 13: Audit Committee and Executive Reporting
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Preparing executive-level reporting that highlights significant risks, control themes, recurring findings, emerging issues, and matters requiring management attention.
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Communicating audit results to audit committees using concise analysis that supports governance oversight, accountability, and informed decision-making.
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Developing dashboards and performance indicators that provide useful information about audit coverage, findings, remediation, trends, and assurance activity.
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Presenting complex audit matters clearly while distinguishing factual evidence, professional conclusions, management responses, and unresolved areas of disagreement.
Module 14: Audit Follow-Up and Engagement Closure
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Establishing systematic follow-up processes for monitoring agreed management actions, responsible owners, implementation deadlines, and remediation status.
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Validating whether corrective actions have been implemented effectively and whether they adequately address the original risk and control deficiency.
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Escalating overdue, inadequate, or ineffective remediation according to established governance structures, reporting requirements, and risk significance.
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Closing audit engagements systematically through final documentation, lessons learned, performance evaluation, stakeholder feedback, and retention of appropriate records.
Module 15: Quality Assurance and Emerging Audit Issues
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Designing quality assurance and improvement processes that evaluate audit methodology, engagement supervision, documentation, reporting quality, and professional performance.
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Addressing emerging audit issues involving cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, third-party dependencies, climate-related risks, operational resilience, and digital transformation.
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Applying remote auditing, agile auditing, automation, continuous assurance, and other evolving approaches while maintaining evidence quality and professional standards.
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Using engagement reviews, stakeholder feedback, performance indicators, benchmarking, and lessons learned to strengthen future audit planning and execution.
Module 16: Strategic Audit Leadership and Future Practice
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Building an efficient internal audit function that integrates risk-based planning, high-quality execution, insightful reporting, effective follow-up, and continuous improvement.
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Developing auditor competencies in communication, data analytics, technology, professional judgment, risk assessment, stakeholder management, and strategic thinking.
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Preparing internal audit teams for emerging technologies, AI-enabled processes, increasingly complex risks, regulatory developments, and changing stakeholder expectations.
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Creating a future-ready audit operating model that delivers timely assurance, practical insight, stronger controls, and sustainable value across the organization.
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.
