Advisory Risk IT Audit Essentials Prework FG FINAL...charts to outline the engagement life cycle to...

Advisory Risk IT Audit Essentials Facilitator Guide

Course Introduction and Pre-work of 24

Facilitator Guide IT Audit Essentials

Course Introduction and Pre-work


of 24 Course Introduction and Pre-work

Contents

Course Introduction and Pre-work ................................................................................... 3

Facilitator Action Summary: Course Introduction and Pre-work ...................................... 6

Pre-work Review ........................................................................................................... 16

Pre-work conclusion (5 minutes) ................................................................................... 23



COURSE INTRODUCTION AND PRE-WORK

Overview

Welcome participants and orient them to the course. First, introduce the course objectives and

lead a discussion of the five mental model shifts and performance feedback and how these are

linked to the objectives. Then you will lead a coaching activity, present the agenda, and discuss

expectations participants will face throughout the course. You will then transition into a

discussion of the pre-work. After you debrief the pre-work, participants will be able to log in to

the simulation and begin the Understand IT Processes and Identify Risks phase.

Before you can facilitate this class, you must review the pre-work material, including the client

information and EY team overview. Although a high-level overview is provided here, it is

imperative that, as the facilitator, you complete all parts of the simulation, including the pre-

work.

Course Overview

In the simulation, the participant is an experienced Risk staff who works primarily on Channel 1

audit engagements, with a mix of sector clients, who has been assigned to the fictitious Crystal

Housing Appliances Corporation audit engagement. Because of a sudden shortage of senior-

level practitioners, the participants have been asked to serve on the engagement in the role of a

Risk Assurance senior and are expected to function at the senior level. Participants will take on

additional responsibilities on the engagement, including demonstrating technical GAM

knowledge, leading client meetings, coaching interns and staff, and managing upward, as well

as playing his/her part integrating with the Assurance team.

Although this is the participant’s first year on the audit, Crystal has been an audit client of EY for

the past four years. Crystal is a manufacturer of home appliances — primarily washing

machines — based in Pectrovia, a wealthy nation in Asia. The financial statements are prepared

in accordance with GAFR1 (Global Accounting and Financial Reporting Framework). The client’s

year-end is 31 December.

Crystal has nearly 600 employees and revenues exceeding 50 million monetary units (MU50

million). The washing machine market is expected to plateau in future years because of

increased competition in the market. The company must expand its product line to increase

sales in the long term. In response to this trend and the company’s strong reputation, Crystal

has developed a new product line: dishwashers. Over the past few years, Crystal incurred

significant expenses while building a top-notch team of experienced professionals from various

other dishwasher and home-appliance manufacturers to ensure it developed the most

1 Fictitious financial accounting and reporting framework, referred to for learning purposes. The requirements closely align with those of Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR).



marketable dishwasher possible. The company has chosen dishwashers as its next major

appliance because of the potential growth opportunities.

The company uses an ERP called EasySoft. In addition, the company has three accounts

payable (A/P) systems supporting its corporate and factory locations. Payroll processing is

outsourced to a third-party service provider. IT management is fairly centralized.

The simulation, including the pre-work and classroom phases, begins with planning in March

20X6 and ends with the evaluation of the IT processes in December 20X6.

In the pre-work, the participant will become more familiar with Crystal by reviewing

documentation and other information they receive from the engagement team via email or

instant message. Participants can also find certain relevant client and EY team information

under the Information tab in the engagement section of the simulation technology. Participants

are advised to approach their review of these documents as if they were actually joining a new

engagement, so that they are fully prepared for the classroom simulation. As the facilitator, you

must do the same so as to contribute to the success of the classroom portions of the simulation.

The appendix contains documents from the pre-work.

As the participants go through the simulation, they will need to manage their time, set priorities,

delegate tasks and make decisions that will affect the quality of the audit. Just as in an actual

engagement, each decision they make will have consequences. Therefore, they will be

encouraged throughout to make the best decisions they can, given the information they have

been given or using research tools such as GAM. As the facilitator, it is your responsibility to be

familiar with all simulation phases, including the pre-work, as well as the related sections of

GAM, in order to contribute to the success of the classroom portion and teach effectively.



Estimated time

A recommended flow for this round is as follows:

Topic Time (min.)

Materials Notes

1. Welcome, course overview

30 ► SL 1–6

► Two prepared flip charts

► Stopwatch

Welcome all participants. Briefly introduce yourself and ask participants to introduce themselves to the class. Then introduce course objectives.

2. Priming activity

15 ► SL 7 Engagement life cycle. Participants use flip charts to outline the engagement life cycle to refer to throughout the course.

3. Mental model shifts

30 ► SL 8–16

► Wall charts with the mental models and questions

Discuss mental model shifts and performance feedback within the simulation. Transition into a discussion of pre-work.

4. Pre-work discussion setup

10 ► SL 17

Discuss how the next two activities will help remind participants of what they completed in pre-work, then answer questions on those activities.

5. Priming

activity

30 ► SL 18 Onboarding a staff. Participants use what they learned about Crystal to onboard a new staff and report out to the class.

6. Pre-work review

100 ► SL 19 Conduct a high-level review of pre-work activities and key facts about the Crystal engagement. Participants will present relevant details of the activities including reviewing the IT planning memo, IT budget, TPE agenda and integration with Assurance.

7. Conclusion Brief ► SL 20–22 Summarize the learning objectives of the pre-work and mental model shifts, then transition to the next phase of the audit.

Total 215



Facilitator Action Summary: Course Introduction and Pre-work

These are only the key elements of the phase; see detailed notes for more specific guidance.

Welcome and course overview

o Introductions

o Course overview and objectives

o Priming activity: Engagement lifecycle

o Introduce and explain mental model shifts and performance feedback

Pre-work review

o Set up activity for pre-work discussion

o Priming activity: Onboarding a staff

o Participants present and discuss with peers:

▪ IT planning memo

▪ Budget

▪ TPE agenda

▪ Integration with Assurance

o Conclude pre-work

Materials

Classroom setup: You should have the five mental model shifts and the five mental model

shift debrief questions captured on wall charts. Ensure the wall charts are posted on a wall

or surface visible to all participants.

Hang two flip chart pages on the wall with “Questions” at the top — front and back of the

room

Blank paper and pen for each participant, or use of electronic means for writing down

thoughts and ideas.

Flip charts available for participants — one for each table with markers, and at least one flip

chart up front on which the facilitators can capture participants’ objectives, parking lot items,

etc.



SHOW SLIDE #1: Introduction

Say:

“Welcome to the IT Audit Essentials course. Through

pre-work, you were acquainted with the audit of

Crystal Housing Appliance Corporation, or Crystal.

We will spend the rest of this course progressing

through the audit of Crystal.”

SHOW SLIDE #2: Introductions

Ask participants to briefly introduce themselves by

sharing:

Their name

Their office

One thing they are looking to gain from this course

Capture participants’ expectations on a flip chart.

You can refer back to the list as the course progresses to verify you address their expectations and tie back to the mental model shifts.

Share something you remember from this time in

your career.

Explain: There are 2 flipchart pages hanging in the

front and back of the classroom. As you go through

the course and have questions or topics you want

more information on, right them on one of the

flipcharts. As teams get done early with activities, the

facilitator will prompt you to select a question to

research and then be able to discuss with the entire

class at appointed times.

SHOW SLIDE #3: Course overview Say:

“You all have completed the pre-work web-based learning (WBL). The pre-work WBL introduced you to our client, Crystal, and some current issues affecting this year’s engagement.”

Important FG Note: In most regions, if the

participant did not complete the pre-work simulation, then he/she will not be allowed to attend the



classroom course. If your region did not enforce this, say “If you did not complete the pre-work, you should complete or at least read all the planning documents tonight, as we will refer to this information throughout the week.

Say:

“This course is a 3.5-day simulation in which you will play the role of a Risk Assurance Senior on the Crystal engagement. This is your first year on the engagement, and you are entering the simulation after initial planning has been completed.”

Important FG Note: In some regions, a staff is promoted to senior after two years, and this course is targeted towards staff with two years of experience prior to their promotion. For regions where a staff is promoted to the senior level after three years, you may say, “Because of a sudden shortage of senior

level practitioners, you have been asked to serve on this engagement in the role of a Risk Assurance senior. Your counselor has urged you to embrace this challenge to prepare you for a promotion in the future. Given these circumstances, in this training, you are expected to function at the senior level and take on additional responsibilities on the engagement.

Say:

“You will work on activities within the technology as individuals, but you should collaborate with your table and choose a partner or buddy to leverage insights.”

“The course also includes several team activities outside of the technology, as well as priming activities that will provide an energizing break while reinforcing key learning objectives.”

SHOW SLIDE #4: Course objectives

Say:

“Throughout this course you will:

• Exercise professional skepticism when planning and performing the audit

• Demonstrate self-sufficiency and problem solving by proactively researching authoritative guidance

• Collaborate effectively with the audit team and clients

• Communicate professionally and proactively



• Perform an efficient and effective IT audit engagement, incorporating team development and coaching

• Take ownership of the engagement and one’s career by accepting challenging tasks outside one’s comfort zone

• Design and perform audit procedures in accordance with topic-based GAM

SHOW SLIDE #5: Day 1 Agenda

Say:

“This is today’s agenda. The agenda for the following days will be similar.”

“Each day, you will make progress within the audit phases within the simulation. Each phase contains various activities. Just read the screens and follow the instructions, and I will be here to provide coaching as needed.”

Tell participants what time lunch and breaks will be,

and be sure to follow your agenda.

See “Advisory Risk IT Audit Essentials Administrator Guide Appendix C Suggested Detailed Agenda.pdf” for detailed timing.

SHOW SLIDE #6: Ground rules

Say:

“In order for us to get the most out of our time together, I will share with you some ground rules.”

Review the expectations on the slide.

Ask participants if they have any questions

regarding the expectations.

Ask the class whether there are additional

expectations that they would like to add. Capture these separately on a flip chart. Remind participants that they should not plan to leave the class during the week. Activities performed in the technology are done individually, and missing any substantial amount of time will cause participants to fall behind, and they may not be able to catch up.



SHOW SLIDE #7: Lifecycle Activity

SAY:

“Before you enter the simulation, take 10 minutes in your table teams and outline the audit engagement lifecycle on your flipchart. Then hang it on the wall to refer to as needed.”

“Then, take an additional 5 minutes to circulate the room and review each other’s flipcharts and then update their own lifecycle with missing information.”

As the participants move through the activities in the sim, they will be following the audit lifecycle, so they can refer to their outlines as needed throughout the next couple of days to understand the course map / outline of where they are going.

Ask: “Do you have any questions before we begin?”

Answer any questions participants may have, then transition to the mental model shifts (MMS) discussion.

SHOW SLIDE #8:

Note: This is a divider slide to transition to the next topic.



SHOW SLIDE #9:

Note: This is a build slide with one build. Only show

the title and the first bullet point.

Say:

“Have you ever heard the term ‘mental model shift’?”

Ask participants to respond if they have ever heard

this term and provide their thoughts on what a mental model is.

Click to build the slide

Say:

“We are going to spend considerable time discussing and analyzing mental model shifts this week. A mental model is the perspective or preconception that an individual brings to the task at hand based on prior experiences. This course is based on the concept of shifting your mental models from those of an experienced staff to those of a senior, essentially,

changing the way you think, which will lead to a change in your behavior.”

“Mental models focus more on how you think than what you think.”

SHOW SLIDE #10: Mental models

Say:

“The course objectives are directly linked to five mental model shifts you need to make as a senior.”

“As I mentioned, a mental model is the perspective or preconception that an individual brings to the task at hand based on prior experiences. This course is based on the concept of shifting your mental models from those of an experienced staff to those of a senior. Mental models focus more on how you think than what you think.”

“Changing the way you think and behave is challenging and often uncomfortable. It may be tempting to stick with the way of thinking that has led to success in the past. Changing the way, you think and behave requires you to step outside of your comfort zone, examine your current preconceptions and assumptions about how things should work, engage your emotions, and activate your critical thinking abilities.”

Say:

“Even though we have not discussed them yet, these mental model shifts are posted in the classroom for



your reference.” (Refer to the Mental Model Shift Wall Chart.)

“This course focuses on five mental model shifts, but you will only receive feedback on the first three.

Mental Model Shift 1 is team development.”

Ask:

“Why is this important?” Pause for response: “As you move into the role of a senior, you take on

more responsibility for the team’s professional development. You need to be able to identify development opportunities, areas where team members need additional coaching, and ideas for how to keep everyone happy and engaged, including yourself.”

State Mental Model Shift 2, owning the engagement.

Ask: “Why is this important? Pause for response: “As you progress within the firm, in order to be trusted by your executives and manage your own career and schedule, you should be able to demonstrate that you own your engagements from start to the end. This means proactively planning

the engagement, performing and reviewing the work, managing the budget and resources, as well as ensuring the quality of the audit work.”

State Mental Model Shift 3, critical thinking and

delegation.

Ask:

“Why is this important?” Pause for response: “Given your level of experience, executives will

expect you to not only identify issues but to think of possible solutions. You will also need to be able to think critically, make certain decisions about the engagement, and plan and execute quality audit work on your own, after thinking through the options and the consequences of each.”

State Mental Model Shift 4, challenging the prior

year. Ask: “Why is this important?” Pause for response: “As

auditors, we are expected to have professional skepticism and never take anything at face value. This relates to our audit procedures too: We should never just do what was done last year without challenging whether it is the best option or whether



anything in the business has changed that would alter our procedures.” State Mental Model Shift 5, communicating

proactively. Ask: “Why is this important?” Pause for response: “In all communications, whether to our team or to the client, we should be proactive and thinking about the next steps instead of just reacting to what is going on. Clients never like surprise issues, so we should be proactive in our communication during the audit to keep them informed. We also should be thinking how we can offer recommendations to address the findings. This process relates to working in our teams too, whether it’s regarding staffing issues, budget overages, or even new client information and potential impacts on the audit.”

SHOW SLIDE #11: Feedback

Note: This is a divider slide to transition to the next

topic.

SHOW SLIDE #12: Feedback

Say:

“As previously discussed, you will work as individuals on activities within the simulation. Certain activities will provide ‘feedback’ based on whether your responses reflect an appropriate focus on the relevant mental model shifts. Accordingly, you will be awarded points in the technology in the following three areas:

Team development

Engagement ownership

Critical thinking and delegation”



SHOW SLIDE #13: Performance

Say:

“Please keep in mind that this feedback is not meant to make the simulation into a game. The points you earn are based on decision points and provide feedback on your progress in making the three mental model shifts. As such, you are not competing with others to get the highest score. The purpose of the feedback is to provide you with insight as to where you need to apply more effort in aligning your behaviors and decisions with the mental models of a senior. As such, the more diligent you are about completing the activities as you would on your own engagements, the more valuable the feedback will be.”

“The feedback button at the bottom right of your screen will update at the end of each decision point relevant to your mental model shift and provide you with information on your performance as well as the class average.”

“Also, be aware that not all mental model shifts have the same maximum points.”

“As previously discussed, the course also includes a number of team activities that will be completed outside of the technology. Table teams will receive feedback points consistent with what was explained above. I will manually input team points into the feedback section of the technology.”

SHOW SLIDE #14: Feedback interface

Say:

“This is a screenshot of the interface you will see when you review your feedback. Notice how each of the three mental model shifts has columns to show you how you are doing in each.”



SHOW SLIDE #15: Mental model shift questions

Say:

“I have posted a wall chart with five questions for you to refer to throughout the week to reinforce your understanding of the mental model shifts covered during each phase. Several discussions will be focused around these questions.”

Ask:

“Given an understanding of the mental model shifts for a senior, how should you approach the simulation for this course?” The following points should be raised by participants; if any of these are not mentioned, raise them to the class.

Approach it as a way to learn more about where

you are in making these mental model shifts and

not as a game.

Be honest in your decision making, and

appropriately leverage the input of others.

Try to learn more about your strengths and

weaknesses by making the best decisions you

can, even if that differs from the approach taken

by others.

Ensure your decisions are consistent with the

decisions you would make on an actual

engagement.

SHOW SLIDE #16: Key takeaways

NOTE: This is a build slide with one build. Only the header is shown. Ask: “What will be the value of reflecting on the mental model shifts throughout the course?” (wait for participant answer) Click to build the slide. Key thoughts:

By focusing on these mental model shifts, you should make decisions that optimize coaching and delegation, long-term engagement focus and effective planning, critical thinking, and delegation. By optimizing these, you will ultimately enhance the quality of your audits. By reflecting back on these mental model shifts, you can evaluate whether the decisions you make are in



line with these mental model shifts. If your decisions are not in line with the mental model shifts, you can reflect on why that was the case and make better decisions in the future. Say: “By using the five mental models as a guide

throughout this course, we can assess our readiness to be effective in our role as senior.”

PRE-WORK REVIEW

Purpose:

To remind participants of what they should have accomplished during pre-work and conduct a review of the planning documents and related activities. Include the mental model shift FROM “following the prior year” TO “challenging the prior year” in your discussion. While feedback is not provided on this mental model in the course, it is significant to the activities and design of pre-work. Solutions and rationale for pre-work are found in “Advisory Risk IT Audit Essentials LSG.docx”.

Explanation:

The participant should have reviewed the client audit file containing several

documents. (These documents will be used throughout the simulation and

serve to familiarize the participant with the current-year Crystal engagement.)

The participant received an email from the Risk Assurance manager requesting

that the participant design an agenda for a meeting with the Assurance team

and the client to understand more about the ERP systems and coordinate the

walkthrough meeting.

Once the participant designed the agenda, they received an email encouraging

them to update both the budget to include GTH, as well as update the draft IT

planning memo. The participant then received an email with feedback on the

draft IT planning memo.

Participants then received an email from the Risk Assurance manager asking

them to develop the IT portion of TPE agenda, including reference to the

coaching kit to consider integration topics.

Following the development of the TPE agenda, the Risk Assurance manager

provided a summary of the TPE notes/minutes in an email, asking the

participant to update the “relevant planning documentation” without specifically



calling out the IT planning memo and the IT budget. The participant was

expected to update both of those planning documents.

Activities details for the debrief: Introduce the section (10 minutes) and state there will be two activities to review the pre-work. First, participants will engage in a priming activity and provide specific details of Crystal by acting as if they are onboarding a new staff to the engagement team. The teams get:

• 10 minutes to prepare

• 5 minutes per table to present/onboard their staff Secondly, participants prepare and present one of four topics to the class. For this activity there will be:

• 10 minutes for facilitator to explain the activity and assign topics

• 25 minutes for teams to prepare their presentations

• 20 minutes for each of the four topics (80 minutes total) for teams to present and allow for peer questions.

o 20 minutes is broken down into 10 minutes for presenting and 10 minutes for questions

o Note: As a facilitator, you can also ask questions to help understand

the teams’ thought processes as they completed the activities in the pre-work, tie back to mental models, etc.

• Topics to assign to teams: o IT planning memo o Budget o TEP agenda o Integration with assurance

Note: The A/P system implementation agenda is not assigned separately but will

have themes within the other activities.

The purposes of this activity is to help participants:

Remember details of the Crystal engagement from the pre-work to prepare for

the course

Practice presenting in front of others

Demonstrate how the activities show the mental model shifts

Illustrate the importance of integrating with Assurance

Mental model shifts in this pre-work activity debrief:

MMS 2: FROM “Short-term focus for completion” TO “Long-term focus of

owning the engagement”

MMS 3: FROM “Effectiveness comes from routine execution” TO

“Effectiveness comes from thoughtful planning, critical thinking and delegation”



MMS 4: FROM “Following the prior year” TO “Challenging the prior year”

MMS 5: FROM “Communicating reactively” TO “Communicating proactively”

Materials

Advisory Risk IT Audit Essentials LSG.pdf

SHOW SLIDE #17: Pre-work review

Say:

“To transition into the next phase of the simulation, let’s

review what you did for pre-work.”

SHOW SLIDE #18: Onboarding a staff

Introduce the activity.

Say:

“A new staff is coming on to the Crystal engagement:

Gustav. Prepare to onboard Gustav by leveraging the

Crystal background information you had in the pre-

work.”

Teams will have 10 minutes to prepare and then will

present for 5 minutes per team.

SHOW SLIDE #19: Activity 3

Introduce the activity.

Explain to the participants that this activity will be done

in their table groups. They will have 20 minutes to

prepare and an additional 20 minutes to present, which

includes time for questions from their peers (10 minutes

to present and 10 minutes for peer questions).

Note: Make sure you emphasize that their

presentations can leverage real examples, but should

be specific to Crystal.



Assign each table team one of the four topics and tell

them to prepare a presentation on their pre-work activity

and to include information such as:

How did you complete the activity (thought

processes, information used, etc.)?

What client background information did you find

relevant?

What were the results of each activity?

How are the mental model shifts incorporated in

their activity?

After 20 minutes, call time.

Ask for volunteers or call on a team to present their

topic.

Allow each group to present for 10 minutes, having the

other tables ask questions for the last 10 minutes. If

there are no questions, facilitators should ask questions

(leverage the above) or ask clarifying questions if any

content is unclear. Facilitators should be sure to give

teams the floor and be seated while they are

presenting. This will set the scene for participant

engagement, with facilitators assisting in the learning of

the technical points.

Note: All solutions are in the file “Advisory Risk IT Audit

Essentials LSG.pdf” for reference if specific questions

arise on whether one item was correct. Only use this to

answer specific questions from participants — not to go

through topics in detail. Each topic is below with a few

additional considerations, such as mental models

specific to that topic, which you can reference during

each group’s presentation.

IT planning memo Note: Remember there are no expected answers because participants can have different

thought processes on how they completed the activity. Challenge their thinking, have several participants respond to see the differences, and provide your own experiences on prior engagements.

• How did you complete the IT planning memo? o What considerations did you include? o How did you decide what should be included or not? o How did it change after the TPE meeting?

• Did anything surprise you about Chisato’s feedback? Why?



• Are there any other questions about the IT planning memo process?

Tie in to the mental models. When completing the IT planning memo, we should challenge the

prior year and not just do what was done last year. Consider what changes have occurred at the company that affect the audit. The participants also should be thinking critically to help with the planning instead of just ticking the box to complete the audit step. Leader note: The Risk Assurance manager sent the participants an email with the TPE notes/meeting minutes asking that the participant update the relevant documents. While the documents were not specified, it is expected that the participant proactively determined that the IT Planning memo and the IT budget needed to be updated based on the notes provided by the manager. This indicates that the participant is thinking critically and taking ownership of the audit engagement.

Budget Note: There are no expected answers because participants can have different thought processes on how they completed the activity. Challenge their thinking, have several participants respond to see the differences, and provide your own experiences on prior engagements.

• How did you complete the budget? o Why did you update the budget the way you did? o How did you determine the hours for each level? o How did the budget change after the TPE meeting?


• What considerations did you make regarding the partner’s hours?

• Are there other questions about the budget process?

Tie in to the mental models. When completing the budget, we should challenge the prior year and not just do what was done last year. Consider what changes have occurred in the planning that will then affect the budget. Also challenge last year as to where tasks may need more or less time, where resourcing levels might need to be adjusted (e.g., leveraging GTH), etc. The participants also should be thinking critically to help with the planning instead of just ticking the box to complete the budget. They should own the engagement, and owning the budget and resource allocations is a big step for owning instead of focusing on just completing audit steps.

TPE agenda Note: There are no expected answers because participants can have different thought

processes on how they completed the activity. Challenge their thinking, have several participants respond to see the differences, and provide your own experiences on prior engagements.

• How did you complete the TPE agenda? o How did you determine what should be included or not? o Why is it important that Risk Assurance is involved in TPE? o How did you use the coaching kit material provided by the Risk Assurance

Manager? (See below for more details on why coaching kits are important)


• Are there any other questions about the TPE agenda process?

Tie in to the mental models. When completing the TPE agenda, we should challenge the prior year and not just do what was done last year. Consider what changes have occurred that need



to be communicated to Assurance. The participants also should be thinking critically to help with the planning instead of just ticking the box to complete the agenda. This is also a great way to be proactive in their communication with Assurance and integrating with the broader team, which also shows them owning the engagement vs. just completing audit steps.

Integration with Assurance Note: There are no expected answers because participants can have different thought

processes on how they completed the activity. Challenge their thinking, have several respond to see the differences, and provide your own experiences on prior engagements.

• How, if at all, did you consider using the coaching kit material provided by the Risk Assurance manager?

• What were the key takeaways related to integration?

• Share your stories: o How are the audit and IT professionals integrating in your teams? o What has worked well? o What are the challenges and how are you overcoming them?

Suggested/expected responses related to integration coaching kit key takeaways:

Planning starts quickly after filing, and each team is jointly responsible for overlapping areas

such as app controls, IPE and evaluating deficiencies

IT and audit teams maintain a single, collaborative list of IT applications that are not in scope

explaining why they are not in scope

Formal periodic meetings between IT and audit — topics for discussion include audit status,

issues, client updates

IT seniors/managers are proactive in understanding the overall audit, business risks,

processes and controls

IT participates in certain higher risk SCOT walkthroughs

IT and audit members present themselves as one team to the client — each team

participates in client meetings

Say:

“Integration with Assurance is increasingly important for the following reasons:

The complexity of business processes and the related data flows have significantly increased

due to technology advances, globalization and acquisitions.

Companies’ use of IT continues to increase and change at a rapid pace.

The increased complexity in IT, business processes and related data flows has increased the

financial risks posed by the use of IT. As a result, IT-related audit procedures at both the

SCOT and IT process levels, and involvement of IT competencies, are increasingly more

important to our financial statement and ICFR audits.



To consistently address the IT risks and perform better audits, we need to jointly perform,

review and sign off certain procedures with a mix of audit and IT competencies.

We must challenge the way we integrate our audit and IT competencies to perform quality

audits, including where in the audit we need to apply greater IT competencies.”

Tie in to the mental models. This is a great way for participants to be proactive in their

communication with Assurance and integrating with the broader team, which also shows them owning the engagement vs. just completing audit steps. We should challenge the prior year and not just do what was done last year.

Transition to the pre-work conclusion.



PRE-WORK CONCLUSION (5 MINUTES)

SHOW SLIDE #20: Conclusion

Note: This is a divider slide to transition to the

summary.

SHOW SLIDE #21: Key learning points

Emphasize the following key takeaways:

Shift your thinking to HOW instead of WHAT

Be aware of your coaching techniques and how

you want to coach others

Be proactive and research adequately about your

client, its business risks and processes, including

how IT affects the business

Before attending a meeting, prepare in advance, prioritize topics and establish meeting objectives

Integrate more with Assurance to improve audit

quality

Be proactive in taking ownership of various tasks and audit procedures

SHOW SLIDE #22: Questions

Ask participants if there are any final questions

before transitioning to the next phase.



Transition to the Understand IT Processes & Identify Risks phase.

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