Auditing II: The Practice of Auditing (Coursera)

Syllabus

WEEK 1

About the Course

In this module, you will become familiar with the course, your instructor and your classmates, and our learning environment. This orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required to navigate and be successful in this course.

Module 1: Strategic Analysis of a Client and Its Business Processes

In this module, you will be introduced to the concept of strategic systems auditing (SSA). First, you will learn about the SSA approach and how it impact the audit. Then, you will learn about strategic analysis and strategic business risks.

WEEK 2

Audit Evidence and Triangulation

In this module, you will be introduced to the concept of triangulation, which looks at three fundamental sources of audit evidence. First you will learn about the three sources of evidence, which are entity business states, management information intermediaries, and management business representations. Next, you will learn how evidence triangulation can be applied to the WorldCom scandal.

WEEK 3

Strategic Systems Auditing and Internal Controls

In this module, you will be introduced to the concept of internal controls. First, you will learn about different components of internal controls and how they impact the audit. Next, you will learn about different audit strategies around controls: Substantive strategy vs reliance strategy. Lastly, you will learn about the categories of internal control weaknesses.

WEEK 4

Interpreting Evidence and Significant Business Processes

WEEK 5

Verification of Management Assertions I: Attribute Sampling

In this module, you will be introduced to the concept of sampling. We will cover non-statistical and statistical sampling, but we will emphasize a form of statistical sampling called attribute sampling. You will learn about sampling risk as well as about three important determinants of sample size: risk of incorrect acceptance, tolerable error, and expected error. You will learn that population size actually has a small effect on sample size, contrary to lay theories the position population size as one of the most important determinants of needed sample sizes. You will also learn about key steps involved in planning and performing attribute sampling, the critical role of professional judgement during many of these steps, and you will learn about some specific audit procedures for verifying management’s assertions related to their controls.

WEEK 6

Verification of Management Assertions II: Unit Sampling

In this module, you will continue to learn about verifying management’s assertions. First, you will learn about unit sampling, which is one of the most common statistical sampling approaches. Then you will learn about the differences between unit sampling and non-statistical sampling. Next, you will learn about planning, picking, and evaluating the results of the sample. You will also learn about different types of sample selections: probabilistic and non-probabilistic. Lastly, you will reinforce your conceptual understanding by working through a unit sampling example.

WEEK 7

Fraud Risk Assessment

In this module, you will learn about fraud risk assessment, which is one of the most critical portions of the audit. First, you will learn about wise thinking and why it is important to have professional skepticism when it comes to fraud. You will learn about wise thinking from several recent studies. You will first learn about a study that highlights the importance of wise thinking in auditing. Then you will learn about two additional studies that show the factors that influence auditors’ judgement and management’s behavior. Lastly, you will learn about a study that shows how auditors’ strategic thinking influences their selected audit procedures.

WEEK 8

Completing the Attest Engagement