What You Will Learn
1. Operational Auditing
- the definition and meaning of internal auditing today
- essential elements for successful operational auditing
- the benefits of operational auditing
- important trends affecting operational auditing
- the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley, ERM and GRC

2. Components of Operational Audits
- the phases of an operational audit
- the link between objectives, risks, and controls in key functions
- the importance and uses of data
- Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and Key Risk Indicators (KRI)
- identifying fraudulent practices
- IT considerations and integrated audits
- essential operational audit tools

3. Auditing the Purchasing Function
- identifying key risks in the procurement function
- assessing governance, infrastructure, policies, and procedures in the procurement function
- testing and monitoring vendor relationships, purchases, and inventory management
- evaluating vendor relationships and the contracting process

4. Auditing the Marketing Function
- examining the marketing function’s ability to achieve stated objectives
- evaluating relationships, advertising expenditures, and sales activities
- assessing the effectiveness of the public relations and marketing functions

5. Auditing the Human Resources Function
- identifying the risks in the human resources function
- recruiting, staffing, and training and development processes
- assessing employee compensation, benefits administration, and succession planning
- the role of HR in corporate governance and promoting a healthy control environment
- examining employee relations, feedback, and performance management

6. Auditing the Finance, Treasury and Accounting Functions
- reviewing the finance, payroll, AP, AR, fixed assets, and budgeting processes
- assessing treasury, strategic planning, bank accounts, and systems integration
- identifying fraud indicators in financial reports
- using shared services as a control and efficiency mechanism

7. Auditing IT
- IT objectives, risks, and controls
- examining staffing, strategic planning and the infrastructure within your organization
- reviewing system access, data protection and backups, disaster recovery/business continuity, and your SDLC
- evaluating the IT environment using COSO and COBIT

8. Auditing the Management Function
- examining management tasks and measuring their performance and effectiveness
- enhancing the control environment through management pronouncements, examples, and enforcement of policies
- helping management build strong corporate responsibility, ethics, risk management, and strategic planning processes
- key considerations for communicating, preserving, and changing the organization’s culture
- how internal auditors can act as control agents while preserving their independence and objectivity

9. The Future of Operational Auditing
- automating controls and the use of continuous auditing
- helping management perform control self assessments
- promoting continuous improvement and high quality as a means to improve internal controls
- identifying the best recommendations that lead to positive and sustained changes