Introduction

Professional and technical competency is one of the corner stone of the audit profession. As adequate job knowledge is vital for any audit staff to perform their task effectively and efficiently, professional accounting bodies have made professional competency mandatory for its members. Auditing standards and auditing manuals have also provided guidance for auditors to perform their audit properly and in a complete manner.

Having acquired basic working audit experience, intermediate audit personnel would now require further knowledge and skill-sets in order for them to be ready for more complex audit assignments. Intermediate audit staff also forms a crucial part in an audit team where they provide necessary support to senior staff/managers and is always the reference point of junior staff. At this juncture, they are also more exposed to client interaction and management. Therefore a strong knowledge on audit methodologies, tests & procedures and requirements of standards and regulations is vital to ensure a proper execution of assignments and they are prepared to move to a senior role.

Course Objective

This course is aimed to provide intermediate audit staff with necessary skills to perform more complex audit assignments and lead a small audit team.

At the end of the course, the participants will have acquired adequate knowledge on:

· Further enhancing their understanding of the audit process and audit approach for medium to large companies
· Strengthening their knowledge on crucial audit tools, auditing standards and job management

Course outline

Module I

· Essentials of conducting an audit for a small/medium group of companies
· Supervising & coaching junior staff
· Intermediate elements of Companies Act 1965 and recent changes to the Act (Companies (Amendment) Act 2007)
· Overview of MASB standards – PERS & FRS
· Overview on MASA/ISAs
· Training and continuous learning/improvement

Module II

· Going Concern – Introduction to AI570 & auditors approach
· Audit planning, strategy & other planning considerations
· Test of controls  - types, extent, evaluation & documentation
· Substantive analytical procedures – use of ratios, trend analysis, reasonableness test & documentation
· Audit evidence – additional considerations for specific items – AI501
· Capital commitments and post balance sheet events

Module III

· Cost model accounting vs. fair value accounting
· Considerations and approach in auditing assets – valuation & recoverability of assets
· Audit approach on impairment of assets
· Auditing investments and investment properties
· Audit of liabilities – emphasis on borrowings and its audit considerations
· Auditing related party transactions and balances

Module IV

· Understanding the internal control environment & risk
· Auditors report – elements of the report & types of opinion
· Audit clearance procedures
· Management letters
· Reviewing audit working paper

Target Audience : Audit semi-seniors or intermediate level audit staffs between 1 to 3 years of working experience
CPD Code: 091118AS1

Speaker’s profile

Mr Ramesh Ruben Louis

Mr Ramesh Ruben Louis is an accountant by profession with over 11 years of working experience. He is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), as well as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). He started his career in Arthur Andersen and subsequently moved over to BDO Binder. He also has experience in corporate finance whilst attached to Southern Investment Bank Berhad. He is currently the Head of Training & Practice Development for a leading medium sized accounting firm in Kuala Lumpur., where he also acts as the Technical Manager for the firm. Ramesh is also the Director of Operations for Knowledge Shop Malaysia.

His experience in auditing ranges from large public listed companies to multinational corporations, government agencies as well as SME’s in a spectrum of industries including plantation, property development, manufacturing, trading, IT, shipping, retailing, etc. Besides auditing, Ramesh also has hands-on experience on other corporate exercises such as due diligence, IPO’s, issuance of bonds, corporate & debt restructuring and investigative audit. With his vast experience, he now conducts training for audit and other financial professionals to enable them to perform their tasks more effectively.

His training experience includes topics on Auditing Approach, Comprehensive Practical Auditing Series for various levels of audit staff, Enterprise Risk Management & Internal Controls, Review and Assurance Engagements, Going Concern, Performance Measurement & Reporting, Manpower Planning & Career Development as well as seminars/workshops on practical application of Financial Reporting Standards (“FRS”) & Private Entity Reporting Standards (“PERS”). Ramesh is also actively involved in improving & updating processes & procedures for an effective practice especially for assurance services.