About this Event
The is designed to strengthen the strategic capabilities required to establish a structured, risk-focused, and business-aligned internal audit function. An effective audit universe provides a comprehensive view of an organisation’s auditable entities, processes, systems, functions, projects, and operational activities. Combined with a well-developed annual audit plan, it helps direct assurance resources towards areas requiring the greatest attention.
Modern organisations operate across complex regulatory, financial, operational, technological, and strategic environments. Internal audit teams therefore require a systematic approach to identifying auditable areas, evaluating associated risks, establishing priorities, and translating risk assessments into an actionable annual audit plan.
Delivered by the , this course explores practical approaches to developing and maintaining an audit universe. Participants examine how organisational objectives, business processes, regulatory obligations, technology environments, and emerging risks can be integrated into a structured audit planning framework.
A central component of the programme is risk-based audit planning. It addresses methodologies for assessing inherent and residual risks, evaluating control environments, identifying emerging threats, and establishing consistent criteria for audit prioritisation. Participants also explore how to manage competing audit priorities when available resources are limited.
The course further examines annual audit programme development, including alignment with enterprise risks, strategic objectives, previous audit findings, management concerns, regulatory expectations, and internal audit capacity. Resource allocation, audit scheduling, workload management, specialist expertise, and contingency planning are also covered.
Governance and communication requirements form another important part of the programme. Participants explore how to present risk-based audit plans to senior management and audit committees, document planning assumptions, communicate changes in priorities, and monitor audit plan execution.
As part of the portfolio, the Building an Audit Universe and Annual Audit Plan Training Course supports organisations seeking to improve internal audit effectiveness, strengthen risk-based assurance coverage, and establish a consistent approach to strategic audit planning.
Objectives
The Building an Audit Universe and Annual Audit Plan Training Course aims to enable participants to:
Establish a Comprehensive Audit Universe
Develop a structured audit universe covering business units, functions, processes, systems, projects, subsidiaries, third-party activities, regulatory areas, and other auditable entities relevant to organisational assurance requirements.
Apply a Structured Risk Assessment Methodology
Use systematic approaches for identifying, evaluating, documenting, and comparing risks across the audit universe. Participants will examine risk criteria involving financial exposure, operational disruption, compliance requirements, strategic importance, control weaknesses, technology dependency, and emerging threats.
Strengthen Audit Prioritisation
Develop consistent criteria for ranking potential audit engagements according to risk significance, organisational impact, control maturity, previous findings, regulatory expectations, and management concerns.
Develop Risk-Based Annual Audit Plans
Translate audit universe information and risk assessment results into practical annual audit plans that provide appropriate coverage of significant risk areas while supporting organisational objectives.
Improve Resource Allocation Planning
Determine how audit hours, personnel, specialist capabilities, technology, budget, and engagement capacity can be allocated across planned audit activities.
Align Audit Planning With Business Strategy
Connect internal audit priorities with strategic objectives, major organisational initiatives, enterprise risks, transformation programmes, and changing business conditions.
Incorporate Emerging Risks
Establish mechanisms for identifying and incorporating emerging risks into annual audit planning without compromising the delivery of approved audit engagements.
Strengthen Audit Committee Reporting
Prepare clear audit planning information for senior management and audit committees, including risk assessments, proposed engagements, resource requirements, timing considerations, and changes to audit priorities.
Improve Audit Plan Flexibility
Create annual audit plans that can be adjusted when significant changes occur in business operations, regulatory requirements, technology, financial conditions, or organisational risk exposure.
Establish Ongoing Plan Monitoring
Develop methods for monitoring audit plan progress, measuring coverage, evaluating changes, tracking resource consumption, and updating priorities throughout the audit cycle.
Target Audience
The Building an Audit Universe and Annual Audit Plan Training Course is intended for professionals responsible for internal audit strategy, risk-based assurance, governance, control assessment, and audit programme management.
Internal Audit Professionals
Internal auditors, senior auditors, audit supervisors, audit managers, and heads of internal audit can use the programme to strengthen their approach to audit universe development, risk assessment, annual planning, and engagement scheduling.
Chief Audit Executives
Chief Audit Executives and internal audit directors can benefit from frameworks for aligning audit plans with organisational risk profiles, executive expectations, audit committee requirements, and available resources.
Risk Management Professionals
Risk managers and enterprise risk professionals can strengthen the connection between organisational risk information and internal audit planning decisions.
Governance and Compliance Professionals
Governance, compliance, and control professionals can gain greater insight into how regulatory obligations, governance risks, compliance exposures, and control deficiencies influence audit priorities.
Finance and Assurance Leaders
Finance directors, assurance managers, controllers, and related professionals can benefit from structured approaches for determining where audit resources should be directed across financial and operational activities.
Audit Committee and Senior Management Support Professionals
Professionals supporting audit committees and senior executives can improve the quality of information used to review proposed audit plans, risk priorities, assurance coverage, and resource requirements.
Internal Control Specialists
Internal control professionals can use risk and control information to support the development of audit universe structures and determine where assurance activity can provide the greatest organisational value.
Professionals Involved in Audit Planning
The course is also relevant to professionals involved in annual audit planning, risk assessment, assurance mapping, audit scheduling, quality assurance, and monitoring of internal audit activities.
Modules
Module 1: Foundations of the Audit Universe
This module establishes the organisational and strategic foundations of an audit universe. It examines the purpose of an audit universe, its relationship with enterprise risk management, and its role in supporting comprehensive assurance coverage.
Key areas include:
- Definition and purpose of an audit universe
- Components of a comprehensive audit universe
- Business processes and auditable entities
- Organisational structures and functional mapping
- Strategic objectives and audit coverage
- Regulatory and compliance considerations
- Technology and information systems within the audit universe
- Subsidiaries, joint ventures, projects, and third-party activities
- Maintaining an accurate and current audit universe
Module 2: Audit Universe Identification and Mapping
Participants examine techniques for identifying auditable areas and creating structured relationships between organisational activities, risks, controls, and assurance requirements.
Key areas include:
- Business process mapping
- Functional and organisational mapping
- Risk and control mapping
- Identifying critical business activities
- Identifying high-impact systems and processes
- Third-party and outsourced activities
- Regulatory obligations and assurance requirements
- Strategic projects and transformation initiatives
- Developing audit universe inventories
- Reviewing and updating audit universe structures
Module 3: Risk Assessment Methodology
This module focuses on the development and application of a consistent risk assessment methodology. Participants examine how risks can be evaluated across different audit universe components using defined and repeatable criteria.
Key areas include:
- Risk identification
- Inherent risk assessment
- Residual risk assessment
- Control environment evaluation
- Risk impact and likelihood
- Financial and operational risk
- Compliance and regulatory risk
- Technology and cybersecurity risk
- Strategic and reputational considerations
- Emerging risk assessment
- Risk scoring and documentation
- Establishing consistent risk assessment criteria
Module 4: Audit Prioritisation Frameworks
Participants examine how audit priorities can be established when multiple business areas require assurance and internal audit resources are limited.
Key areas include:
- Principles of audit prioritisation
- Risk-based audit selection
- High-risk and critical business activities
- Previous audit findings
- Control weaknesses and recurring issues
- Regulatory requirements
- Management concerns
- Strategic significance
- Changes in organisational risk exposure
- Developing audit priority criteria
- Comparing potential audit engagements
- Documenting prioritisation decisions
Module 5: Developing the Annual Audit Plan
This module focuses on converting audit universe and risk assessment information into a structured annual audit plan.
Key areas include:
- Annual audit planning principles
- Translating risk assessments into audit engagements
- Selecting audit scope areas
- Establishing audit objectives
- Determining engagement timing
- Balancing recurring and new audit activities
- Regulatory and mandatory audit requirements
- Assurance coverage considerations
- Coordination with other assurance functions
- Developing an annual audit calendar
- Contingency planning for emerging risks
Module 6: Resource Allocation Planning
Effective audit planning depends on realistic resource allocation. This module examines how internal audit resources can be matched with planned engagements and organisational priorities.
Key areas include:
- Audit staffing requirements
- Estimating engagement hours
- Personnel capability assessment
- Specialist resource requirements
- Co-sourcing and external expertise considerations
- Audit technology and analytical resources
- Budget planning
- Workload distribution
- Scheduling and capacity management
- Resource allocation planning
- Contingency resource requirements
- Identifying resource constraints and capability gaps
Module 7: Risk-Based Audit Scheduling
Participants examine how audit engagements can be scheduled according to risk significance, business cycles, regulatory deadlines, operational conditions, and available resources.
Key areas include:
- Risk-based scheduling
- Engagement sequencing
- Business cycle considerations
- Regulatory deadlines
- High-risk engagement timing
- Staff availability
- Audit workload balancing
- Coordinating related audits
- Maintaining plan flexibility
- Adjusting schedules when risks change
Module 8: Audit Committee and Management Alignment
This module addresses the governance dimension of annual audit planning and the communication required to obtain appropriate oversight of the audit programme.
Key areas include:
- Presenting the audit universe
- Communicating risk priorities
- Explaining audit selection criteria
- Presenting annual audit plans
- Resource requirement reporting
- Discussing coverage limitations
- Documenting management input
- Audit committee reporting
- Handling requests for additional audits
- Communicating significant changes to the audit plan
Module 9: Monitoring and Updating the Annual Audit Plan
An annual audit plan should remain responsive to changing organisational conditions. This module examines mechanisms for monitoring plan execution and revising priorities throughout the year.
Key areas include:
- Monitoring audit plan progress
- Tracking planned versus actual audit hours
- Measuring resource utilisation
- Reviewing changes in risk exposure
- Incorporating emerging risks
- Adding or postponing audit engagements
- Reassessing audit priorities
- Managing management requests
- Documenting changes to the annual plan
- Reporting plan performance to senior stakeholders
Module 10: Integrated Audit Planning and Continuous Improvement
The final module brings together audit universe development, risk assessment, prioritisation, resource allocation, scheduling, and governance into an integrated audit planning framework.
Key areas include:
- Integrating risk assessment with audit planning
- Maintaining comprehensive assurance coverage
- Improving audit planning consistency
- Evaluating audit plan effectiveness
- Identifying gaps in assurance coverage
- Reviewing resource utilisation
- Enhancing risk assessment practices
- Strengthening stakeholder communication
- Establishing continuous improvement mechanisms
- Maintaining a dynamic audit universe
- Developing sustainable annual audit planning practices
Event venue & nearby stays
Geneva Institute of Business Management (GIBM), Businesspoint CFF, Geneva, Switzerland
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.