The American Institute of Certified Public Accountant IT Executive and CITP Credential committees (full disclosure -- I am the chairman of the latter committee) recently collaborated to produce a three-and-a-half day training school to educate financial auditors about the impact of IT on reporting and auditing.
The course, called "IT Considerations in Risk-Based Financial Statement Audits," will be offered October 27-30 in New York City.
The course will begin with a discussion of how IT impacts financial reporting and what the Audit Standards specifically or implicitly require of the auditor with respect to the entity’s use of IT. An expert panel of presenters will then walk participants through each phase of the risk-based financial audit process, highlighting important IT considerations at each step. Along the way, attendees will participate in collaborative group exercises that will drive home key concepts, while allowing them to share their own experiences and better understand how their clients’ use of IT impacts audit risk.
Sounds pretty exciting -- especially if you're in a firm that depends solely on you or your IT staff to support the IT audit function. I believe that auditors simply MUST develop a deeper IT understanding if we're to meet the spirit of RBA standards, If this applies to people in your firm, here's your opportunity to help them.
