An effective Audit Committee is an essential part of an effective Board. It is fundamental that the Audit Committee acts as an oversight sub-committee of the Board, reflective of its constitution, considering and challenging, and not itself performing relevant processes.
The Audit Committee’s role and responsibilities are focused upon encouraging those involved in the production of financial statements and other relevant reports to perform the tasks effectively and to hold them to account if they do not.
The Audit Committee has come under closer scrutiny, especially in the context of corporate governance reforms, and expectations of its role are now much higher. The activities of the Committee can also be much broader incorporating areas such as whistleblowing, internal investigations and interacting and overseeing internal audit and other related assurance work.
Areas covered in the session include:
- How to be an effective Audit Committee
- The roles and responsibilities of Committee members
- The internal focus on risk management and internal control
- The external focus on the corporate reporting cycle and relationships with the external auditors
- The annual Audit Committee Report – the constituents of a good report
Learning outcomes:
- Gauging and managing stakeholder expectations and key relationships.
- Better understanding the workings of the Committee, including its terms of reference and its operational culture.
- Balancing the internal focus on processes and procedures with the external focus on communication and reporting.
- An appreciation of the appropriate Committee composition, the need for timely information and discussion, and the process of continuous improvement.
- Consideration of the latest trends and developments.
Feedback from previous sessions:
“The overall course content and approach exceeded my expectations”
“Our trainer’s knowledge and presentation style were both very good”
“Good coverage of the main aspects of the Committee – also the use of case studies and real-life examples”
“The quality of the training materials was excellent”
CPD hours:
ICAEW's revised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Regulations bring in new CPD requirements. This includes a minimum number of hours and an ethics requirement. Attending this course could contribute up to 4 hours of verifiable CPD, providing you can demonstrate that the content is relevant to your role. A copy of the course booking confirmation email is accepted as evidence of verifiable CPD.