Audit Report Writing Workshop for Internal Auditors

Targeted at both new auditors and more experienced personnel, this two-day course encourages audit professionals to challenge their approach to writing audit reports - the end result of weeks of reviews, analyses, interviews and discussions.

Audit reports provide information to management on reviewed areas and, more importantly, brings issues to management's attention that need to be addressed. How well you communicate that information is critical to getting the results you seek.

Upon completion of this program, participants should be able to:

• write a report empathising with target audiences' requirements
• bring into play structured writing techniques that maximise acceptance of the audit viewpoint
• apply thinking and writing strategies to maximise conciseness, precision, readability and clarity
• self-check your own work and implement writing techniques that improve the value outcome of an audit.

BUILDING A GRAMMAR TOOLBOX

• Applying the fundamentals - parts of speech, proper use of tenses et
• Subject -Verb -Agreement
• The use of Articles - a, an & the
• Identifying and preventing common writing pitfalls
• Sentence fragments and run-on sentences
• Common misused and confusing words
• Adopting an appropriate style
• Employing the active and the passive voices
• Avoiding clichés
• Use of appropriate vocabulary in a business setting
• Use correct punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations and number formats

COMMON PROBLEMS IN WRITING

• Common errors and confusing words
• Packaging expressions
• Wordiness and redundancies
• Being ambiguous or vague

INTRODUCTION TO REPORT WRITING

• The importance of writing audit reports
• Identifying your readers -and their expectations
• How to attract attention and create impact
• What does 'good' look like?
• Comparative analysis
• Key challenges of report writing

THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS(IIA) REPORT WRITING STANDARDS

• 2400 - Communicating results
• 2410 - Criteria for communicating (PA 2410-1)
• 2420 - Quality of communication
• 2430 - Conformance with the international standards of the professional practice of internal auditing

INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS-THE WAY FORWARD

• How to increase usefulness
• Key considerations when developing a report -readers and writers
• How to evaluate your reports
• Key strategies for report writing
• Problem vs. solution focused thinking
• Framework and contents

IMPORTANCE OFT THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Targeting executive summaries at the reader
• How to write effective executive summaries
• The four Cs: clarity, coherence, control and credibility
• Keeping the reader in mind

COMPONENTS OF AUDIT OBSERVATION

• The five Cs: Elements of audit observation
• Identify types of criteria
• Create condition summaries
• Determine levels of cause
• Determine levels of effect (or consequence)
• Determine adequate corrective action(s)

FINALIZING AN INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT

• Root cause analysis
• Corrective actions
• Incorporating management comments
• Revealing the right issues for audit committee

AUDIT REPORT QUALITY AND ENHANCEMENTS

• The importance of being accurate, objective, clear, concise, complete and on time
• The correct use of fonts, bullets, italics, indents, tables and charts
• Prioritization and rating recommendations
• Using less words
• Use of 'power words' in your report
• Using simple language to make your report readable

COMPLETING THE REPORTS - Preparing a Polished, Accurate Final Document

• Drafts to Final Copies - Reviewing, Proof-reading and Editing
• How Good is Your Proofreading?
• Writing Impressive Conclusions
• Writing Precise Executive Summaries
• Checking Writing Effectively for Spelling, Punctuations, Grammar, Structure, Vocabulary, Homonyms
• Producing and presenting clear, concise, effective and professional reports

IMPROVING THE REPORT REVIEW PROCESS

• Peer reviews
• Senior management involvement
• The three levels of review

• PETRONAS Dagangan
• TNB
• Indah Water

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