Spreadsheet Auditing Advanced Training Courses in UK & Ireland    


   

THE PROBLEM

Spreadsheet models are widely used to inform vital business decisions and processes, and are known to be about the most error-prone and high-risk applications in any business. Despite the risks, they are often not tested, or are tested around, leaving businesses exposed to error (and potentially in breach of regulatory and legal requirements.)

Most spreadsheets contain errors, as is clear from the research reported at the European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group conferences every year. See their list of reported incidents of expensive and embarrassing mistakes.

Testing can be tricky and time consuming for the auditor or reviewer, and if it is contracted out to any of the excellent specialist service companies in the field, expensive.

THE SOLUTION

You will learn by a combination of lectures and practical hands on work:

• Where to start and what are the most efficient techniques to use
• How you can cut down a huge system of spreadsheets to a manageable audit task
• The symptoms that indicate potential or actual problems
• How to create an inventory of critical spreadsheets, assess them for risk, and prioritize scarce resources
• Little-known secrets of Excel's auditing features
• Reinforce your learning with an optional hour of hands-on practice using demonstration versions of auditing software on your own laptop
 

You will be supplied with

• full course documentation
• a copy of "Spreadsheet Check and Control" with 47 professional checking techniques
• a guide to risk assessment
• working (but time limited) evaluation copies of a leading spreadsheet auditing tool.
 

Who should attend?

Anyone who builds or reviews spreadsheet models, such as managers, accountants, actuaries, financial modellers, or IT analysts or Auditors enterprise IT audits. To gain the most benefit from the course you need to have an intermediate or advanced knowledge of Excel.

You will leave the seminar with the confidence to use the tools and methods shown to risk-assess and test spreadsheets in your organisation.

Booking

Fee for the full day course in-company is €2,500 for one day or €4,500 (currency converter) for two days plus reasonable business travel expenses. You can decide how many people can attend, from 1 or 2 individuals examining specific spreadsheets, up to a class of 12 lecture-style.  Because people learn best by doing, a class size of 8 or under is best. Each participant will receive email support for 30 days after the class.

Systems Modelling, Villa Alba, Tara Hill, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland
Tel (+353) (0) 86 835 2233, www.sysmod.com Email us  Send email to enquiry at sysmod dot com

Course Content

09:00 Registration

09:15 Controls over spreadsheets;
 - regulatory overview & background to spreadsheet risks;
 - review of spreadsheet usage, criticality, controls gap;
 - management of the spreadsheet lifecycle;
 - audit methodology, inventory, complexity & risk assessment

10:00 Spreadsheet inspection;
 - prioritisation of effort;
 - getting to grips with an unfamiliar model, mapping techniques, finding links, asking questions
 - types of error and concealment

10:45 Break

11:00 Know what you're looking for;
 - specific error-prone functions and operations;
 - structural testing, common defects, bad smells, pattern inconsistencies

11:45 Exercise in execution testing, test cases

12:30 Lunch

13:45 Appropriate techniques to detect and control different types of errors;
 - comparing native Excel features with third-party utilities and auditing software;
 - detecting concealment as well as mistakes and omissions;
 - detecting suspicious or fraudulent activity
 - spreadsheet comparisons

14:45 Break

15:00 Good design principles to prevent errors;
 - specification, documentation, styles, building, options, validation, data integrity;
 - developer and user training for best practice standards

15:30 Start of hands-on practice with participants' own laptops
 
– we provide example spreadsheets seeded with errors and concealed data

16:30 Close of day


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