yellowbook refresher
Day 1 - Yellow Book Refresher (4 hours)
Objectives
After this course attendees
should have an understanding of:
The topics covered by GAO’s Government Auditing Standards (Yellow
Book) The requirements of the Yellow Book that apply to performance
audits
2024 changes and updates to the Yellow
Book
Short Description
The Government Auditing Standards, or Yellow Book, provide a framework to guide government auditors to do high-quality
audit work with competence. In this course, we will walk through the various
sections of the standards relevant to performance audits and discuss the intent
of each section. We will also cover the changes to the standards released by
GAO in 2024 and the related implementation timeframe.
Course Outline
Overview
Brief history of the Yellow Book
Discussion: Why do we follow audit
standards? Sections
Types of engagements and general requirements Ethics, independence, and professional judgment Competence and continuing
education
Quality management, engagement quality reviews, and peer review* Fieldwork standards for
performance audits
Planning
Conducting the engagement
Supervision
Evidence Documentation
Reporting standards for performance audits Report format and content
Views of responsible officials Report distribution
Exercise: Why do these topics matter? [Assign
specific topics to break out groups to brainstorm why they are included in the
standards; discuss as a class]
Overview of 2024 Revisions to the Yellow
Book Wrap up
* Most changes in the 2024 Yellow Book occurred in this section
Objectives
After this course attendees
should have an understanding of methods for collecting and assessing audit evidence and be able
to prepare high-quality audit workpapers
Short Description
Our audits are
only as good as the evidence that supports them. In this course we will discuss what auditing standards say about audit evidence and discuss types of audit evidence. We will
also explore the strength of various types of evidence and how to increase the
quality of audit evidence. Lastly, we will discuss key points for documenting
audit results in workpapers and what reviewers may look for.
Course Outline
Overview
What the standards say about audit evidence?
Key Terms: sufficient, appropriate, relevant, valid, reliable Types of audit evidence
Exercise: Types of audit evidence Collecting Audit Evidence
Methods for collecting high quality audit
evidence Pros and cons of types of evidence
Exercise: Sufficient and appropriate evidence Audit Documentation
Elements of a
workpaper Criteria for good workpapers
Exercise: Elements
of a workpaper Reviewing Workpapers
Exercise: Workpaper review Wrap up