Module Directory

This module is designed for students who are specialising in Accounting and who may wish to pursue a career in Auditing. The module is designed to cover basic auditing concepts and the tests and procedures an auditor will undertake when performing an audit.

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with an appreciation of the work involved in conducting a financial audit so that they understand the strengths and limitations of the techniques employed by auditors.


• To provide students with an appreciation of the work involved in conducting a financial audit so that they understand the strengths and limitations of the techniques employed by auditors.


• To introduce students to key concepts in auditing.


• To promote students’ Work-Related Learning by providing them with some understanding of the practice of financial audit in the real world.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Discuss why there is a need for audit and the importance of the key concepts of independence and competence and the role of auditing standards. Students will also be able to explain what an audit is, what it provides, and why it is demanded.


2. Understand the importance of the need for planning an audit.


3. Discuss the way that audit methodology has evolved and the advantages andlimitations of the audit risk approach compared to the business risk approach.


4. Analyse a simple internal control system such as those relating to sales, purchases or payroll and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system.


5. Devise tests to verify the existence, ownership, valuation and disclosure of certain assets and liabilities (long and current).


6. Identify the content and prepare a basic audit report.


7. Develop an understanding of the real-world practice in applying audit techniques to financial and other relevant information using realistic simulations which replicate the audit-industry standard tasks, developed with the support of practicing auditors.

Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

The module is specifically designed to provide students with a set of transferable skills which will be applicable in their professional life. Specifically, the module seeks to support students to:

1. Develop a range of technical skills enabling them to analyse data and identify key features.


2. Develop problem solving skills relating to auditing issues.


3. Identify and critically evaluate key features and arguments covered in texts.


4. Improve their communication skills by engaging discussions in class.


5. Develop coherent and well-structured lines of argument supported by relevant analysis and concepts.


6. Develop a professional awareness of the need to act with integrity and honesty.


7. Promote students Work Related Learning by developing students' ability to identify and apply the appropriate audit techniques and procedures to financial statements assertions including a corpus of audit evidence to form an opinion on whether the financial statements show a true and fair view of the entity's economic reality, based on realistic case studies and simulations.

Students will cover topics such as the need for audit, the independence of auditors, evaluating systems of internal control, verification of selected assets and liabilities and the audit report. This module will complement the third-year module BE132 Auditing with a major distinction being that this module will focus on the practice of auditing whereas in the third-year module the focus will be more on a critical examination of some key issues and concepts in auditing.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 1-hour lecture per week.
• One 1 hour seminar per week.

Students will be expected to carry out the required reading and prepare material for presentation and discussion in the seminar.