Preparing for a Top Down Risk Assessment
In the early years of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), organizations went to significant detail documenting and testing financial processes. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) stressed in Auditing Standard 5 (AS5) the need to focus testing on those accounts that could materially impact the financial statements. AS5 prescribes that the auditor should use a top-down approach to the audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (ICFR).
Although AS5 provides guidance on performing a top-down Risk Assessment (RA), many organizations still struggle with the concept. This course will focus on the requirement for a top-down RA and processes your organization can utilize to effectively apply the approach. We will cover critical concepts of AS5 risk factors when identifying significant accounts as well as the importance of evaluating entity level controls.
Field of Study: Auditing
Lynn Fountain has over 45 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 24 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Ms. Fountain has held two Chief Audit Executive positions for international companies. In 2011, as the Chief Audit Executive for an international construction/ engineering firm, she was involved in the active investigation of a joint venture fraud. The investigation included work with the FBI and ultimately led to indictment of the perpetrators and recovery of $13M. Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own training and consulting business and is a regular trainer for the AICPA. Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations” was published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation. -“Leading The Internal Audit Function” and -“Ethics and The Internal Auditor Political Dilemma” were published by Taylor & Francis In addition Ms. Fountain was a contributing author to the certification program exam for the National Association of Accountants. She also has certificate programs on various on-line platforms. Ms. Fountain has performed as an adjunct instructor for the School of Business for Grantham University and developed the first internal audit curriculum for the School of Business at the University of Kansas. Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CGMA, CRMA credentials and CPA certificate (non-active).
