Risk-Based Internal Auditing

Risk-Based Auditing is a five-day senior audit-methodology course delivered by Mars Training Centre in London, Dubai, Amman, Barcelona and Bangkok — designed for senior auditors who plan, lead and review audit work using a structured risk-based approach.

A cycle-based audit plan that touches every process every three years no longer satisfies audit committees or aligns with the speed at which risk now moves. Risk-based auditing — anchored in the IIA International Professional Practices Framework and the broader ISO 31000 and COSO ERM thinking — focuses audit effort on the risks that matter most, in the entities where they matter most, with the techniques most likely to find what matters. Done well, it transforms internal audit from a calendar function into a strategic one.

This programme builds the senior auditor's command of risk-based audit planning, scoping, fieldwork and reporting. It is delivered by senior practitioners drawn from the Mars panel, with case work from a range of sectors and jurisdictions.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this programme, you will be able to:

• Apply risk-based audit principles in line with the IIA International Professional Practices Framework.
• Design an annual audit plan rooted in the organisation's enterprise risks.
• Build and refresh an audit universe that reflects current business reality.
• Scope individual engagements around the risks most material to the auditable entity.
• Apply structured risk and control assessment in audit fieldwork.
• Use data analytics and continuous auditing to deepen assurance coverage.
• Communicate risk-based audit results to executives and the audit committee.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a risk-based audit methodology in your function.

How You Will Benefit

You will leave with a senior practitioner's command of risk-based auditing and a personal plan to lift the impact of your audit function, alongside a Mars Certificate of Completion.

Your organisation will gain an audit leader whose work focuses on the issues that matter to the business, increases the value of the audit committee's time, and reduces effort spent on low-risk assurance.

Who This Programme Is For

This programme is designed for senior internal auditors and assurance leaders, including:

• Heads of internal audit and chief audit executives
• Internal audit directors and senior audit managers
• Internal audit methodology and quality leads
• Senior auditors moving from cycle-based to risk-based methodology
• Heads of risk and assurance with internal audit oversight
• External audit managers transitioning into internal audit leadership
• Senior public-sector internal auditors
• Audit committee members building methodological literacy

The seniority floor is senior manager and above in an internal audit or assurance function. The five days move from methodology and the audit universe through planning, scoping and fieldwork to reporting, and close with a personal action plan.