Audit, Assurance and Forensics

Where the marks are

Percentages are the examinable weighting for each area. Revising in this order puts your time where the marks are.

1. Gathering Evidence and Audit Report

   25%

   Gathering evidence: the nature and selection of sufficient and appropriate audit evidence (ISA 500, ISA 570 revised, ISA 505, ISA 520, ISA 580, ISA 450) · Audit report: types, contents, forming and justifying audit opinions, and reports to management and directors

2. Introduction to Legal and Regulatory Frameworks of Audit and Assurance

   20%

   Objectives and need for audit, assurance and forensics · The legal and regulatory framework for audit and other assurance engagements (CAMA 2020 as amended, FRC (Amendment) Act 2023, ISAs, ISAEs) · Process of audit and assurance (nomination to reporting, materiality, assurance engagements and misstatements)

3. The Nature and Use of Internal Control (ISA 315 Revised)

   20%

   Meaning, objectives, nature and types of internal control systems, including features of an effective system · Components of internal control and responsibilities for instituting and evaluating its effectiveness, including Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR) · Identifying, recording, analysing and evaluating accounting systems and related internal controls, including their limitations (ISA 530) · Contents of a management letter · Internal controls in a computerised accounting environment and information security measures (ISA 315) · Frameworks for implementing systems of internal control, risk and control matrix, and information gathering techniques for control design

4. Forensic Accounting Services

   15%

   Meaning, objectives and nature of forensic engagements and types of forensic accounting services · Calculation of economic damages (contract or tort) · Electronic discovery of frauds (computer forensics) · Litigation support process · Investigating different types of fraud and discovering hidden assets · Expert report and professional negligence in forensic investigations

5. Professional Ethics and Public Interest

   15%

   Importance of professional ethics and rule-based versus principle-based approaches · Public interest in the context of audit and assurance · Ethical issues under the IFAC Code and ICAN Professional Code of Ethics and Guide for Members · Ethical issues in the governance of private and public entities and ethical conflicts of accountants as employees or those charged with governance · Ethical threats to independence, safeguards and dealing with ethical dilemmas · Whistle blowing and non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR)

6. Application of Technology in Audit, Assurance and Forensic

   5%

   Statistical analysis to identify outliers and interrogation of client accounting software systems · Blockchain in the audit process and algorithm review · AI tools, robotic process automation, natural language processing and generative AI, including risks to auditing · Cyber, technological and other IT-related risks; drones, optical code recognition and revenue assurance tools

Where candidates lose this paper

The Institute publishes its own past questions. What it cannot give you is an answer to these.

There is not enough time to read the whole study text before the diet.

The official study text condensed and reorganised by examinable weighting, with every claim cited back to the page it came from — so you can check anything you doubt in one click.

You write practice answers for months and never find out whether a single one would have scored.

Write by hand, photograph it, and have it marked against the examiner's own marking guide — with the marks broken down the way the examiner breaks them down, and the reason for each one.

The study text is hundreds of pages and none of it tells you which parts the examiner actually asks about.

Every syllabus topic, ordered by the share of marks it carries, so your revision time follows the marks instead of the page count.

You know the answer but lose marks anyway, and no one ever explains where they went.

The Institute's published solution beside your attempt, with the mark allocation visible — so you can see the marks sitting in the principle and the application, not only the final figure.

You have only ever typed your answers, and the paper is written by hand.

Timed mocks written on paper, under exam conditions, so you discover how long handwriting takes before it costs you a question.