Principles of Auditing & Assurance

Where the marks are

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

1. Meaning of auditing, legal framework, regulations, and theory

   20%

   Concepts of audit and assurance · True and fair view, materiality and judgement · Audit risks · Appointment, removal and independence of assurance parties · Sources of liabilities of assurance parties · Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act · International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and on Assurance Engagements (ISAEs) · Accounting and auditing distinguished · Roles, rights and duties of assurance parties under company legislation · Liability of assurance parties for negligence under civil and criminal law · Statutory and non-statutory audits distinguished · The scope of internal and external audit, and public sector audit · Fundamental principles of the code of ethics and conduct

2. Assurance completion procedures

   20%

   Purpose and methods of analytical procedures · The engagement letter · Events after the reporting period · The working paper file · Other assurance engagement services · Peer review · The going concern concept and its evaluation · Composition and functions of the audit committee · Forensic audits · Due diligence · Form and contents of the assurance report on the financial statements · Qualified, adverse and disclaimer opinions · Recording significant and material errors · Written representations

3. Public sector assurance

   12%

   Powers and functions of the Auditor-General · Financial and regulatory assurances · Phases of value for money audits · Composition of the office of the Auditor-General · The public accounts committee in the assurance process · The Bureau of Public Procurement · Internal audit in the Auditor-General's office

4. IT-based system assurance

   12%

   Types of information technology system · Control challenges in the assurance of small IT-based systems · Documentation procedures for manual and IT-based systems · The approach to the audit of IT-based systems · Business systems and associated IT risks · IT audit activities and current trends in information technology

5. Internal control

   12%

   Nature and types of internal control · Internal control and internal audit distinguished · The need for internal control and its inherent limitations · Internal control reporting and assurance control letters · Control procedures for gathering assurance evidence · Applying internal control to finance cycles · The role and effectiveness of internal audit · The audit committee and internal audit

6. Assurance process planning, evidence gathering and procedures

   12%

   Assurance planning and strategies · Working papers · Factors affecting the reliability of evidence · Vouching, physical examination and third-party evidence · Assurance programmes and types of assurance test · Management representations, internal control reporting and assurance letters · Sampling selection methods and sample size · Quality control and peer review · Assurance procedures for intangible assets · Audit risk and risk assessment

7. Professional ethics and public interest

   12%

   The importance of professional ethics · Whistle blowing and non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR) · Rule-based and principle-based approaches to professional ethics · The public interest in the context of audit and assurance · Ethical issues under the IFAC code and national codes of ethics · Ethical issues in the governance of private and public entities · Actions to deal with ethical dilemmas · Ethical threats to independence and safeguards · Ethical conflicts facing an accountant as an employee · Ethical conflicts facing an accountant charged with governance

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.