From Control Design to Testing, Analytics, and a Supportable Conclusion
This course is part of The Complete Guide to Risk and Internal Controls, a comprehensive training series designed to build practical knowledge and skills in identifying, assessing, managing, and responding to risks through effective internal controls.
Evaluating & Testing Internal Controls: Do They Really Work? focuses on how to determine whether internal controls are appropriately designed and whether they actually operate as intended. Learners will evaluate design effectiveness, define control populations, select testing approaches and samples, identify meaningful control attributes, and develop clear test steps. The course also explores how data analytics can expand internal control testing, identify potential exceptions across larger populations, and support stronger conclusions. Learners then bring the pieces together by evaluating testing results and determining an overall internal control effectiveness rating.
Topics Covered:
• Design effectiveness vs. operating effectiveness
• Evaluating whether an internal control could reasonably manage the identified risk
• Applying a design effectiveness conclusion
• Determining whether internal controls operated as intended
• Defining the control population
• Understanding control frequency, triggers, scope, and evaluation periods
• Selecting an appropriate testing approach
• Full-population testing vs. sample testing
• Sample-size considerations
• Selecting representative samples
• Internal control testing methods
• Identifying the attributes to test
• Writing clear and meaningful test steps
• Evaluating supporting documentation
• Using data analytics for internal control testing
• Identifying duplicates, thresholds, timing issues, gaps, changes, and outliers
• Investigating potential exceptions identified through analytics
• Interpreting testing results
• Evaluating the nature, frequency, and significance of potential exceptions
• Determining an overall internal control effectiveness rating
• Writing a supportable internal control conclusion
• Connecting the risk, internal control, testing approach, results, and conclusion
Audit Smarter, not Harder - with Elizabeth and Audie the Internal Otteror!
Elizabeth McDowell, CPA, CIA has over 20 years of audit experience and is the founder of Audit Forward, an innovative internal audit consulting and training firm. Elizabeth is passionate about advancing and advocating for the internal audit profession and was recognized as one of the 2023 Internal Audit Beacons by Richard Chambers. Elizabeth makes auditing and training fun (no, really!) with the help of her mascot, Audie the Internal Otteror. Elizabeth’s most recent industry experience was at Achieve, where she was Sr. Director, Audit Strategy; prior to that, she held internal audit leadership roles at Elevations Credit Union, Fidelity Investments, and Xcel Energy after first starting her career at Ernst & Young.
