ICAEW Assurance study plan

Map the ICAEW Assurance syllabus against your own knowledge and rate each area as strong, shaky, or unknown

Explain the purpose and scope of an external audit and distinguish it from internal audit, review engagements, and agreed-upon procedures

Describe the five elements of an assurance engagement (three-party relationship, subject matter, criteria, evidence, written report) and apply them to a simple scenario

Define reasonable assurance and limited assurance and state which engagement types give which level

Outline the regulatory framework for UK audit, including the roles of the FRC, RSBs, and the Companies Act requirements for audit exemption

Explain the ethical threats in the IESBA/FRC conceptual framework (self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation) and apply safeguards to two short scenarios

Describe auditor independence rules on fees, non-audit services, and long association, and state the key partner rotation requirements

Explain the auditor's responsibilities regarding money laundering and the reporting of suspicions

Explain the stages of the audit process from engagement acceptance through to the final review and sign-off

Draft the contents of an engagement letter and explain why each item is included

Describe how the auditor obtains an understanding of the entity and its environment, including internal control, and why this drives risk assessment

Distinguish audit risk, inherent risk, control risk, and detection risk, and compute the audit risk model in three worked examples

Explain how materiality is determined at the planning stage and how performance materiality and the clearly trivial threshold are set

Apply the audit risk model to identify significant risks and design a response for each

Describe the purpose and limitations of internal control and the components of the control environment

Explain the difference between tests of controls and substantive procedures and when each is appropriate

Explain the assertions used for classes of transactions, account balances, and disclosures and match procedures to each assertion

Describe the audit procedures of inspection, observation, inquiry, confirmation, recalculation, re-performance, and analytical procedures, and state their strengths and weaknesses

Explain sampling risk and non-sampling risk and describe how sample size is affected by the factors in the sampling methodology

Describe how the auditor uses analytical procedures at the planning and review stages and what constitutes a significant fluctuation

Explain the audit approach for key account areas: revenue and receivables, inventory, payables and purchases, payroll, property plant and equipment, and cash

Describe the risks and typical procedures for each of those account areas, including cut-off and existence testing

Explain how the auditor addresses the risk of management override of controls and journal entry testing

Describe the auditor's procedures for identifying and responding to related party transactions and going concern indicators

Explain the purpose and content of the management representation letter and when it must be obtained

Describe the auditor's responsibilities for subsequent events, and how the review of events after the reporting period differs from the going concern assessment

Explain the types of audit opinion (unmodified, qualified, adverse, disclaimer) and the circumstances that give rise to each

Describe the structure and required content of the auditor's report, including key audit matters and the going concern statement

Explain quality management at firm and engagement level, including engagement quality review and the file assembly and retention rules

Describe the auditor's responsibilities for fraud, including the required discussion among the engagement team and reporting to those charged with governance

Revise your weakest three areas identified from earlier deliverables and re-test yourself on each

Complete two full timed mock papers under exam conditions and review every wrong answer