Audit Committees in a New Era of Governance

Why Attend

Audit committees play a central role in protecting organisational integrity, strengthening corporate governance, and providing independent oversight of financial reporting, internal controls, risk management, and assurance activities. As organisations face increasingly complex regulatory requirements, technological disruption, cybersecurity threats, financial uncertainty, and heightened stakeholder expectations, the responsibilities of audit committees continue to evolve.

Modern audit committees must move beyond traditional financial reporting oversight to adopt a more forward-looking approach to governance. This requires a strong understanding of emerging risks, organisational resilience, digital transformation, fraud prevention, regulatory compliance, and the effectiveness of internal and external assurance functions.

Audit committee members are expected to challenge management constructively, exercise independent judgment, evaluate the reliability of financial and non-financial information, and ensure that significant risks and control weaknesses receive appropriate attention. Achieving these responsibilities requires technical knowledge, effective communication, sound governance structures, and a clear understanding of the committee's authority and accountability.

The Audit Committees in a New Era of Governance course provides board members, audit committee professionals, senior executives, and governance specialists with practical frameworks for strengthening audit committee effectiveness.

Participants examine audit committee composition, responsibilities, financial reporting oversight, internal and external audit relationships, enterprise risk management, cybersecurity governance, fraud risk, sustainability reporting, and emerging assurance expectations.

Through governance case studies, boardroom simulations, and practical exercises, participants develop the skills to evaluate committee performance, challenge complex information, oversee assurance arrangements, and support transparent, accountable organisational governance.

Professional Problems This Course Is Designed to Solve

• Unclear audit committee responsibilities: Establishing well-defined committee mandates, oversight responsibilities, reporting relationships, and boundaries between governance and executive management.

• Weak financial reporting oversight: Strengthening the review of financial statements, significant accounting judgments, audit findings, and reporting integrity.

• Ineffective internal and external audit coordination: Improving oversight of audit independence, assurance coverage, audit quality, and the resolution of significant findings.

• Limited visibility of emerging organisational risks: Expanding audit committee oversight to address cybersecurity, digital transformation, third-party exposure, fraud, and operational resilience.

• Insufficient challenge of management decisions: Developing effective questioning techniques, professional scepticism, and evidence-based governance discussions.

• Poor follow-up on control deficiencies: Establishing clear mechanisms for tracking audit recommendations, management action plans, and unresolved governance concerns.

• Inadequate audit committee performance evaluation: Applying structured assessments of committee composition, competencies, meeting effectiveness, information quality, and governance outcomes.

Course Methodology

The programme combines instructor-led governance discussions, audit committee case studies, regulatory and governance framework analysis, boardroom simulations, financial reporting reviews, and practical committee effectiveness workshops.

Participants examine illustrative audit committee charters, meeting agendas, board reports, financial statements, internal audit findings, external auditor communications, risk registers, and management action plans.

Practical exercises focus on evaluating governance arrangements, challenging financial and risk information, reviewing assurance reports, preparing audit committee questions, and developing recommendations to strengthen committee oversight and effectiveness.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the evolving role of audit committees in modern corporate governance

• Evaluate audit committee responsibilities, authority, independence, and accountability

• Develop effective audit committee charters and governance arrangements

• Strengthen oversight of financial reporting, accounting judgments, and disclosure quality

• Assess internal control systems and enterprise risk management frameworks

• Evaluate the independence, performance, and effectiveness of internal audit functions

• Oversee external auditor appointment, independence, audit quality, and reporting

• Identify emerging risks involving cybersecurity, fraud, technology, and third parties

• Apply effective questioning and professional scepticism in committee discussions

• Strengthen coordination between the audit committee, board, management, and assurance providers

• Establish effective reporting, escalation, and audit finding follow-up procedures

• Develop audit committee performance evaluation and continuous improvement frameworks

Target Audience

This course is suitable for:

• Audit committee chairs and members

• Board directors and independent non-executive directors

• Board secretaries and corporate governance professionals

• Chief audit executives and internal audit directors

• Chief financial officers and finance directors

• Chief risk officers and enterprise risk managers

• Compliance directors and regulatory affairs professionals

• External audit partners and senior assurance professionals

• Corporate governance and internal control specialists

• Senior executives preparing for audit committee or board oversight responsibilities

Target Competencies

Participants will develop competencies in:

• Audit committee governance and oversight

• Board-level financial reporting evaluation

• Internal control and risk governance

• Internal audit effectiveness assessment

• External audit oversight and independence

• Fraud and compliance risk oversight

• Cybersecurity and emerging risk governance

• Professional scepticism and constructive challenge

• Audit committee reporting and stakeholder communication

• Committee effectiveness evaluation and improvement