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Procurement Audit
Course overview
Why Attend
Procurement activities represent a significant area of financial expenditure, operational dependency, and compliance exposure for many organisations. Ineffective procurement controls can result in excessive costs, inappropriate supplier selection, contract non-compliance, delivery failures, conflicts of interest, and increased exposure to fraud and corruption. A systematic procurement audit helps organisations evaluate whether purchasing activities are transparent, properly controlled, commercially effective, and aligned with business requirements.
The Procurement Audit course provides internal auditors, procurement professionals, compliance specialists, and risk managers with a structured approach to auditing the complete procurement lifecycle. Participants learn how to assess procurement governance, evaluate sourcing and tendering procedures, examine supplier qualification processes, review purchasing transactions, and test controls over contracts, goods receipt, invoicing, and payments.
The programme also addresses procurement performance auditing, supplier risk assessment, fraud indicators, procurement data analytics, and audit reporting. Through practical case studies and audit simulations, participants develop the skills needed to identify procurement weaknesses, gather reliable evidence, assess financial and operational consequences, and recommend improvements that strengthen purchasing accountability and value for money.
Professional Problems This Course Is Designed to Solve
Weak procurement governance and compliance: Evaluating purchasing policies, delegated authorities, approval procedures, and adherence to applicable organisational and regulatory requirements.
Inadequate supplier selection and tendering controls: Identifying weaknesses in supplier qualification, competitive bidding, technical evaluation, and contract award decisions.
Uncontrolled purchasing expenditure: Reviewing purchase requisitions, purchase orders, pricing, budget compliance, and purchasing commitments to identify unnecessary or unauthorised expenditure.
Procurement fraud and conflicts of interest: Detecting indicators of supplier collusion, bid manipulation, fictitious vendors, duplicate payments, and inappropriate relationships.
Poor contract and supplier performance: Assessing contractual compliance, delivery performance, service quality, pricing arrangements, and supplier management controls.
Ineffective purchase-to-pay controls: Testing the completeness, accuracy, authorisation, and validity of procurement transactions, goods receipts, invoices, and payments.
Limited procurement audit coverage: Applying risk-based planning, transaction analytics, and structured audit testing to improve assurance over complex purchasing activities.
Course Methodology
The programme combines instructor-led discussions, procurement audit case studies, risk-control mapping exercises, audit planning workshops, transaction testing simulations, supplier evaluation reviews, and procurement data analysis.
Participants examine realistic procurement documentation, including purchasing policies, tender records, supplier files, purchase orders, contracts, receiving reports, invoices, and payment records. Practical exercises focus on developing audit programmes, identifying control weaknesses, evaluating evidence, documenting findings, and preparing recommendations for procurement improvement.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Understand the objectives, scope, and responsibilities of procurement auditing
Identify procurement risks across sourcing, purchasing, contracting, and supplier management
Evaluate procurement governance, policies, and internal control arrangements
Develop risk-based procurement audit plans and audit programmes
Assess supplier qualification, tendering, and contract award procedures
Test purchasing transactions, approval controls, and purchase-to-pay processes
Evaluate procurement contracts, supplier performance, and value for money
Identify procurement fraud indicators and potential conflicts of interest
Apply procurement data analytics and transaction testing techniques
Assess audit evidence and determine the significance of control deficiencies
Prepare clear procurement audit findings and practical recommendations
Develop procurement audit follow-up and continuous monitoring procedures
Target Audience
This course is suitable for:
Internal auditors and senior internal auditors
Procurement auditors and audit managers
Procurement and purchasing managers
Governance, risk, and compliance professionals
Internal control and assurance specialists
Contract management and supplier performance professionals
Financial controllers and accounts payable managers
Public procurement and tender oversight professionals
Fraud risk management and investigation specialists
Professionals responsible for procurement compliance and operational assurance
Target Competencies
Participants will develop competencies in:
Procurement risk assessment
Risk-based procurement audit planning
Procurement governance evaluation
Supplier sourcing and tender audit
Purchase-to-pay control testing
Contract compliance auditing
Procurement fraud risk identification
Procurement data analytics
Audit evidence evaluation
Procurement audit reporting and follow-up
Course outline
Day 1: Procurement Audit Fundamentals, Governance and Risk Assessment
Understanding the purpose and scope of procurement auditing and its contribution to governance, financial control, operational efficiency, and value for money
Mapping the procurement lifecycle from requirements identification and sourcing through contract award, purchasing, delivery, invoicing, and payment
Evaluating procurement governance structures, purchasing policies, delegated authorities, ethical standards, and compliance requirements
Identifying inherent and residual procurement risks associated with expenditure, supplier dependency, operational continuity, fraud, and contractual obligations
Developing risk-based procurement audit objectives, scope, criteria, and testing priorities using procurement expenditure and control information
Practical workshop: Preparing a procurement risk assessment and risk-based audit plan for a selected organisational purchasing process
Day 2: Auditing Supplier Sourcing, Tendering and Contract Award
Reviewing procurement planning, sourcing strategies, market research, and the justification of competitive or non-competitive purchasing methods
Evaluating supplier registration, qualification, due diligence, financial assessment, and conflict-of-interest controls
Auditing requests for quotation, tender documentation, technical specifications, bid submission procedures, and evaluation criteria
Testing supplier selection and contract award decisions for transparency, consistency, authorisation, and compliance with approved procedures
Identifying red flags involving restrictive specifications, bid manipulation, supplier collusion, unjustified sole-source awards, and evaluation irregularities
Practical exercise: Reviewing a procurement tender file to identify control weaknesses, compliance exceptions, and potential supplier selection risks
Day 3: Auditing Purchase-to-Pay Processes and Financial Controls
Evaluating controls over purchase requisitions, purchase orders, approval limits, purchasing budgets, and expenditure commitments
Testing segregation of duties across purchasing, supplier master data maintenance, goods receipt, invoice processing, and payment authorisation
Reviewing receiving documentation, quantity verification, quality acceptance, and discrepancies between orders and delivered goods or services
Auditing invoice validation, three-way matching, payment approvals, supplier bank detail changes, and accounts payable controls
Applying procurement transaction analytics to identify duplicate payments, split purchases, unusual prices, unsupported transactions, and purchasing policy violations
Practical workshop: Performing purchase-to-pay audit tests using illustrative procurement transactions, supplier records, invoices, and payment data
Day 4: Contract Compliance, Supplier Performance and Procurement Value
Auditing procurement contracts for approved terms, pricing conditions, delivery obligations, performance requirements, warranties, and change control provisions
Evaluating supplier performance management through delivery reliability, quality results, service levels, corrective actions, and contract compliance
Reviewing contract variations, extensions, price adjustments, claims, and additional expenditure for appropriate justification and approval
Assessing procurement efficiency through purchasing cycle times, sourcing effectiveness, expenditure analysis, and supplier concentration
Applying value-for-money auditing principles to evaluate economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in procurement decisions
Case study: Conducting a contract and supplier performance audit to identify commercial risks, operational weaknesses, and opportunities for procurement improvement
Day 5: Procurement Audit Reporting, Fraud Indicators and Continuous Monitoring
Evaluating procurement audit evidence and distinguishing isolated transaction errors, systemic control weaknesses, compliance failures, and potential fraud indicators
Developing audit findings with clear criteria, conditions, causes, consequences, supporting evidence, and practical recommendations
Communicating procurement audit results to management, procurement leadership, audit committees, and relevant governance stakeholders
Establishing corrective action plans, management responsibilities, implementation deadlines, and audit follow-up procedures
Designing continuous procurement monitoring indicators and dashboards covering purchasing compliance, supplier performance, transaction exceptions, and procurement risks
Capstone exercise: Developing and presenting a Procurement Audit Report and Improvement Plan covering audit scope, risk assessment, testing results, control deficiencies, fraud indicators, recommendations, and follow-up priorities
Dates and fees
| Dates | City | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 14 - 18 Dec 2026 | Barcelona, Spain | £3,850 |
| 18 - 22 Jan 2027 | Rome, Italy | £4,250 |
| 15 - 19 Feb 2027 | Geneva, Switzerland | £5,250 |
| 15 - 19 Mar 2027 | Madrid, Spain | £4,250 |
| 19 - 23 Apr 2027 | London, United Kingdom | £4,200 |
| 17 - 21 May 2027 | Istanbul, Turkey | £2,850 |
| 21 - 25 Jun 2027 | Cape Town, South Africa | £2,840 |
| 19 - 23 Jul 2027 | Barcelona, Spain | £3,850 |
| 16 - 20 Aug 2027 | Rome, Italy | £4,250 |
| 20 - 24 Sep 2027 | Geneva, Switzerland | £5,250 |
| 18 - 22 Oct 2027 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | £5,250 |
| 15 - 19 Nov 2027 | London, United Kingdom | £4,200 |
| 20 - 24 Dec 2027 | Istanbul, Turkey | £2,850 |