Topics covered include: How auditing evolved; The skills needed to be an effective auditor; Understanding what auditors really do; Learning how a business operates and establishes controls; Developing effective business communication skills; The value of doing work the right way; How to see the stitches on the "Emperor's New Clothes"; Separating the bogus from the reality; Developing an anti-assumption attitude; The real value of checklists and how they must be used to make you a real auditor and advisor; Honing focus skills; Conquering time pressure; Respecting details; Grasping the big picture; Pre-planning your pre-planning; Walkthroughs of specific internal accounting processes; Why you must be "touchy-feely"; How to report negative findings in a positive manner; Using your skills to add value to the engagement beyond what is expected; A bonus journey through accounting history. Upon completing this course, you should be able to: Recognize tested ways to improve audit effectiveness; Identify and apply takeaways that will be illustrated and discussed easily and immediately; Recognize how to ease pressure caused by tight and sometimes unrealistic deadlines; Develop skills to be more client centric; Describe the fraud standard set by SAS 99; Recognize why an accounting firm should encourage work delegation; Identify true statements about preparing a narrative description of a client's accounting system; Recognize how to check whether a client made a Section 83b election part of the auditor's review; Recognize when an auditor should use a checklist; Describe the AUDIT acronym for the five steps of the audit process; Identify parts of a ratio analysis; Recognize what an auditor should do only at the end of a client's audit; Identify the "Father of Accounting"; Describe why an auditor may review a client's completed tax return; Recognize why checklists are important; Identify the 6 P's for an audit.