PPC and AuditWatch offer in-depth learning at conferences with field experts who bring attendees the most up-to-date, relevant information regarding a variety of important topics. Registration cost includes continental breakfast, luncheon and refreshment breaks, and all sessions, conference materials, and reception. PPC and AuditWatch are presenting four back-to-back conferences at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, October 24 - 28. Register for two or more conferences during our Mega-Conference week and save an additional 10% off your registration! Call 800.231.1860 to take advantage of this special package pricing; offer not available online. View other Mega-Conference events...

View or Download Catalog (PDF). Includes printable order forms and complete information on both the Mega-Conference events and our new Virtual Conferences!

AUDIT QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY
October 26 - 27 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Caesars Palace hotel information

Competition and fee pressure, changing tools and changing rules, new standards and new hires...for these and other reasons focusing on quality and efficiency is more important than ever. Join us for a conference focused on how to do things and how to do them better. Sessions at this conference include topics important to everybody and tips customized to your firm. In registering for this conference, you will also have the option to enroll in an add-on customized individual firm session with an AuditWatch Productivity Consultant who will demonstrate implementation of the productivity concepts on one of your actual audit or review engagements.

GENERAL SESSIONS
Getting the Most from Your Staff: Understanding and Bridging the Generation Gaps
Each generation of auditors comes with its own skills, background, attitudes, and ambitions. In this session we will discuss key differences between the way newer staff and the partners hiring them see the profession and their jobs; including ideas for leveraging new staff strengths and overcoming differences in expectations.

Evaluating and Changing Firm Culture
Improving productivity takes more than a notebook full of good ideas. Real improvement takes a commitment from the whole firm and each engagement team to look at the audit differently and to challenge their assumptions. This session explores the elements of firm culture necessary for productivity improvement.

Responding to the Current Fraud Landscape
We can learn a lot about fraud by looking closer at how frauds have happened in the past. This session will paint a picture of the current fraud landscape by summarizing the lessons learned in recent studies, surveys, and fraud cases.

Lights Out! Planning to Finish the Job
A lot of time is lost when "almost done" turns into "not done yet". This session explains the benefits of developing and committing to an audit completion plan; including the engagement and client management factors crucial to achieving that plan.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Efficiency Considerations in Small Company Audits
Smaller companies have their own audit risks and challenges. This session will delve into the specific problems auditors face when auditing small clients and how to address them. Discussion topics will include streamlining the risk assessment and internal control process, modifying documentation, using forms and practice aids more efficiently and more effectively.

Audit Approach Workshop: Tips and Strategies to Improve Procedures from Analytics to Sampling
Audit quality and efficiency depend on having the right audit approach in each area. Topics in this session include determining the most efficient test to perform, improving analytical procedures, avoiding sampling pitfalls, and more. This two-part, workshop-style session includes examples, exercises, and group discussion to delve a little deeper into these topics.

Getting More Out of Planning
If you have to do it anyway, make it count! Great planning is more than a 15-minute brainstorming meeting between the salad and the chicken wings. This session focuses on the objectives and form of great audit planning; including a suggested agenda for getting the most out of your time.

Improving Yellow Book Audits: Avoiding Pitfalls and Improving Productivity
Getting it right is the first step to improving productivity. This session focuses on common productivity pitfalls and best practices in governmental, not-for-profit, and single-audits. Topics are related to avoiding common deficiencies and applying efficiency best practices to these specialized audits.

Single Audit Efficiencies
It's called a single audit, but usually feels like a double audit. Recent standards and guidance have focused on improving single audit quality. This session is focused on helping you identify potential efficiency improvements without sacrificing quality or effectiveness.

Spotting Opportunities: What Engagement Leaders Need to Know About Data Extraction and Other E-Tools
To get what you want you have to know what you want. This session is designed to introduce audit leaders to a variety of audit procedures that can be done more effectively or efficiently using data extraction software and more common spreadsheet functions. This non-technical session is focused on helping you to spot opportunities to perform common audit procedures better on your own engagements.

Running the Firm: A Discussion of Practice Issues from Recruiting and Retention to Billing and Collecting
Profitability is affected by more than the hours in the budget. Join us for a discussion of tips and best practices from outside the engagement file. This instructor-led discussion is focused on responding to common practice management issues with tips, advice, and best practices.

Understanding and Avoiding Common Peer Review Findings
In this session, we will summarize findings from the latest peer review reports. We will explain the issues most commonly discussed in these reports and provide suggestions for avoiding these deficiencies. This session will focus on providing practical advice that your firm can apply to improve your audits and better serve your clients.

Quality Control and Ethics Workshop: An in-depth look at the rules and issues
This session covers the standards, codes of conduct, and ethics rulings important to maintaining a high-quality and compliant assurance practice. The session is structured as a two-part workshop driven by examples, group discussion, Q&A, and practical considerations.

Internal Controls Workshop: Focusing on What Matters
Internal controls are a part of every audit. In this session we will review best practices for identifying, evaluating, and testing internal controls. Topics in this two-part session include identifying key controls, the top-down approach, performing effective walkthroughs, the cost-benefit of testing controls, rotation plans, and the effect of internal controls on substantive testing.

Documentation Tips and Pitfalls
A key to audit efficiency is knowing what you need and what you don't. This session explores common deficiencies and inefficiencies in documentation illustrated through examples from actual audit engagements.

PPC 101: Making the Forms Work for You
Do you have questions about how to modify the PPC approach to best suit your engagements? In this session we will review the most frequently asked questions related to the PPC forms and methodology; including which forms you should use, which forms you can skip, and using key forms better.

Tips for Improving Feedback as a Staff Development Tool
In the audit world, most training is on-the-job-training. This session reinforces the importance of timely and focused feedback; including important steps to making the feedback more effective, professional, and comfortable.

Practitioners Forum: Roundtable Discussions of Current Issues and Practices
Our consultants will moderate different round table discussions (organized by firm size) to identify common challenges, share best practices, and learn from others' experiences. This session is a facilitated discussion where the ideas come from both participants and instructors.

SPEAKERS

Harold Monk, CPA

Shawn P. O'Brien, CPA
Professional Team for AuditWatch
Read bio

Jex Varner, CPA,
AuditWatch Consultant
Read bio

And other nationally recognized experts.

HOTEL INFORMATION
Caesars Palace
Las Vegas, Nevada
866.227.5944
$159 per single/double room. Use group code SCTHO1 for special price when you call to reserve, or CLICK HERE to reserve rooms online. Hotel Reservation Cut-Off: Sept 16

MORE INFO AND REGISTER
View the registration page for:
...Complete CPE information including fields of study, level, CPE credits
...Event schedule with session choices
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