Financial Audit
External audit of financial statements - simulated engagement
Programme overview
Join a simulated external audit engagement team and work through a financial statement audit of an approved simulated client case. The engagement is managed in this platform; candidate-specific workpapers and evidence are provided through Google Workspace as the integrations are released. The first release covers the Pre-Audit stage.
Who it is best suited for
- Commerce and accounting graduates preparing for external audit roles
- Candidates pursuing professional accountancy qualifications who need practical engagement exposure
- Early-career accountants moving from accounting or finance operations into audit
- Professionals returning to audit who want structured, standards-referenced practice
Skills developed
- Client acceptance and continuance assessment
- Independence threat identification and evaluation
- Engagement budgeting and resource planning
- Agreeing the terms of an audit engagement
- Professional workpaper construction and documentation
- Responding to review notes and managing rework
- Engagement communication and escalation
What you will actually do
- Work on a defined engagement with an engagement ID, timetable and reviewer
- Complete professional workpapers using firm-style templates
- Document conclusions and submit workpapers for review
- Respond to review notes and rework until workpapers are cleared
- Raise engagement questions to the Audit Manager inside the platform
- Track progress in an engagement tracker, as on a live engagement
Programme stages
Pre-Audit
Client acceptance, independence, budget, resources and engagement letter. Available now.
Planning & Scoping
Understanding the entity, materiality and risk assessment. Coming later.
Testing
The core practical stage: populations, samples, evidence requests, testing, exceptions, follow-up and conclusions. Coming later.
Reporting
Preparing, revising and submitting professional reporting deliverables from supplied templates. Coming later.
Stage hours total 30 of the 30-hour programme.
In the current release only Pre-Audit is open. Planning & Scoping, Testing and Reporting will be released in subsequent phases.
Pre-Audit activities in this release
| WP ID | Activity |
|---|---|
| PA-01 | Client Acceptance |
| PA-02 | Audit Team Independence Check |
| PA-03 | Budget Allocation |
| PA-04 | Engagement Resource Check |
| PA-05 | Engagement Letter |
Expected practical outcomes
- A completed and reviewed set of engagement workpapers for a simulated audit, within a fixed 5-week engagement period
- Practical experience of the submit-review-rework-clear cycle
- Ability to explain acceptance, independence and engagement terms decisions with reference to the applicable standards
- A record of engagement work to discuss in interviews
Markets and career opportunities it may support
- External audit associate / trainee roles in audit and accounting firms
- Assurance roles in shared service and outsourcing centres
- Financial reporting and controllership roles where audit understanding is valued
- Pathway towards internal audit and controls roles
Programme completion does not guarantee employment or placement.
Career-readiness component
The programme is a 30-hour, self-paced engagement that must be completed within 5 weeks, mirroring real engagement deadlines. It is designed around a target job description. The future career journey includes a baseline interview, CV review, exit interview and a final mock interview, which may be conducted by an AI interviewer, a human interviewer or a hybrid of both.