Sheikh Ahmed: Keeping up to date with the latest global developments in the audit field.
Today, Wednesday, the National Audit Office (NAO) started its capacity building programme “Strengthening Skills and Experience in Forensic Auditing” with its first training course in cooperation with Kroll, an international company providing services related to forensic audit, governance, risk and transparency.
The course, attended by more than 20 employees from the National Audit Office and other relevant authorities, provided an overview on Forensic Auditing and its procedures, financial crimes from the perspective of investigative auditing, data analysis and techniques for collecting, preserving and studying documents and evidence.
It focused on investigative interview techniques, auditing and recording evidence and work documents, and preparing reports.
The Auditor General of the NAO, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, said that the NAO paid great attention to training its employees to ensure that they are informed about the latest global developments in accounting and auditing and that tasks are carried out professionally to achieve the desired goals.
His Excellency added that the course held today was the first in a series of training courses on Forensic Auditing to be held consecutively by the NAO with the aim to train as many employees as possible to enable them to carry out this type of audit according to international standards.
His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed indicated that the knowledge and skills acquired through these courses would be employed in preparing special reports to enhance cooperation and partnership with the entities covered by the NAO’s audit mandate, to provide added value to stakeholders and to achieve the NAO’s goal of improving services provided to Bahrain’s citizens.
According to its training plan, the NAO approved 6 courses related to forensic auditing, starting on the 14th of this month and ending on the 24th of November. The following courses are planned: (1) Overview on Forensic Auditing, (2) Forensic Accounting / Auditing, Introduction to Financial Crimes, (3) Sourcing of Information, Data Analytics, (4) Data Collection, Extraction and Processing, Forensic Email Review Techniques, (5) Investigative Interview Techniques, (6) Work Paper Design & Maintenance, Forensic Reporting & Evidencing
According to its law, Forensic Audit is part of the NAO’s audit mandate. Its aim is to detect administrative and financial fraud and corruption and submit investigative audit reports to the concerned entities and the competent authorities as stipulated in the NAO’s law to develop solutions and recommendations to avoid future violations.
