Risk Reduction
Forecasting accurately, building models more effectively and understanding technical areas of accounting, valuations and tax no longer seem to be sufficient. No matter how experienced or careful you are, various studies (“What We Know About Spreadsheet Errors”, Dr. R.R. Panko, 1998) have shown that 5% of your model will be wrong. This course considers the core skills required for reviewing and verifying financial models.
Overview
This programme provides participants with core skills required for reviewing and verifying financial models constructed by either the reviewer (“self-review”) or third party modellers (“audit”). The program focuses on finance professionals and other client advisors, who either work or will be working with financial models on a regular basis.
Key Benefits
- Gain insight into the key concepts of a model review, verification or audit
- Use specialist software when you can – and learn the tricks to employ when you cannot
- Understand how to increase the integrity of your models when spreadsheet software is not available
- Practice the different types of model review.
Programme Outline
- Better practice versus best practice modelling
- Four key qualities to look for
- Review versus audit
- Introduction to various spreadsheet software
- Planning a review / audit
- The specific risks of a self-review
- Considering existing proactive and reactive checks in a model
- Line by line reviews
- Analytical reviews
- Limited scope reviews
- Key driver reviews
- Review or rebuild – when should you do which?
- Cracking circular references
- Removing phantom links
- Suggested documentation processes
- Discussion of sample documentation.
Who Should Attend
This course is aimed at auditing and finance professionals, as well as anyone else who wishes to understand the quantitative impact of errors in model, and importantly those that wish to learn the simple steps that may be taken to address and minimise these errors. While this course focuses on the role of the reviewer, senior managers and executive decision-makers would also benefit from an understanding of the key questions they can ask to protect their company from making poor decisions, based on modelling errors.
