Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The CA(SA) Audit Senior's IFRS 17 and ISA 600 Field File Playbook

Build the CA(SA) audit working-paper file that survives partner review, group-auditor instructions, and IRBA inspection in one cycle.

The IFRS 17 risk-of-material-misstatement paper is due to the partner, the ISA 600 component instructions from the group auditor are sitting unread, and the IRBA inspection cycle is closing in. The audit file has to satisfy all three audiences from the same set of working papers, and nothing on the SAICA training contract prepared you for that overlap.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Most senior-level CA(SA) audit working-paper files fail one of three audiences. The partner wants a clean risk-and-response narrative tied to the audit strategy memo. The group auditor wants ISA 600 component instructions answered verbatim with referenced workpaper IDs. The IRBA inspection team wants documentation sufficiency under ISA 230 and judgement quality under ISA 540 for every accounting estimate. The senior who drafts the file is the one accountable when one of those three pulls a finding. The result is rework cycles every busy season, partner-review comments that arrive at 9pm, and a manager who pushes the IRBA-finding risk back onto the senior because the working papers were not written for inspection from the start.

The friction is real and it is specific. IFRS 17 measurement models force the senior to evaluate management's experts on contract boundaries, CSM, risk adjustment, and discount rates simultaneously. The South African statutory audit context layers on JSE Listings Requirements headline-earnings reconciliations and Companies Act section 30 audit-committee reporting. Group-auditor instructions add component-materiality calibration and scope-of-work memos that have to land in English the Northern Hemisphere lead engagement team can re-use. The senior who writes the file once, for inspection, and then defends it to the partner and the group team without rework is the senior who gets the manager promotion the next cycle.

What you walk away with

Draft an IFRS 17 risk-of-material-misstatement working paper that ties to the audit strategy memo, references the ISA 315 understanding-of-the-entity work, and answers ISA 540 estimate-evaluation questions in one document.
Respond to ISA 600 group-auditor component instructions with a referenced workpaper-ID matrix that the lead engagement team can re-use without rework.
Populate the ISA 240 journal entry testing file with a fraud-risk-rationalisation narrative the IRBA inspection team accepts as sufficient.
Build the going-concern paper for a JSE-listed client that ties to headline-earnings reconciliation, the audit committee section 30 report, and the SAICA-ID auditor's report wording.
Carry the audit file through partner review and IRBA inspection in the same cycle without the rework loop that costs busy-season weekends.

The 12 modules

Module 1. The risk-and-response working paper that anchors the IFRS 17 file

Draft the ISA 315 risk-of-material-misstatement working paper for an IFRS 17 financial-services client. The template ties identified risks to the audit strategy memo the partner signed, references the understanding-of-the-entity work, and pre-answers the ISA 540 estimate-evaluation questions on contract boundaries, CSM, risk adjustment, and discount rate. The deliverable is a single referenced workpaper a senior can defend in partner review and IRBA inspection.

Module 2. Contract boundary and unit-of-account memo under IFRS 17

Write the contract-boundary judgement memo that documents management's IFRS 17 unit-of-account decision, the audit response to that judgement, and the senior's evaluation under ISA 540. The template covers cohort definition, coverage period, onerous contract identification at initial recognition, and the working-paper trail from policyholder data extract to financial statement disclosure. Output is the memo a partner signs and a group auditor accepts.

Module 3. CSM roll-forward recalculation as audit evidence

Build the contractual service margin roll-forward recalculation working paper from cash flows through unlocking adjustments to closing CSM. The template documents the test of recalculation, the comparison to management's actuarial model output, the reconciliation of differences, and the conclusion on misstatement. It includes the partner-review checklist and the IRBA-finding patterns to avoid on accounting-estimate evidence.

Module 4. ISA 540 management's expert reliance file for actuarial input

Document the audit response when management uses an internal or external actuary for IFRS 17 measurement. The template covers competence and capabilities evaluation, the engagement-team understanding of the actuary's methods, the audit work performed on the actuary's data and assumptions, and the conclusion on whether the work is adequate for audit purposes. This is the paper inspectors read first on every insurance file.

Module 5. ISA 600 component-auditor instructions and response matrix

Build the response file for the group-auditor instructions on a South African component of a Northern Hemisphere group. The template indexes each instruction line to a workpaper ID, documents the materiality used, captures the senior-review and manager-review on the component file, and produces the memo the lead engagement team can re-use without back-and-forth. Includes the matrix for IFRS-versus-local-GAAP differences.

Module 6. Journal entry testing under ISA 240 for the South African file

Populate the ISA 240 journal entry test file with a fraud-risk-rationalisation narrative that satisfies IRBA inspection on documentation sufficiency. The template covers data extract from the financial-reporting system, criteria for testing journals, the audit procedures on selected journals, and the conclusion linking back to the identified fraud risks. Includes the questions partners ask in review and the inspection findings to pre-empt.

Module 7. Going-concern paper for a JSE-listed client

Draft the going-concern working paper that ties management's assessment, the audit response under ISA 570 revised, the JSE Listings Requirements implications on headline-earnings volatility, and the section 30 Companies Act audit-committee report to a single conclusion. The template includes the wording for the SAICA-ID auditor's report when material uncertainty exists and the partner-review questions on stress-test adequacy.

Module 8. Significant accounting estimate evaluation file

Build the ISA 540 significant accounting estimate evaluation paper for non-IFRS 17 estimates on the file: expected credit loss, impairment, fair value of unquoted instruments, deferred tax recoverability. The template uses one structure across all estimates, captures the inherent risk factors, the audit response, the evaluation of management bias indicators, and the conclusion in a form the partner signs without rewriting.

Module 9. Internal control over financial reporting working papers

Populate the controls reliance file when the audit strategy includes test of operating effectiveness over the financial-reporting cycle. The template covers walkthrough documentation, control identification, test design, sample selection, deficiency evaluation, and the conclusion on whether reliance is supported. Includes the management-letter point template for control deficiencies that do not rise to reportable findings.

Module 10. Engagement quality control review evidence

Prepare the senior-side file for engagement quality control review under the SAICA Code and IRBA inspection expectations. The template documents the significant judgements, the consultations held, the matters discussed with the engagement partner, and the EQCR reviewer's points cleared. This is the paper that converts a clean-file outcome into a documented clean-file outcome.

Module 11. Subsequent events and going-concern bridge to signing date

Build the subsequent events working paper that bridges balance sheet date to audit report signing date, captures the management representation letter linkage, documents the adjusting versus non-adjusting evaluation, and produces the wording for the audit report when subsequent events affect the going-concern conclusion. Includes the working-paper trail for JSE-listed clients whose results announcement falls between cut-off and signing.

Module 12. Closing memo, file archive, and IRBA inspection readiness

Write the senior's closing memo that summarises significant findings, accounting and auditing matters discussed with management, the unadjusted misstatement schedule, and the audit difference evaluation. The template includes the file archive checklist mapped to ISA 230, the index of cross-references the IRBA inspection team uses, and the partner-review sign-off the audit committee section 30 report depends on.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Wednesday afternoon and the IFRS 17 risk-and-response paper is due to the partner: module 1 plus module 3.

Group auditor instructions from the Northern Hemisphere lead team sitting unanswered: module 5 plus module 8.

IRBA inspection cycle list arrived in the manager's inbox: module 6, module 10, module 12.

JSE-listed client headline-earnings volatility forces a going-concern reopen: module 7 plus module 11.

What you get with this course

Twelve text-based modules in the Art of Service learning environment, each module structured around one defensible working paper.
Downloadable working-paper templates for IFRS 17 risk-and-response, CSM roll-forward, ISA 600 instructions matrix, ISA 240 journal entry test, going-concern paper, ISA 540 estimate evaluation, and the closing memo.
Partner-review question checklists for each working paper, drawn from the patterns reviewers actually ask.
IRBA inspection-finding pattern library, indexed by working paper, with the documentation gaps that draw findings and the wording that closes them.
Hand-built CA(SA) IFRS 17 audit-file implementation playbook, tuned to the recipient's industry mix and group-auditor relationships, delivered alongside course access.
Worked examples for each template at the senior-and-assistant-manager level.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours of purchase, account provisioned in the Art of Service learning environment with the twelve modules and downloadable templates available.

Within the same 24 hours, the hand-built CA(SA) IFRS 17 audit-file implementation playbook is delivered alongside course access, tuned to the recipient's industry mix and group-auditor relationships.

Working-paper templates are usable on the next live engagement section the senior is assigned to, without further configuration.

Before and after

Before

Audit working papers that satisfy one of three audiences but rework on the other two, busy-season weekends rebuilding files for partner review or IRBA inspection, and the gap between IFRS 17 measurement and South African statutory audit treated as a senior's problem to figure out alone.

After

Working papers written once, for inspection, that survive partner review and group-auditor instructions without rework, an IRBA inspection cycle closed without a documentation-sufficiency finding, and a file the manager points the next senior to as the template for the practice.

What happens if you do not address this

The senior who carries an IRBA documentation-sufficiency finding into a performance review does not get the assistant-manager promotion the next cycle. The senior who needs three rework loops on the IFRS 17 risk-and-response paper burns the busy-season weekend the partner could have used to coach. The gap between IFRS 17 measurement and South African statutory audit will not narrow on its own, and the next group-auditor instruction cycle is already on the calendar.

Who it is for

Audit seniors and assistant managers in a Big Four or mid-tier South African audit practice, qualified CA(SA), running IFRS 17 or financial-services or JSE-listed engagements, accountable for drafting the field file the partner signs off and the IRBA inspects. The course assumes SAICA training contract foundation plus one to three post-qualification cycles, and assumes the senior is the one populating ISA 240 journal entry test files, ISA 540 estimate papers, and ISA 600 component-auditor response folders.

Who this is NOT for. This is not for audit juniors still on SAICA training contract who have not led an engagement section. It is not for transaction services, advisory, or tax CA(SA) professionals. It is not for IFRS technical reviewers who set policy rather than execute the file. It is not for partners reviewing files; the course speaks to the senior who builds them.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable working-paper templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built CA(SA) IFRS 17 audit-file implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Roughly six to eight hours of reading across the twelve modules. The templates are usable as the senior populates the next live engagement file, so most of the time investment is on a working file rather than separate study.

Why $199 is the right number

SAICA continuing-professional-development sessions cover IFRS 17 measurement theory but do not produce working papers. IRBA inspection-finding circulars describe what failed in other firms but do not offer a template. Internal firm methodology covers the audit approach in the abstract but expects the senior to translate it into a defensible file. This course is the translation layer: the working papers themselves, populated to the point where the senior changes the client name and the figures and signs.

FAQ

Is this aligned to SAICA and IRBA expectations?

Yes. The templates reference ISA 230, ISA 240, ISA 315, ISA 540, ISA 570 revised, ISA 600, the SAICA Code of Professional Conduct, and the IRBA inspection-finding patterns published in recent cycle reports.

I am at a mid-tier firm, not Big Four. Does this still apply?

Yes. The overlap between IFRS 17, group-auditor instructions, and IRBA inspection is the same for any CA(SA) audit senior on a financial-services or JSE-listed file. Big Four methodology adds steps; the underlying ISA and IRBA expectations are constant.

What if my engagement does not use IFRS 17?

Modules 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 apply across financial-services and JSE-listed audits generally. Modules 1, 2, 3, 4 are IFRS 17 specific but transfer to ISA 540 work on any complex accounting estimate.

Will the implementation playbook reflect my actual client portfolio?

Yes. When the order arrives the playbook is built against the industry mix and group-auditor relationships indicated, with the working papers calibrated to the engagements the recipient actually runs.

How is the course delivered?

Text-based modules in the Art of Service learning environment, downloadable templates for every working paper, and the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access within 24 hours.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.