Professional Scepticism

(35 customer reviews)
by

Regulators continue to highlight weaknesses in professional scepticism. This course equips accountants and auditors to apply scepticism confidently, particularly in judgement-heavy and fraud-risk areas.

£150 +VAT

4 CPD hours

365 days’ access

Use ACPD101 for 10% off any purchase.

Professional Scepticism

(35 customer reviews)

£150 +VAT

4 CPD Course

365 days’ access

Use ACPD101 for 10% off any purchase.

Professional Scepticism

(35 customer reviews)

This course is not currently available. To find out more, please get in touch.

This course will enable you to

  • Explain how professional scepticism underpins high quality audit practice and ethical behaviour
  • Understand how professional scepticism and judgement impact accountants and auditors
  • Evaluate the different types of irregularities that an accountant might have to deal with
  • Use judgement to identify fraud, money laundering, and financial irregularity
  • Understand how to use the ISA regulatory requirements for quality control, compliance, and bias management

About the course

Professional scepticism is no longer just encouraged – it is expected. Regulators including the IAASB and FRC repeatedly highlight scepticism and judgement as areas where audits fall short, and high-profile corporate failures have shown the consequences when management is not challenged robustly. In an environment of principles-based standards, fair value estimates, and increased regulatory scrutiny, accountants and auditors must be able to demonstrate, not just assume, that they have applied a questioning mindset.

This course explores the meaning of professional scepticism and how it differs from professional judgement, drawing on regulatory guidance and real-world examples. You’ll examine how scepticism underpins audit quality and ethical behaviour, how to develop and evidence a sceptical mindset, and how judgement is applied in areas such as non-financial assets, financial instruments, impairment, and going concern. The course also addresses the role of scepticism in identifying and responding to fraud, money laundering, and other financial irregularities.

You’ll come away with a clearer understanding of what regulators expect and how to embed scepticism into everyday decision-making. This course will give you practical tools to challenge effectively, document appropriately, and justify your conclusions with confidence. Strengthen your ability to exercise judgement under pressure and protect both audit quality and your professional standing.

Contents

Professional scepticism and judgement

Understanding professional scepticism and judgement
Professional scepticism and judgement in financial reporting
Professional scepticism vs professional judgement
Data analytics and professional scepticism
Regulatory and professional bodies and professional scepticism
A state of mind
What are the regulatory requirements?

Developing and demonstrating a sceptical mindset

How can professional scepticism be developed?
Professional scepticism and audit quality
Regulators and applying professional scepticism
Professional scepticism in an audit
Documenting professional scepticism
Auditor independence and professional scepticism

Professional scepticism and making accounting decisions

Accounting for non-financial assets and liabilities
Revaluation of properties
Financial instruments
Tips for applying professional judgement
Impairment of assets
Assessment of going concern
Professional judgement and going concern

Applying professional scepticism in response to financial irregularities

Corruption fraud and misappropriation of assets
Understanding money laundering
Scepticism, fraud, and financial irregularity
Identifying and responding to suspicious activity
Fraudulent financial reporting
Finding fraud as an auditor

Author

Lisa Weaver

Lisa Weaver

After qualifying (ICAEW), Lisa spent several years in audit practice with Deloitte and was part of the national audit training faculty at KPMG. Since leaving practice, Lisa has worked in a variety of education-focused roles, including executive education and has maintained strong links with the accountancy professional bodies.

35 reviews for Professional Scepticism

  1. Ikram Patel –

    excellent course.

  2. Jennifer Mallender –

    I was looking for more guidance on how to apply a sceptical approach

  3. Blessing Nengomadza –

    Its was good

  4. David Quartey –

    Coverage comprehensive

  5. Sook Seong Cheah –

    Very comprehensive course, I can learn at my own time. Note and summary can be download for future reference. But it take long time, which is tiring.

  6. Antonios Ktasounakis –

    Very good analysis and interesting points

  7. Simon Trivett –

    A very enjoyable course, presented with a nice mix of self reading, video content, case studies, Q&A and assessment. There are some very interesting topics, particularly around fraud identification. It was good to access the “Community” tabs to see what others were saying about the topics and case studies. Seeing the way others think about a topic is very helpful.

  8. Andy Callanan –

    Good course

  9. Samantha Simpson –

    I am not an auditor so this was particularly useful

  10. Phibion Gwatidzo –

    very relevant and useful information, applicable to real life situations.

  11. Mitchell Byrne –

    gud

  12. Priteshbhai Patel –

    Very informative

  13. Rishi Sharma –

    A relevant course to the modern environment.

  14. Maipelo Gotswakgosi –

    because it covered a very usefull area

  15. Low Kok Fei –

    Great

  16. Mireia Corredor Marcos –

    Very useful course. Thank you.

  17. Mark Robbins –

    Good practical examples of how to apply professional scepticism in a range of situations and the situations where doing so is most important.

  18. David Willder –

    showed experience

  19. Graeme Scarlett –

    Good coverage, mix of presentation formats to drive the points home. Review and quiz.

  20. Dermot Mills –

    Covering issues pertinent to my job.

  21. Jacqui Thompson –

    worked examples are good

  22. Kelon Fletcher –

    Showed me that scepticism is a mindset and that i should not overly rely on info from data analytics.

  23. Kate Winterburn –

    I need to develop these skills due to a recent promotion

  24. David Ellis –

    Feel like I’ve got a betteer understanding of Prof Scep and how it is diffenent but closely related with Prof Judgement

  25. Shaun Walbridge –

  26. Phibion Gwatidzo –

    relevant content and examples

  27. Michael Kenny –

  28. Eleni Kyamidou –

  29. Peter Corrish –

  30. Gerard P O’ Reilly –

    all satisfactory

  31. Venita M.E. Farrell-Cabey –

    I have gained knowledge that I will be able to apply in my role.

  32. Craig Allen –

    It raised my awareness of professional scepticism.

  33. Danielle Horan –

  34. Kevin O`Donoghue –

  35. Majella Malone –

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