Module ECOS40215: Auditing and Assurance Services (MSc Accounting)

Department: Business School (Economics and Finance) [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

ECOS40215: Auditing and Assurance Services (MSc Accounting)

Tied To

• L1T509: Accounting (see Postgraduate Handbook 2026-2027 for details)

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To examine the practice of auditing and the underlying concepts including:
• the need for an independent audit and the development of the role of the auditor in modern business society;
• the roles/responsibilities of internal and external auditors;
• the concepts of audit risk and assurance;
• the various levels of persuasiveness of different types of audit evidence and explaining the broad principles of audit sampling techniques.

Content

• An Introduction to Audit and Other Assurance Services
• Standards, Materiality, and Risk
• Audit Reports
• Professional Ethics
• Audit Evidences
• The Audit Process and Detecting Fraud
• Audit Sampling
• Other Assurance and Attestation Services
• Compliance and Internal Auditing
• Auditing for the Public Sector

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should have a specialist knowledge and critical understanding of:
• different types of audits, audit opinions and audit reports;
• the different attestation and assurance services;
• ethical issues in the context of professional accounting and auditing services.

• By the end of this module students should be able to:
• identify auditor’s liability issues.

• written communication
• planning, organising and time management
• problem-solving and analytical skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• A combination of lectures, seminars, small group work and guided reading will contribute to achieving the aims and learning outcomes of this module.
• The summative written assignment will be in the form of a case study analysis to test students' specialist knowledge and critical understanding of the material covered in the module, and their communication, problem-solving and analytical skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Students will receive written comments on a formative group presentation. Additional formative assessment, and feedback, may take a number of forms such as oral feedback on work prepared by students for seminars; answers to questions either discussed during a seminar, or posted on DUO; discussions with teaching staff during consultation hours, or via e-mail.