Treasury and Cash Management Auditing Training Course

Summary

The Treasury and Cash Management Auditing Training Course by the Geneva Institute of Business Management is designed to strengthen organisational control over cash, treasury operations, liquidity, banking activities, and short-term financial resources. Delivered within the Review and Audit Training Courses category, the programme focuses on the audit practices required to evaluate treasury processes, identify control weaknesses, verify financial information, and support effective risk management.

Treasury operations directly influence an organisation’s liquidity position, financial resilience, payment capacity, banking relationships, and ability to meet short-term obligations. Effective treasury and cash management auditing therefore requires a structured review of cash balances, bank accounts, payment processes, cash forecasts, investment activities, financing arrangements, and related internal controls. The course provides a corporate framework for reviewing these areas and assessing whether treasury activities operate with appropriate governance, transparency, accuracy, and control discipline.

The programme places particular emphasis on cash flow verification, enabling participants to examine the reliability of cash movement information and determine whether reported inflows and outflows are properly supported. It also addresses bank reconciliation audits, helping organisations identify unexplained differences, posting errors, timing issues, unauthorised transactions, and weaknesses in reconciliation procedures.

A further focus is liquidity risk review, which considers how organisations assess their ability to meet financial obligations while maintaining sufficient available cash. The programme examines liquidity monitoring, cash forecasting, funding requirements, concentration risks, banking exposures, and treasury-related control mechanisms.

Through a practical corporate audit perspective, the Geneva Institute of Business Management addresses the relationship between treasury governance, financial controls, operational risk, compliance, and management reporting. The course is suitable for organisations seeking to improve treasury assurance, strengthen cash controls, enhance audit coverage, and establish more reliable oversight of financial resources.

Objectives

The Treasury and Cash Management Auditing Training Course aims to strengthen professional capability in reviewing treasury activities and assessing the effectiveness of cash management controls.

Strengthen Treasury Audit Capability

Participants will develop a structured approach to treasury and cash management auditing, covering cash operations, banking relationships, liquidity processes, treasury controls, financial transactions, and management reporting. The objective is to support consistent and risk-focused audit practices across treasury functions.

Improve Cash Control Evaluation

The programme focuses on evaluating controls surrounding cash receipts, payments, transfers, disbursements, approvals, access rights, account management, and cash handling. Participants will examine whether control procedures are appropriately designed, consistently applied, and capable of reducing financial and operational exposure.

Enhance Cash Flow Verification

A key objective is to improve the ability to conduct cash flow verification by reviewing transaction evidence, cash movement records, supporting documentation, forecasts, and accounting information. This helps auditors identify discrepancies between reported cash movements and underlying transactions.

Strengthen Bank Reconciliation Audits

The course develops an understanding of bank reconciliation audits, including the review of outstanding items, unexplained differences, duplicate entries, incorrect postings, unauthorised transactions, timing differences, and reconciliation approval processes.

Support Effective Liquidity Risk Review

Participants will examine methods used in liquidity risk review, including cash forecasting, short-term funding requirements, liquidity buffers, payment obligations, cash concentration, banking exposures, and contingency arrangements. The objective is to improve assurance over an organisation’s capacity to manage liquidity pressures.

Improve Treasury Risk Assessment

The programme addresses financial and operational risks associated with treasury activities, including fraud, unauthorised payments, inadequate segregation of duties, weak access controls, inaccurate forecasting, banking concentration, and ineffective monitoring.

Strengthen Audit Evidence and Reporting

Participants will learn how to evaluate treasury documentation, establish appropriate audit evidence, document findings, assess control deficiencies, and communicate significant observations through professional audit reporting.

Support Governance and Management Oversight

The course aims to strengthen the relationship between treasury auditing, governance, internal control, risk management, and senior management oversight. It helps organisations establish clearer accountability for treasury activities and financial resources.

Target Audience

The Treasury and Cash Management Auditing Training Course is intended for professionals responsible for auditing, controlling, reviewing, managing, or overseeing treasury and cash operations.

Internal Auditors

Internal auditors can use the programme to strengthen audit coverage of treasury functions, cash controls, banking processes, liquidity management, and financial risk.

Treasury Professionals

Treasury managers, treasury analysts, cash managers, and professionals responsible for banking and liquidity activities can develop a stronger understanding of audit expectations and control requirements.

Finance and Accounting Professionals

Finance managers, financial controllers, accountants, and accounting supervisors can benefit from improved techniques for reviewing cash movements, reconciliations, financial controls, and treasury-related transactions.

Risk and Compliance Professionals

Risk managers and compliance professionals can apply the programme to strengthen monitoring of treasury risks, financial controls, banking exposures, and compliance-related requirements.

Audit Managers and Supervisors

Audit leaders can use the course framework to improve treasury audit planning, risk assessment, testing procedures, working papers, findings, and management reporting.

Financial Controllers

Financial controllers can strengthen oversight of cash balances, bank accounts, reconciliation procedures, payment controls, cash forecasts, and treasury reporting.

Senior Finance and Treasury Management

Senior professionals responsible for financial governance can gain a broader understanding of how treasury auditing contributes to liquidity assurance, control effectiveness, risk management, and organisational resilience.

Professionals Responsible for Financial Control

The course is also relevant to professionals involved in financial control, fraud prevention, payment authorisation, cash monitoring, banking administration, and financial risk management.

Modules

Module 1: Foundations of Treasury and Cash Management Auditing

This module establishes the corporate framework for treasury and cash management auditing. It examines the purpose of treasury audits, the relationship between treasury operations and financial governance, and the major risks associated with cash and banking activities.

Key areas include treasury audit scope, audit objectives, risk-based audit planning, treasury governance, control frameworks, audit evidence, management oversight, and documentation requirements.

Module 2: Treasury Governance and Internal Control Frameworks

This module examines governance arrangements governing treasury functions and the controls required to protect financial resources. Participants review segregation of duties, authorisation controls, access management, transaction approval, account ownership, responsibility structures, and management review.

The module also considers how treasury controls should align with organisational policies and broader financial governance requirements.

Module 3: Cash Management Processes and Control Review

This module focuses on the complete cash management cycle. It covers cash receipts, payments, transfers, disbursements, cash positioning, account management, and transaction monitoring.

Audit procedures are considered for identifying control weaknesses, unusual transactions, inappropriate approvals, duplicate payments, unsupported transactions, and weaknesses in cash handling processes.

Module 4: Cash Flow Verification and Transaction Testing

This module provides a detailed approach to cash flow verification. Participants examine methods for tracing cash movements to supporting records and assessing whether reported transactions are accurate, complete, authorised, and appropriately recorded.

The module addresses cash inflow and outflow testing, transaction sampling, supporting documentation, transaction tracing, cash movement analysis, exception identification, and reconciliation between treasury records and accounting information.

Module 5: Bank Reconciliation Audits

This module focuses on bank reconciliation audits and the controls surrounding reconciliation processes. It examines how auditors can identify discrepancies between bank statements and internal accounting records.

Key areas include outstanding transactions, deposits in transit, unpresented payments, bank charges, interest entries, incorrect postings, unexplained differences, duplicate transactions, stale items, and reconciliation approvals.

The module also considers the frequency and quality of reconciliation procedures and how unresolved differences may indicate broader control weaknesses.

Module 6: Liquidity Risk Review and Cash Forecasting

This module addresses liquidity risk review and the audit of processes used to monitor short-term financial capacity. Participants examine cash forecasting methods, liquidity requirements, payment obligations, available funds, funding gaps, and liquidity monitoring procedures.

The module also considers how auditors can evaluate the assumptions supporting cash forecasts and identify weaknesses that could affect management’s understanding of future liquidity requirements.

Module 7: Banking Relationships and Account Management Audits

This module reviews the management of banking relationships and corporate bank accounts. It covers account opening and closure controls, authorised signatories, banking mandates, access privileges, account monitoring, bank fees, service arrangements, and account rationalisation.

Audit procedures are considered for assessing whether bank account structures remain appropriate and whether access and authorisation arrangements are adequately controlled.

Module 8: Treasury Payments and Disbursement Controls

This module examines controls surrounding outgoing payments and treasury disbursements. It addresses payment initiation, approval hierarchies, beneficiary verification, segregation of duties, payment release, electronic banking controls, and transaction monitoring.

Participants assess how weak payment controls can expose organisations to fraud, errors, unauthorised transactions, and financial losses.

Module 9: Fraud Risk and Treasury Control Weaknesses

Treasury operations can present significant fraud exposure because of the movement and concentration of financial resources. This module examines fraud risks associated with payments, bank accounts, cash transfers, user access, false beneficiaries, unauthorised transactions, and manipulation of records.

The module also considers audit indicators that may warrant additional investigation and the importance of maintaining appropriate evidence when reporting suspected control weaknesses.

Module 10: Treasury Risk Assessment and Audit Planning

This module focuses on developing risk-based treasury audit programmes. Participants examine how to identify significant treasury risks, determine audit priorities, establish testing procedures, and allocate audit resources according to risk exposure.

The module covers risk assessment, audit objectives, control testing, substantive testing, sampling considerations, evidence collection, working papers, and audit trail requirements.

Module 11: Foreign Currency and Financial Exposure Review

This module considers treasury risks associated with foreign currency transactions and financial exposures. It examines currency-related cash movements, foreign bank accounts, exchange differences, transaction controls, exposure monitoring, and reporting procedures.

Auditors consider whether currency-related activities are appropriately authorised, recorded, monitored, and incorporated into relevant financial risk management processes.

Module 12: Treasury Investments and Short-Term Financial Resources

This module reviews controls over short-term investments and other treasury-managed financial resources. It examines authorisation, investment documentation, maturity monitoring, counterparty considerations, valuation information, income recognition, and reporting.

The focus remains on audit assurance and determining whether investment activities are properly controlled and aligned with organisational treasury policies.

Module 13: Treasury Technology, Access Controls and Data Integrity

Modern treasury functions increasingly depend on digital banking platforms, financial systems, automated payment processes, and integrated reporting tools. This module examines technology-related controls affecting treasury operations.

Areas include user access, approval workflows, system permissions, audit trails, data integrity, automated reconciliations, payment interfaces, system changes, and monitoring of unusual activity.

Module 14: Treasury Audit Findings and Management Reporting

This module focuses on communicating treasury audit results to management and relevant governance stakeholders. Participants examine how to structure audit findings, establish the condition and impact of identified weaknesses, determine root causes, and develop practical recommendations.

The module also considers prioritisation of findings, management responses, corrective action tracking, and follow-up procedures.

Module 15: Integrated Treasury Audit Review

The final module brings together the core elements of treasury auditing into an integrated corporate audit approach. Participants consider how cash flow verification, bank reconciliation audits, liquidity risk review, treasury governance, payment controls, banking processes, fraud risk, technology controls, and management reporting can be assessed within a coordinated audit framework.

The module reinforces the importance of consistent evidence, risk-based testing, clear documentation, effective communication, and continuous improvement in treasury assurance.

FAQs

1. What is the Treasury and Cash Management Auditing Training Course?

The course is a corporate training programme focused on auditing treasury operations, cash management processes, banking activities, liquidity controls, payment procedures, reconciliations, and treasury-related financial risks.

2. What does treasury and cash management auditing cover?

Treasury and cash management auditing covers areas such as cash controls, bank accounts, payment processes, cash flow verification, bank reconciliation audits, liquidity risk review, treasury governance, fraud risks, financial technology controls, and treasury reporting.

3. Who should attend this treasury auditing course?

The course is suitable for internal auditors, treasury professionals, finance managers, accountants, financial controllers, risk and compliance professionals, audit managers, and senior professionals responsible for treasury governance and financial controls.

4. Why are bank reconciliation audits important?

Bank reconciliation audits help organisations assess whether bank records and internal financial records are properly aligned. They can help identify unexplained differences, incorrect entries, timing issues, duplicate transactions, unauthorised activity, and weaknesses in reconciliation controls.

5. How does liquidity risk review support treasury management?

A liquidity risk review helps assess whether an organisation has appropriate processes for monitoring available cash, expected inflows, financial obligations, funding requirements, and potential liquidity pressures. It provides an audit perspective on the effectiveness of liquidity monitoring and related controls.