CIA - Certified Internal Auditor

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by joel66, Sep 1, 2010.

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  1. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    I'm currently going to Davenport to pursue my MBA in Accounting and currently in my second semester. After I completed my CPCU, I thought I could maintain the same momentum and complete two 7-week MBA courses at the same time, but there are way too much reading, writing and discussion board posts to maintain both courses while working full-time work, and keeping my wife's spirits high while she is taking college classes.

    I decided to stick with just one class per session and thinking of pursuing the CIA - Certified Internal Auditor designation and follow the same process like I did with my CPCU/MBA studies. Reason being, I can study with CIA at my own pace and work it around the MBA courses.

    I would like to get feedback from members who took this exam. The reason why I am deciding to do the CIA because it looks like the Part 3 and 4 is related to the MBA core classes and some of the undergraduate business courses I have completed. Also, this is a designation (part 1 and 2) has a lot of overlap with the 7 MBA accounting courses. I think after I complete my MBA/CIA and get my foot in the door in an accounting dept. I can start studying for CPA.

    Is it possible to take CIA in any order? I would like to take Part 4 - Business Mgmt first because I completed both MBA 6110 Communication in Ethics and MBA 6120 Leadership at Chancellor, and FINC620 Finance at Davenport. I'm currently working on Organizational Behavior now, and plan to take Business Research for 2nd half of fall. Below are the study topics I got from Gleim CIA Study. Like the CPCU, I read the book twice prior, then did the chapter exams and any topics I got less than 70% I read the chapter again, and continued that process until I was hitting 80% or higher on all chapters. By the time I was done, I had read every chapter around 3 to 5 times and didn't take the exam until I had felt confident with every unit.

    CIA Part IV: Business Mgmt
    Study Unit 1. Structural Analysis and Strategies
    Study Unit 2. Industry and Market Analysis
    Study Unit 3. Industry Environments
    Study Unit 4. Strategic Decisions
    Study Unit 5. Global Business Issues
    Study Unit 6. Motivation and Communications
    Study Unit 7. Organizational Structure and Effectiveness
    Study Unit 8. Managing Groups
    Study Unit 9. Influence and Leadership
    Study Unit 10. Time Management, Conflict, and Negotiation

    This is the second exam I would like to take because I already completed six units of finance, 8 units of financial/managerial accounting, and the first half of 2011, I plan to study Marketing, Economics, and managerial accounting.

    CIA Part III: Business Analysis & Info Tech
    Study Unit 1. Business Performance
    Study Unit 2. Managing Resources and Pricing
    Study Unit 3. Financial Accounting I
    Study Unit 4. Financial Accounting II
    Study Unit 5. Finance
    Study Unit 6. Managerial Accounting
    Study Unit 7. Regulatory, Legal, and Economic Issues
    Study Unit 8. Information Technology I
    Study Unit 9. Information Technology II
    Study Unit 10. Information Technology III

    Once Part 3 and 4 is complete, I would then work on Part 1 and 2, since the remaining 6 accounting units are a lot of overlap with these courses.

    CIA Part I: Internal Audits Role in Governance, Risk, and Control
    Study Unit 1. Standards and Proficiency
    Study Unit 2. Charter, Independence, and Objectivity
    Study Unit 3. Internal Audit Roles I
    Study Unit 4. Internal Audit Roles II
    Study Unit 5. Control Knowledge Elements
    Study Unit 6. Control Aspects of Management
    Study Unit 7. Planning and Supervising the Engagement
    Study Unit 8. Managing the Internal Audit Activity I
    Study Unit 9. Managing the Internal Audit Activity II
    Study Unit 10. Engagement Procedures, Ethics, and Fraud

    CIA Part II: Internal Audit Engagement
    Study Unit 1. Engagement Information
    Study Unit 2. Communicating Results and Monitoring Progress
    Study Unit 3. Specific Engagements I
    Study Unit 4. Specific Engagements II
    Study Unit 5. Information Technology I
    Study Unit 6. Information Technology II
    Study Unit 7. Specific IT Engagements
    Study Unit 8. Statistics and Sampling
    Study Unit 9. Other Engagement Tools
    Study Unit 10. Ethics and Fraud
     
  2. tiffer

    tiffer New Member

    This may sound like a dumb question, but do you want to work in internal auditing? I ask because I'm not sure if you can meet the experience requirement for the cert without IA (or at least auditing) experience. I allso because unless you're in that specialized field the CIA won't mean a whole lot.

    I haven't taken this particular test, but I'm sure it's doable. I finished the CMA while working on MBA in accounting classes and I found it to be a good experience. I think it helped prepare me for the CPA exam as well, somewhat with content but mostly due to the testing experience. I passed the CMA and one part of the CPA using Gleim only, so I think that they do a good job preparing you so long as you go through all of the materials.
     
  3. friartuck

    friartuck New Member

    Yes, unless you can meet the experience requirements I'm not sure I would take the time and effort. SSHuang has taken the exam recently, perhaps he will chime in or you could PM him. I recall he said it wasn't a walk in the park.
     
  4. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    That's one of the options I am looking at. I thought about finance and even FRM - Financial Risk Manager designation, and even Actuary, but I CLEARLY don't have the aptitude or want to deal with learning several semesters of calculus.

    I would like to get into Risk Management, but not necessary in banking, but more on Risk Control and Risk Analyst where I can use my claims experience dealing with general liability losses, but at the Corp level and make sure the company has proper coverages in place, make recommendations if a company should self-insure or use insurance or a combination of both, and slowly learn ERM and expand my role into Enterprise Risk Management. I have also looked at Auditing, because I noticed some jobs will list CPCU/CIA/CPCU and want auditors with an insurance background to review insurance companies financial statements, or insurance companies that will audit their insured's books.

    One of the reasons why I went the MBA route because if there is any jobs in corporate claims or insurance compliance, I will have a good chance and moving up. Bottom like, I want to get the heck out of claims adjusting and move into a corp position that makes more money. Sure, I can follow my heart and do what I enjoy, because it's hard time do a job that you enjoy if you don't make enough money to survive in this economy.

    The reason why I saw CIA because it would help on having the aptitude to do the job and feel like it's a prep to get me ready for CPA once I have more accounting courses under my belt. I also thought about CMA because I noticed Risk Managers would report to the CFO and CMA appears to have some Risk Management, and CMA could be a sort of prep for FRM.
     
  5. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    Let me add more specifics. My ultimate goal would follow the path of moving up the ranks to CFO. There is no way I can get there from claims. I would have to find jobs similar to my experience and try to go either the Auditing or Risk Management route.

    Going the auditing route I would assume CIA and Accounting/MBA same time. Attempt to get my foot in the door then learn CPA, but feel that I would end up taking a pay cut. Uneasy about that one.

    I also thought about the Risk Management side because that looks like FUN and there is a lot some overlap when dealing with insurance and other related products. Also, I like the idea of working in the corporate side and reviewing what coverages the company has and provide recommendations. I also like the opportunity to expand into Enterprise Risk Management. I would say that would be ideal, but very nervous about some of the higher level finance and math side.

    I hope there is somebody that is similar in that field that would be able to review my Linkedin(resume) and see if that is only a dream, or have suggestions on what path would be good to go the route toward CFO.
     
  6. friartuck

    friartuck New Member

    I wouldn't overthink this. If you want to get your masters degree, concentrate on that. Then concentrate on taking the CPA exam. It's really the gold standard to get your foot in doors. Unless you want to teach at post secondary the masters is probably overkill. If you want to tack on the CIA later on you can be exempted from part 4 if you have the CPA credential.
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    What is the purpose for posting ones "resume" on Linkedin? I'm just curious.
     
  8. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    I'm hoping to get some feedback if I should transition to auditing or risk management. I hope there someone on the board that is either of those fields can provide me with feedback if my background is too far into claims that it would be hard to transition to another career. I just don't want to start all over again taking a huge cut in pay. Maybe try to get some guidence on what steps would be good. Not sure if CIA is going the wrong direction.
     
  9. kalela

    kalela New Member

    Is anyone here a certified fraud examiner, because I'm thinking of training it for? I have 6 more classes till I get my MBA and since I work at bank and have some experience in auditing, this may help boost my career.
     
  10. kcscout

    kcscout New Member

    I am a CFE. You need 2 years of experience as an investigator or an internal auditor or public accountant, and it must be documented by 3 recommendations. Purchase the review course - it will help you pass the four exams. It's a good designation and there are a lot of chapter events in my area; my employer values it too - they gave me a bonus for completing it.
     
  11. srinunaik

    srinunaik New Member

    How can i register?.

    I am doing Audit executive for a microfinance for 3 years.

    I am insteresting to do CIA course thorugh you.

    Pls send what is procedure to join and complete this course
     

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