SEMINAR:  Audit Lab: The Science of Better Auditing

Date:  September 17, 2025

Time:  7:30am to 5:00pm

Location:  Petroleum Club of Houston / 1201 Louisiana Street, Suite 3500  / Houston, TX  77002

This is an in-person event .   There will not be a virutal option available.

Parking:  Parking is available at several pay lots around the Petroleum Club building.  Valet parking is also available at the Petroleum Club building for $15 with a stamp from the registration desk.

Agenda:

• 7:30-8:00 Arrival and Registration (muffins will be available for breakfast)
• 8:00-5:00 CPE Seminar (includes a 3 course business lunch and an afternoon snack)

Speaker:  Dr. Toby Groves

Speaker Description:  Dr. Toby Groves is a research psychologist exploring advanced cognitive strategies that enhance decision-making and uncover new thinking capacities. He is the founder of Cognificent Learning, a professional education platform dedicated to higher-order thinking. His research adapts insights from neuroscience, resilience studies, and cutting-edge therapies in neurological recovery to help professionals think more effectively under pressure. With a PhD in psychology and specialized training in forensic psychology and forensic accounting, he collaborates with leaders in auditing, intelligence, law, and medicine to refine high-stakes decision-making, revealing unseen cognitive abilities and driving transformative solutions.

Seminar Description:   Audit Lab is a full-day immersive training that transforms the way auditors think and perform. Grounded in cutting-edge research on auditor reasoning, this workshop goes beyond theory—it engages you into realistic audit simulations and exercises that reveal how to leverage the human mind for better audit outcomes. Each topic features research-based insights into a key audit principle—then applying that knowledge in a simulation, seeing firsthand why it works.  It’s an extremely powerful way to learn. Developed by Dr. Toby Groves based on his scientific study of auditor decision-making, the program alternates between focused content modules and live-action simulations where you’ll investigate fraud, triage control failures, and manage ethical dilemmas under real-world pressures. You will practice techniques of persuasive communication, team problem-solving, and dynamic skepticism in a risk-free environment that’s been called “the most fun I’ve ever had learning about auditing.” By day’s end, you will have sharper judgment, heightened skepticism, and science-backed strategies to elevate audit quality in your organization.

By the end of this intensive workshop, participants will be able to:

• Enhance audit decision-making agility – Improve the ability to make sound decisions under uncertainty and time pressure by strengthening analytical flexibility, applying dual-process thinking, and rehearsing high-stakes scenarios.
• Communicate with impact – Craft and deliver audit findings and recommendations in a persuasive, stakeholder-tailored manner that drives action.
• Leverage collective intelligence – Utilize team diversity and social perceptiveness to improve group judgment and manage team dynamics to avoid groupthink and dominance issues.
• Assess and design effective controls – Understand the science behind why controls succeed or fail in practice and apply behavioral insights to strengthen control environments.
• Apply dynamic professional skepticism – Practice skepticism as an active process, continually updating beliefs as new information emerges rather than fixating.
• Recognize and mitigate cognitive biases – Heighten awareness of common decision traps (confirmation bias, anchoring, availability, overconfidence) and employ strategies (metacognitive prompts, peer challenge, structured techniques) to minimize their impact on audit judgments.
• Prioritize evidence effectively – Understand what psychological science says about attention and memory, enabling more effective risk identification and evidence gathering.
• Foster an ethics and quality-focused culture – Translate insights from the workshop into actions that promote an audit culture of curiosity, continuous learning, and integrity.

Experience Level: Basic

Prerequisites: None

Recommended credit hours: 8 hours

Cost:

IIA Member on or prior to September 5, 2025	$150
IIA Member after September 5, 2025	$175
Non-Member on or prior to September 5, 2025	$200
Non-Member after September 5, 2025	$225