Planning for a Smooth Audit: How to Work with Your Auditors
After completing this course, the learner should be able to:
- Understand the inner workings of the client-external auditor relationship
- Identify the general stages of an external audit
- Identify the roles of the client and the corporate accounting staff in completing the external audit
- Understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the external audit process
- Understand ways to prepare for a smooth external audit

Instructor bio
Michael (“Mike”) Brown’s extensive experience confirms his presence as a leader in the accounting community—with a commitment for student success and a passion for teaching. For over 15 years, Mike has been a senior national instructor with Becker Professional Education. He has reached 167,000 individual students—just since February of 2019—in Becker’s CPA and CMA Review courses and countless more through his presentations at conferences, firms, universities and in the online community. Mike’s teaching is enhanced by his vast accounting experience in many industries, including manufacturing, financial, retail, real estate and service. In addition to the CPA Review, CMA Review and CPE courses he teaches at Becker, Mike is an adjunct professor in accounting at Franklin University. He also recently completed a term on the Beta Alpha Psi Board of Directors. Mike graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a Master of Science in Accounting. He is a licensed CPA in the State of North Carolina, currently residing in Raleigh with his wife and two children.

Instructor bio
Michael (“Mike”) Brown’s extensive experience confirms his presence as a leader in the accounting community—with a commitment for student success and a passion for teaching. For over 15 years, Mike has been a senior national instructor with Becker Professional Education teaching CPA and CMA Exam Review courses, CPE courses, and starting in 2025 CIA Exam Review. He has impacted hundreds of thousands of individual students—just since 2019—in Becker’s CPA and CMA Review courses and so many more through his presentations at conferences, accounting firms, universities, and in the online community. Mike’s teaching is enhanced by his vast accounting experience in many industries, including manufacturing, financial, retail, real estate and service. With Becker's CPA Review course, Mike is heavily involved in the concept lecture videos in four sections: AUD, FAR, BAR, and ISC. After completing a term on the Beta Alpha Psi Board of Directors in 2021, he now serves as Becker's Professional Partner to the organization. He is a licensed CPA in the State of North Carolina, currently residing in Raleigh with his wife and two children.
Education
- University of Virginia
- BS Commerce (Accounting and MIS concentrated)
- University of Science
- MS Accounting (Audit concentrated)
Licenses & designations
- CPA
- CMA
- CIA
- CSCA
- CGMA
Teaching & instruction
Organizations
Podcasts
- That Educator Life with Mike Brown
- Growing Relationships through Emotional Intelligence - Segment 1
- Growing Relationships through Emotional Intelligence - Segment 2
Awards & recognition
- Becker Senior Faculty Award
- Professional Education Award (2017)
- Adtalem Global Education TEACH Award (2019)
What do you love about Becker?
"I love that Becker never accepts that what we have is good enough and is always willing to challenge the status quo in an effort to improve. I love the scale of the impact we are able to have both in terms of the number of students we can reach and the impact of the profession as a whole. I love that it gives me the opportunity to do what I love!"
What would you tell an accounting student today?
"The possibilities for a career in accounting are truly limitless - even if you could list all the opportunities available today, the list would be out of date by tomorrow. Never forget, that first and foremost, accounting is a people business - as long as you cultivate your ability to connect with others, you will have opportunities to succeed!"
Becker fun fact
"I've visited 48 of the 50 states (just Alaska and North Dakota left to go!). I love playing board games - in fact, I have a whole room of my house devoted to my board game collection."
Connect

Instructor bio
Jennifer F. Louis, CPA, has over 25 years of experience in designing and instructing high quality training programs in a wide variety of technical and “soft skills” topics needed for professional and organization success. In 2003, she founded Emergent Solutions Group, LLC, where she focuses her energy on designing and delivering practical and engaging accounting and auditing training. She was most recently Director of Audit Product Development at Surgent Professional Education, and prior to that served as Executive Vice President/Director of Training Services at AuditWatch, Inc. Jennifer started her career in Audit for Deloitte & Touche LLP. Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Marymount University with a B.B.A.-Accounting.
A Becker Professional Education is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org
Becker Professional Education Sponsor I.D. Numbers NASBA: 107294, New York: 002087, New Jersey: 20CE00226700, Texas: 009580, Ohio: CPE.186, Illinois 158.002405, Pennsylvania: PX177823