Module 01
Welcome — this training adapts to you
You are stepping into an internal audit leadership role with six junior auditors reporting to you, and Archer sitting underneath all of it. This training is built for that specific situation, and it changes shape on your instruction.
What this is
Most training assumes everyone learns the same way and needs the same depth. You have used Archer before, so an introduction would waste your time — but the leadership half of the job is new, and that needs real weight. This tool splits the difference by letting you choose the lens for every single lesson.
You control the depth
The mode selector at the top of every module re-cuts the material. Same subject, five different treatments — from a five-minute quick reference to configuration-level detail. Switch mid-lesson as often as you like.
You control the content
At the bottom of every module is the prompt "SPC, how should this lesson change for you?" Whatever you write there is saved against that module. It is the backlog for the next version of this training.
How to use it
- Pick your lens. Start in Archer refresher if you want mechanics first, or Audit leader perspective if the leadership question is more urgent.
- Work through the module. Content marked with a lens badge appears and disappears as you change mode — that is intentional, not a glitch.
- Write down what is missing. The moment you think "this should have been an example" or "this needs my team in it", put it in the request box. Do not save it for later.
- Keep your own notes. The notes box autosaves. Use it for questions to bring to Mike, or things to raise in your first team meeting.
- Tick the module complete when you have got what you need, and export your notes when you want Mike to act on them.
The seven modules
| Module | Covers | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| 02 Audit Leadership | Leading six juniors, accountability, governance, review cadence, QC | The part of the job that is genuinely new |
| 03 Risk Control Matrix | Risk identification, control mapping, prioritization, review approach | What your team builds and you sign off |
| 04 Archer Navigation | Workspaces, dashboards, applications, records, iViews | Fastest path back to fluency |
| 05 Records & Workflow | Create, edit, save behavior, status transitions, permissions | Where juniors most often get stuck or cause damage |
| 06 Issue Validation | Evidence, validation, severity, management response, QA | The deepest module — this is where your credibility is won or lost |
| 07 Audit Committee Reporting | Executive reporting, issue summaries, remediation tracking | Where the whole year's work is judged |
Getting your Archer reflexes back
You are not relearning Archer — you are reloading it. The fastest route is to touch the four things that carry everything else, in this order:
- Workspace → dashboard → iView — how the landing pages are assembled (Module 04).
- Application → record — where the data actually lives (Module 04 and 05).
- Save vs. Apply vs. status change — the behavior that trips everybody up (Module 05).
- Findings/Issues application — your daily home as an audit leader (Module 06).
If you do only one thing today, open Module 04, switch it to this same refresher mode, and walk the workspace hierarchy. Everything else hangs off it.
Terminology note
Archer instances get renamed and re-skinned heavily by each organization. Where this training says "Findings", your instance may say "Issues", "Observations" or something local. The structure underneath is the same — match the concept, not the label. Note the local names in your notes box as you learn them.
What actually changes when you lead
As an auditor you were accountable for your own work. As an audit leader you are accountable for work you did not perform, cannot fully re-perform, and may not see until it is nearly finished. That single shift drives everything in Module 02.
- Your product is the file, not the fieldwork. The workpapers, the issues and the report are what get judged — and they carry your name.
- Your leverage is upstream. Once fieldwork is done, your options are expensive. Scope, risk assessment and the RCM are where your influence is cheap.
- Your credibility is cumulative. One indefensible severity rating in front of the audit committee costs you more than five good reports earned you.
The question to keep asking
"If this issue were challenged by the business, by external audit, or by the committee — what would I put on the table?" If the answer is not sitting in Archer, attached to the record, it does not exist.
Six juniors, week one
Six is an awkward number. It is too many to review line-by-line and too few to run with a layer of managers in between. The way through is structure that you set on day one, not heroics in week six.
Set before work starts
- What "done" means for a workpaper
- When they come to you vs. decide themselves
- Standard naming and evidence conventions
- Review turnaround they can rely on
Never delegate
- Final severity ratings
- Accepting a management response
- Closing an issue as remediated
- What goes to the audit committee
Module 02 turns this into an actual operating rhythm — review cadence, quality control, and what to do when a junior's work is not good enough.
How this training tool works
You are not a developer and do not need to be — but knowing the mechanics tells you what is safe to rely on.
- Static files only. Plain HTML, one stylesheet, one JavaScript file. No server, no database, no login, no analytics.
- Storage is
localStorageunder the keyspc-archer-training/v1, holding your selected mode, notes, saved requests and completion flag per module. - Scope of storage is per browser, per device, per origin. Chrome on your laptop and Chrome on your phone are separate; a private window keeps nothing.
- Export writes the whole store to a JSON file, which is how your requests travel to Mike.
- Mode switching shows and hides content blocks tagged with the mode. Nothing is fetched — everything is already in the page, which is why it is instant and works offline.
The one real limitation
Clearing browser data wipes your notes. Export before any laptop rebuild, browser reset, or if you have written something you would be annoyed to lose.
Orientation card
| Want to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Change how a lesson is written | Mode selector, top of every module |
| Ask for different content | "SPC, how should this lesson change for you?" box |
| Keep a private note | My notes box (autosaves) |
| Track progress | Tick "I have worked through this module" |
| Save notes and requests | Your entries save automatically in this browser |
| Start over on one module | Reset this module |
- Everything saves in this browser only
- No login, nothing sent anywhere
- Export before clearing browser data
- Module 06 (Issue Validation) is the deepest — budget real time for it
Start here
Before you move on, use the box below. Even one line — "I want more banking examples" or "assume I know nothing about the committee" — changes what gets built next. This is the part of the training only you can write.