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Understanding Risk: From ERM Foundations to Risk Assessments

Connecting organizational objectives, risks, and assessments to support better decisions

Created byElizabeth McDowellworkspace_premiumBest Instructor
BeginnerUpdated Oct 21, 2026

What You'll Learn

  • check_circleConnect organizational objectives to specific process-level risks
  • check_circleConstruct clear and actionable risk statements using a standard formula
  • check_circleEvaluate risk likelihood and impact using consistent rating scales
  • check_circleCalculate inherent risk values using a risk matrix
  • check_circleDocument the rationale for risk assessment decisions

About This Course

This course is part of The Complete Guide to Risk and Internal Controls, a comprehensive training series designed to build practical knowledge and skills in identifying, assessing, managing, and responding to risks through effective internal controls.

Risk Management Essentials: From ERM to Risk Assessment combines the foundations of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) with the practical skills needed to identify and assess organizational risks. Learners will explore how ERM supports organizational objectives, examine key risk management concepts and frameworks, and understand the roles and responsibilities involved in managing risk. The course then moves into risk identification and assessment, where learners connect risks to objectives, develop meaningful risk statements, identify risks from multiple sources, and organize risks across the enterprise, entity, and process levels. Learners will also evaluate likelihood and impact, apply risk matrices, and use judgment to assess inherent risk before considering internal controls.

Topics Covered:

• Understanding ERM and its role in organizational success
• Key ERM concepts and terminology
• Risk management frameworks and maturity
• The Three Lines and risk management responsibilities
• Connecting organizational objectives to risks
• Enterprise, entity, and process-level risks
• Objective, cause, risk, impact, and control
• Writing clear and meaningful risk statements
• Common risk categories
• Primary and secondary risk impacts
• Risk identification techniques and sources
• Building a risk universe
• Likelihood and impact assessment
• Applying a risk matrix
• Inherent risk
• Using judgment in risk assessment

Course Content

14 activities • 13 videos • duration: 3h 17m

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Internal Control Series Introduction1 videos • 0 min
  • videocamInternal Control Series Introduction
    Duration 0:56
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ERM, Risk Identification, and Assessment Overview1 videos • 1 min
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Foundations of Enterprise Risk Management1 videos • 20 min
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Risk Frameworks and Maturity Models1 videos • 20 min
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Objectives and the Risk Management Process1 videos • 1 quiz • 25 min
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Risk Assessment Levels1 videos • 1 quiz • 9 min
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The Anatomy of a Risk1 videos • 1 quiz • 6 min
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Writing Effective Risk Statements1 videos • 1 quiz • 12 min
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Risk Identification Methods1 videos • 1 quiz • 19 min
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Common Risk Categories1 videos • 1 quiz • 20 min
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Building the Risk Universe1 videos • 1 quiz • 6 min
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Assessing Inherent Risk: Likelihood and Impact1 videos • 1 quiz • 37 min
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Calculating and Mapping Inherent Risk1 videos • 1 quiz • 17 min
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Final Assessment1 quiz

Your Instructor

Elizabeth McDowell

Audit Smarter, not Harder - with Elizabeth and Audie the Internal Otteror!

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star1,281 reviews

Elizabeth McDowell, CPA, CIA has over 20 years of audit experience and is the founder of Audit Forward, an innovative internal audit consulting and training firm. Elizabeth is passionate about advancing and advocating for the internal audit profession and was recognized as one of the 2023 Internal Audit Beacons by Richard Chambers. Elizabeth makes auditing and training fun (no, really!) with the help of her mascot, Audie the Internal Otteror. Elizabeth’s most recent industry experience was at Achieve, where she was Sr. Director, Audit Strategy; prior to that, she held internal audit leadership roles at Elevations Credit Union, Fidelity Investments, and Xcel Energy after first starting her career at Ernst & Young.

Credit Information

Is this course eligible for my CPD requirements as a Canadian CPA?

Provincial regulators of CPAs in Canada do not require that independent providers of CPD be approved to offer courses. Instead, individual CPAs are responsible for assessing whether a CPD activity meets their requirements, and may take activities from any source provided those requirements are met.

Every course offered on LearnFormula is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, and advances learning objectives that are relevant to the responsibilities or professional competencies of Canadian CPAs. All activities on LearnFormula are quantifiable in terms of hours, and are also verifiable, in that users receive documented evidence of their attendance via a certificate of completion after finishing a course (and this certificate is stored by LearnFormula indefinitely). Nearly 100,000 Canadian CPAs successfully satisfy their CPD requirements via LearnFormula on an annual basis.

What Students Are Saying

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Student's Choice
2 reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

We are a registered provider with 300+ associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. We operate across 27 global markets including Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Every course page clearly displays its specific accreditations. Upon completion, you receive a professional certificate that can be validated online. Our certificates include all necessary accreditation details, credit hours, and completion dates, and are formatted specifically to meet the submission requirements of most global regulatory bodies.

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