Audit Assistant Conference
Find out all you need to know about our annual conference right here.
Building Audit Confidence
We are excited to announce our third Audit Assistant Conference. After two great in-person events in 2025 and 2026, we're bringing auditors together again for two days of learning, discussion and connection.
Super early bird pricing is available until 30 November 2026 for $649 (+GST) per ticket. Early bird pricing of $699 (+GST) then applies until 5 February 2027, before the full price of $799 (+GST). Attendees also get discounted accommodation at the venue: $185 per night incl. GST when booked by 30 November 2026, and still discounted at $200 per night incl. GST after that. Rooms aren't included in your ticket — you book and pay for them directly with Naumi, not through us. Discount details are provided once you've purchased your ticket.
This year the conference will be held at Naumi Hotel Auckland Airport, just minutes from the airport. The full programme will be announced here soon.
Included in the ticket price is full day catering on both Thursday 04 March 2027 and Friday 05 March 2027, and a networking dinner on Thursday night.
Book now to secure your place!
- 2 days full day catering (including buffet lunch)
- Networking dinner
- CPD hours (TBC)
- Discounted accommodation rates at the venue (booked directly with the hotel)
- Latest news from the Audit Assistant team
- Guest speakers from a range of backgrounds
- Connect with other auditing peers
- Recording of conference included in ticket
If you really can't make it in person, we will make the conference available to attend online – price is the same, but you don't get the delicious food and networking opportunities.
Feedback from the 2026 Conference
“I really enjoyed the conference sessions and the networking dinner and connecting with the attendees. Congrats on creating and delivering an excellent conference!”
“It was great to chat and see recommendations we have made over the last year being considered. We really enjoy working on the system and are looking forward to the upcoming developments. Huge thank you to the team.”
“The conference was fantastic thank you. My team were very happy with the content. Good mix of professional development.”
See photo highlights and recordings from last year on our 2026 conference page.
Register
To register for the conference, fill out your details here. You'll be taken to our secure payment page to complete your booking.
Super early bird: $649 (+GST) per ticket until 30 November 2026.
Guest Speakers
More speakers to be announced soon.
Misha Pieters
XRB
Misha is responsible for heading the team that supports the New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards Board in its role of developing and issuing auditing and assurance standards. Misha has been with the XRB from its establishment in 2011 and has over 20 years of experience in audit and assurance standard setting. Prior to joining the XRB, she worked for KPMG, in both New Zealand and South Africa, providing assurance and technical advisory services, specialising in IFRS implementation and interpretation.
Matt Coulter
Chartered Accountants ANZ
Matt is the Senior Manager - NZ Audit Oversight at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a role he took up in November 2025. This role involves leading the NZ Audit Oversight Team to ensure NZ Auditors meet their professional and ethical obligations. Previously, Matt was an audit partner with BDO and has over 18 years' experience in professional services. He specialised in the public benefit entity sector, where he audited a number of large, high profile New Zealand charities and led BDO's not-for-profit sector group. He is also a Trustee and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Chair for the charity Kia Puawai, and was previously a board member and Finance and Risk Committee Chair for Canteen Aotearoa.
Sue Barker
Sue Barker Charities Law
Sue Barker is the director of Sue Barker Charities Law, a boutique law firm based in Wellington specialising in charities law and public tax law. Sue is the author of Taxation of Charities in Aotearoa New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2025) and a contributor to a number of other charities law publications, including The Laws of New Zealand – Incorporated Societies and Other Associations – Reissue 1 (LexisNexis, 2026). Sue is a director of the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand and is recognised internationally as a Charity Law Scholar. In 2019, Sue was awarded the New Zealand Law Foundation International Research Fellowship Te Karahipi Rangahau ā Taiao, New Zealand’s premier legal research award, to undertake research into the question “What does a world-leading framework of charities law look like?”. The final report from the Fellowship, entitled Focus on purpose, was released in April 2022 making 70 recommendations for charities law reform in Aotearoa New Zealand. More information about Sue and the research can be found at www.charitieslaw.co and www.charitieslawreform.nz.
Jane Rogers
The Audit Office
Jane is the Associate Director, Schools and Small Audits Support at The Audit Office, responsible for all audit-related interactions with schools and their related entities, and for engaging with key stakeholders in the school sector on financial reporting matters. She joined the Office’s Quality Assurance team in October 2011 and took up her role supporting school audits in March 2014. Before joining the Office, Jane worked for the Audit Commission in the United Kingdom, and has held various audit and accountancy roles in the private sector.
Kirsten Dixon
Audit Expertise
Kirsten has over 20 years of audit experience in public practice: 6 years with Deloitte, 11 years running her own practice in the North Island, and 3 years with Silks Audit. She likes to make auditing approachable and understandable. Kirsten now provides support services to auditors, accountants, and preparers of financial statements.
Justin Reid
Independent Audit & Assurance Specialist
Justin has held numerous roles including as a senior audit manager, consultant to independent Assurance firms, board member of the AUASB, development of quality management tools, plus development of audit tool content. He has a history of performing quality review activities for Auditors-General’s offices (VAGO, TAO, ACTAO, QAO, ANAO, SAAG), mid-tier network firms, third tier practices as well as a variety of specialist one-off engagements such as audit training and revision of quality management frameworks. He is a former contributor to the customisation of the Australian Audit Manual and Toolkit based upon the Guide to Using International Standards on Auditing in the Audits of Small and Medium Sized Entities published by IFAC and contributor to the content of the “Clarity” compliant Australian Audit System template for CaseWare Australia and New Zealand.
Conference Agenda
Provisional running order — sessions will be confirmed closer to the event.
Thursday
04 March 2027
-
9:00am
Registration and Karakia
-
9:30am
Introduction
Dave Bassett
-
10:30am
Morning tea
-
11:00am
Using AI in practice and integrations with Audit Assistant
Clive McKegg & more TBC
-
12:30pm
Lunch
-
1:30pm
Quality management - insights relevant to auditors of SME
Jacco Moison, Justin Reid, & more
-
3:00pm
Afternoon tea
-
3:30pm
LCE and School Reporting
Dave Bassett, Jane Rogers, & more
-
4:30pm
Workshop - AI
Breakout room
-
6:00pm
Networking dinner
Friday
05 March 2027
-
8:45am
Day 2 welcome and recap
-
9:00am
Not For Profit issues relevant for auditors
Sue Barker & more TBC
-
10:30am
Morning tea
-
11:00am
Common themes and expectations in file reviews & standards update
Matt Coulter, Kirsten Dixon, & Misha Pieters
-
12:30pm
Lunch
-
1:30pm
Audit Assistant updates and Q&A
Audit Assistant Team
-
3:30pm
Afternoon tea and finish
The Venue
Naumi Hotel Auckland Airport
153 Kirkbride Road, Māngere, Auckland
The conference will be held in Razzle & Dazzle, the largest event space at Naumi Hotel Auckland Airport — a boutique, design-led hotel in Māngere just 5–10 minutes from Auckland Airport. With a double-height ceiling and 170m² of space, it has its own private entrance and pre-function area just off the lobby.
Visit the hotel website
Accommodation
Book by 30 November 2026 for our best room rate of $185 per night incl. GST. After that, attendees still get a discounted rate of $200 per night incl. GST.
Naumi Hotel Auckland Airport
Stay at the conference venue · booked directly with the hotel
$185
per night incl. GST, room only · Habitat room
Valid for stays 3–5 March 2027. Book by 30 November 2026 for this rate. From 1 December the discount continues at $200 per night incl. GST.
Accommodation isn't included in your conference ticket. You book and pay for your room directly with Naumi Hotel Auckland Airport, not through Audit Assistant — we've arranged the discounted rate for attendees.
Discount details will be available after purchasing your ticket. Once you've paid, you'll see the promo code and how to book your room with the hotel.
› Booking & cancellation terms
- Each guest books individually, and a credit card is required to guarantee and pay for the booking.
- Cancellation: no charge up to 90 days before arrival; 50% charged from 60 to 30 days before arrival; the full amount charged within 30 days of arrival.
- A security deposit of $100 per room per night is taken at check-in. Card holds can take up to 10 working days to clear after departure.
- A 2.5% surcharge applies to credit card payments made at the hotel (pre-payments are not surcharged).
- The promo code is valid for stays from 3–5 March 2027 only. Other dates are at the hotel’s standard rate, subject to availability.
- Rates and availability are subject to change.