Getting Ready For the Audit Checklist 2019

An audit checklist is a useful way of ensuring consistency and fairness during an audit, while helping auditors stay focused and not miss key areas.

Document reviews include quality manuals, procedures, work instructions and records as well as provisions for recording nonconformities and evaluating their efficacy as corrective actions.

1. Review the Requirements

Compliance auditing checklists provide auditors with a useful way to ensure your organisation abides by regulations and policies. They offer auditors structure for evaluating internal processes by reviewing documents, interviewing staff, reviewing evidence and interviewing witnesses; while also helping identify operational risks that should be mitigated through internal controls review or compliance gaps.

Checklists help ensure that all areas are thoroughly evaluated and assessed, eliminating errors or omissions. It is vital to customize and update it regularly to reflect changes in industry standards or organizational processes, and involve all stakeholders in its creation and review processes so they can contribute their expertise.

Your supplier must employ adequate quality control measures during production; otherwise quality issues could go undetected and cause costly rework of all completed orders. Furthermore, failing to adhere to GAAP or IFRS could mean revenue recognition may not be accurately recognized and this could also void warranties and cause disruption of orders.

2. Organize Your Documents

Effective ways of alleviating audit-related anxiety include keeping files and records as organized as possible. This includes searching bulletin boards and counters for uncontrolled documents, cleaning out drawers of unused parts or equipment and clearing away unorganized documentation that could be reviewed from IT infrastructure systems.

Organization of data can reduce time spent searching for documents, thus decreasing interactions with auditors. Additionally, organizing will enable auditors to view a complete history of requests for information - expediting work faster.

To better organize files, assemble all related documents in one electronic folder. This will reduce email communication with auditors and your team and make the audit process more streamlined and less stressful. Taking it a step further by sharing this information via a PBC checklist allows auditors to get working more quickly on their audit work.

3. Prepare for the Audit

Audits can be an anxiety-inducing process for businesses experiencing their first audits, especially if this will be their inaugural experience. To avoid any unpleasant surprises during an audit visit, it's crucial to be ready for their arrival by paying bills, collecting invoices and solving any administrative issues immediately.

One key part of audit preparation involves making all documents and records readily available for audit review. It is advised to organize these materials in one electronic folder for easy review by auditors; creating shortcuts can aid auditors in quickly going through everything that needs to be covered.

Notably, it is also key to assign specific personnel as liaisons between auditors and management and make themselves available for questions during an audit. Doing this will speed up the auditing process while also helping avoid unnecessary delays. Holding a kickoff meeting to discuss all requirements at once helps alleviate confusion and reduce stress among all parties involved with an audit.

4. Communicate with Your Auditors

Communication between you and your auditors is of vital importance when establishing the scope of an audit.

If you are considering hiring a firm to perform a process audit, it is imperative that the internal auditors possess an in-depth knowledge of the specific processes (e.g. chemical toxicity testing, microbiological hazards testing, metal detection) being audited. Furthermore, if they have never before conducted such an audit before you may also wish to request copies of any results of their recent peer reviews as proof of competency.

Peer reviews provide an inside view into a firm's quality control systems and compliance with professional standards. Furthermore, smaller firms can gain knowledge from studying large public companies' accelerated filers' disclosures in order to develop audit matters specifically targeted at potential new clients; doing so could increase business development efforts, meet engagement goals more easily and build their reputation further.