All employees breathe a sigh of relief when the annual audit is successfully accomplished. Something we do not have to worry about for a whole year!

This may seem recognizable for a lot of companies, but nevertheless we advise not to enjoy this moment for too long. After all, stagnation means decline. Performing control activities throughout the year will help to quicken the process.

This blog will provide advice on how to best plan the annual audit.

Structural consultations

The best way to ensure that your team and your organization will successfully complete the audit each year, we recommend to plan structural consultation moments with your team throughout the year to discuss the course of events.

We recommend that you do this at least once per quarter. Create a fixed agenda that ensures that checks are carried out on time, procedures and policy documents are (demonstrably) updated where necessary and that records of the processes are properly documented and recorded. In addition, keep a decision and action list to keep track of who should tackle what and when. Finally, we advise to keep minutes in order to document important topics for possible audit evidence.

Appoint a "guard"

Attending audits is usually a secondary task for application administrators, core users or controllers. Because of this, preparation for audits does not always receive the highest priority. By assigning a guard there is someone who keeps track of the progress of the control activities, can warn in time if bottlenecks occur and can schedule consultations when necessary. However, this can also be automatically monitored by a workflow.

Information is important

Essential in audit planning is gathering information. During an audit a lot of factors can change: the organization, the processes, the systems, your auditor, the framework of standards. Always make sure you have all the right information about these factors. This information can be provided by internal consultation or external agreements with your auditor. In addition, you can keep an eye on mailings, meetings, and news items of any supervisors for relevant information.

Conclusion

The suggestions in this blog can make the life of an auditor much easier. Making regular and simple schedules, communicating with each other, and reserving enough time can prevent a stressful week wherein a lot of work has to be done. This way you avoid a stressful peak of work shortly before the audit.

If you have any questions about this subject, please feel free to contact us!