How to prepare a high-impact Internal Audit Report

Internal audits can provide a range of benefits to companies, such as identifying areas or processes that need to be changed, finding new risks and preparing the organization for external audits.

In this ISO 9001 Internal Auditor Training online course, you will learn everything you need to know about ISO 9001 requirements and also how to perform an internal audit in your company. This course helps the company employees to qualify as 'Internal Auditor' for Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2015. Upon successful completion of this ISO 9001 auditor online training course, the participants will gain knowledge and understanding of internal auditing, and get ISO 9001 auditor certification online for trained internal ISO 9001 auditor.

What is an internal audit report?

An internal audit report is a document with the formal results of an audit. It is used by the internal auditor to show what was examined, highlighting positives, negatives and conclusions, so that the company’s management knows what is going well and what needs to be improved.

The report should be carefully prepared. Yet it is at this point that many internal auditors fail.

The text needs to be clear, objective and impartial in order to ensure that the audit’s results are useful and the organization can use them as a guide to set the direction of actions.

What needs to be done when preparing the report?

Reiterating what was discussed above, one of the benefits of performing internal audits is to find opportunities for improvement. Based on this, the auditor should therefore focus when producing the report. The auditor should avoid:

• Finding guilty parties or specifying that a particular person made a mistake;
• Seeing problems universally;
• Producing an evasive report;
• Applying unnecessary technical terms;
• Lauding their own work. The report should have a natural and straightforward tone.

How is an internal audit report prepared?

1. Make a cover

Have you ever heard the saying that the first impression is the one that lasts?

The auditor’s work should make a good impression, which is why starting with a quality cover is fundamental. It will be upper management’s first point of contact with the audit results, which is why it is important to present information such as:

• Report title
• Name of auditor responsible
• Audit end date
• Name of company or business unit audited.

2. Draft an introduction

The auditor should use this section to provide an overview, with information on the area and processes audited, which standards are providing support to carry out the audit (E.g.: ISO 9001, ISO 14001), in addition to telling the reader about any historical information that may be required before reading the full report. That way, anyone who reads the report will be able to understand the reasons that led to the audit to be executed.

3. Create an executive summary

The executive summary should contain a compact discussion of the conclusions of the work done. It should be structured as follows:

• A brief description of what was audited, objectives, scope and start and end dates.
• Discuss the auditor’s conclusions.

4. Introduce Terminology used

The next section should show the terms used in drafting the report, so that everyone can understand the information presented.

5. Discuss the Audit Plan

The audit plan should name the lead auditor and list their qualifications, along with other auditors on the team. This section should also describe the documents evaluated and name the people interviewed.

6. Describe facts found

When something is not compliant with established standards, the auditor should take note, describing the facts and evidence found.

If you need any more information about Punyam Academy’s ISO internal auditor training e-learning course, visit https://www.punyamacademy.com/eshop

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