Internal audit

An internal audit is a thorough internal review of a part of the company's systems to see if it is working properly. Formally, it is a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and assessing it objectively.

The purpose of an internal audit is to determine the extent to which the audit criteria have been met. This is a good tool for finding out where the company stands in relation to the applicable requirements and forms an important basis for improvements.

NS-EN ISO 19011:2011 provides guidelines for auditing management systems. In 4human At QM365, we have developed our systems' functions in line with this standard, in addition to using it in our consulting.

There are different types of audits. An internal audit is most often an audit in the category of a business audit that checks that your management system is in line with the reality of your business - and vice versa.

Anything that is not correct is noted and must be corrected. Here it is important to have an audit plan - i.e. a plan for which internal audits will be carried out and when. This ensures that the system is kept alive, uncovers weaknesses and strengths and is maintained in accordance with the requirements.

The audit manager, or lead auditor, is responsible for planning the audit and selecting co-auditors if necessary. He or she is also responsible for leading the audit, reviewing available documentation in advance and finally preparing the audit report. The preparatory work - i.e. the document review - is extremely important as it will provide indications of areas that should be checked extra carefully.

1. You plan and create an audit plan.
2. The actual implementation starts with an opening meeting where all stakeholders are invited.
3. This is the beginning of the interview phase, where pre-screened people are called in. One by one, they answer how specific areas of the business work in practice. In this way, you can find out whether the employees actually know how things should be. It can also be a good idea to take a tour of the company and ask various people relevant questions there and then.
4. After the interview round, the audit manager sits down and summarizes his notes in an audit report. This contains observations that are often the areas that need to be corrected.
5. Finally, all those who attended the opening meeting are invited to a closing meeting and receive a presentation of the findings and observations in the audit report.

• Policy
• Organization
• Processes, process description and efficiency
• Laws and requirements
• Goals and action plans
• External and internal communication
• Measurement and follow-up
• Document management
• Management's review

4human QM365 runs its own course in planning and conducting internal audits in its Coaching Package . Manage also has all the functions needed to plan, conduct and process all findings in all types of audits.