- A basis of cost;
- Regulatory requirements;
- Interested parties feedback (including feedback from regulaory requirements, environmental complaints);
- Environmental Aspect and Impact, etc;
Some companies structure their audit programs annually, quarterly, or on a day to day basis.
The audit program should be tailored to meet the specific needs, resources and culture of the organisation. Each organisation should consider its budget and resource limitationss to ensure that the audit quality is not compromised, minimising the audit's effectiveness.
Management of the audit program is defined in the organisation's policies and procedures, eg.. Business Manager, Managing Director, management committee, etc.
When developing an audit program, consideration should be given to the documentation which will be audited againts during audits.
Such documents may include : Legislation, Regulations, Standards, Pplicy, Procedures, Instructions, Plans, Audit Reports, etc.
Each audit may be scheduled againts the above documents as : a section/part, a whole, or a combination.
Benefits of an audit program/schedule
- It commucates throughout the organisation what audits will be performed, the time allocated, and the personnel, processes, products, services, projects, and contracts involved. This helps people to plan their work schedules.
- It enables audits to be planned so as to ensure that all aspects of an organisation are audited.
- It allows areas of risk to the organisation to be managed and reviewed at an appropriate frequency.
The resources committed to the audit should be sufficient to meet its intended purpose. Sometimes insufficient time is allocated for the preparation and conduct of an audit which impacts on the value of the results obtained.
