Maintain organizational integrity with an internal auditing checklist

What is an internal auditing checklist?

An internal auditing checklist serves to control all aspects of an internal audit of any company. It is used by internal audit professionals to facilitate their work and ensure that they do not forget any essential aspect when performing the audit. An internal auditing checklist is used to evaluate the company’s performance and to check that the regulations in force in the industry in which it operates are being followed.

This article briefly discusses the following topics:

1. Who should use an internal auditing checklist

2. Basic aspects of an internal auditing checklist

3. A mobile solution for creating digital internal auditing checklists

Who should use an internal auditing checklist

Internal auditing aims to identify weaknesses in a company’s internal controls. Internal audits not only ensure a company complies with laws and regulations, but also provide a degree of risk management and protection against potential fraud, abuse or waste.

How often an internal audit should take place is not predetermined. They can take place on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis. Some departments may be audited more frequently than others. For example, the manufacturing process may be audited daily for quality control, while the human resources department is audited only once a year. Audits should be planned to give managers time to collect and prepare the necessary documents and information. However, internal audits can also come as a surprise, especially if unethical or illegal activities are suspected.

Basic aspects of an internal auditing checklist

1. Analysis of the organizational context – In this first part of the internal auditing checklist, it is recommended to analyze the external and internal factors affecting the company in question and what the main indicators are for measuring performance.
2. Company’s management – In the second section of the internal auditing checklist, the roles and responsibilities of the company’s management should be identified.
3. Planning – The risks and opportunities should then be identified and an analysis made of whether control measures have been taken.
4. Support – In this section of the internal auditing checklist, you must conclude whether the company provided adequate resources to manage the company’s safety and quality standards.
5. Operations – The objective of this point is to determine whether measures have been put in place to plan, execute and maintain the company’s product and service quality management processes.
6. Performance review – In this section of the internal auditing checklist, you should analyze whether there are performance evaluation protocols that provide measurable and enforceable results.
7. Opportunities for improvement – The last section of the internal auditing checklist should ask the following question:
• Does the organization have an automated process for the continuous improvement of business activities?

One of the most important points when performing an internal audit is to have a flexible tool that allows you to modify and adapt each of the sections of your internal auditing checklist to achieve the best possible results.

A mobile solution for creating digital internal auditing checklists

Digitize your paperwork and record-keeping, and automatically store all internal auditing reports online for easy access anytime, anywhere. Lumiform is a powerful auditing app that internal auditors can use to ensure that internal audits are consistently conducted on time. Lumiform facilitates the collection of important information on site and the subsequent analysis of the results. Improve your internal auditing with Lumiform and reach your company goals:

• Create internal auditing templates with the flexible form builder that fits the need of the organization in order to meet its goals and standards.
• Schedule and delegate internal audits to the auditing team and monitor results.
• Capture data using the mobile app and include photos for added context on observations during internal audits.
• Save time by analyzing all the data more easily and identifying areas that need your attention more quickly.
• Automatically generate internal audit reports in cloud storage for secure recordkeeping.