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Audit Management
Maximising the Efficiency of Your Audit Process: Key Features to Look for in an Audit Management System
An audit management system is integral to the success of businesses in several spheres. Audits have multilayered processes that include preparation, execution, verification of products, processes, systems, and of course, reporting. The right integrated management system audit solution can help with better assigning of roles, scheduling, implementation, and document control.
How an Audit Management System Helps
Here’s looking at some ways in which an audit management system (AMS) will be of immense help for your operations.
- Audit scheduling and notifications/reminders.
- Allocation of roles throughout teams.
- Connecting crucial components of audit reports, including CAPAs (corrective and preventive actions) and events and delineating them for stakeholders.
- Scheduling of subsequent audit processes.
- You can save time and company resources with easier coordination across teams and better organisation of documents, in tandem with viewing everything in a single place.
- Remote audits can also be undertaken with a reliable AMS.
- CAPAs may be integral parts of findings as far as audits are concerned. Follow-ups can often be tougher since multiple stakeholders may be involved otherwise. An AMS helps you sync everyone to the blueprint and remind people of pending tasks.
- Audit management systems combat the issue of data manipulation, since you can view everything at a single place, including trails of audits, CAPAs, events, documents, and so on. Everything will have its approver, creator, and editor names, while document changes are also recorded for better integrity and transparency.
So, now that you know how an integrated management system audit process can help, you should set a feature list that your AMS should contain. Here’s a guide to the same below.
What Features Should Your Audit Management System Contain?
What should your audit management system come with? What are these features or other aspects? Here is a guide that will help you prepare a checklist of your own in this case.
- Mobile and Desktop Auditing- There’s always merit in choosing an audit management system that has both mobile and desktop interfaces. You can easily begin or finish inspections on the move through tablets or mobile phones, while also delegating various duties within the team and tracking overall progress conveniently. Mobile device compatibility helps immensely in terms of attaching and taking photographs as visual proof. A good auditing software system should have easy functions for capturing, annotating, organising, and sharing images. The desktop interface should have real-time progress visibility along with analytics for improved forecasting.
- Report Creation- One of the most basic features that you should look for is the ability to generate various types of reports. These are vital data sources, enabling stakeholders to share their findings in a better way. You should look for customisable and clear reports which you can tailor as per your sector-wise needs. Some other attributes should include real-time insights, smart scoring, automated inputs, historical trends, recurring problems, and overviews of corrective steps that are in sync with business goals.
- Workflows and Tasks- Whenever you finish any inspection procedure, you should be able to assign corrective steps instantly to the suitable individual within your organisation. This enables swift communication regarding due dates/deadlines, priority lists, and the overall issue in question. Good audit management systems should be able to help you quickly configure notifications for task owners and approvers, along with facilitating instant audit report access. Tasks should be assigned to those externally or other departments without any need to login to the software. Workflow creation should be completely customisable in terms of data gathering, analysis, and reporting.
- Analytics in Real-Time- What is a robust audit management system without real-time analytics? You should have a smart dashboard that enables overviews of audits under evaluation across multiple teams, locations, or areas. You can also easily find problems with this system, while also using analytics to identify trends and patterns based on historical data.
- Seamless Scheduling- Proper scheduling of inspections is something that your system should help you with. You should be able to create your audit business calendar and assign tasks to colleagues in advance. Setting up email reminders and alerts is another feature to look out for, along with re-assigning/updating statuses based on changes in on-field scenarios.
These are some of the key features that you should look for, while choosing an audit management system. They will help you get organised, productive, and of course, smarter in terms of undertaking and tracking audits.
What Else Should You Look For?
There are a few other things that you should keep an eye on in this regard. These include the following:
- Your audit management software should be easy to use and understand. The interface should be intuitive and well-organised above everything else.
- The logging and tracking capabilities of your audit management software should be on point, helping you known which audits are coming up, which are done, which are ongoing, and various stages of the process.
- Make sure your software is tailored for the needs of financial institutions or other entities engaged in specific businesses. Check out the pre-built reports and customisable templates for audits likewise.
- Seek out cloud-based options with centralised, safe, and easily accessible storage of documents. This will help you quickly find data and documents whenever you wish.
- Ensure that your audit management solution comes with easy findings management and remediation tracking, among other key features.
To sign off, it can be said that selecting a suitable audit management system is imperative to ensure that your processes are well-oiled, easily trackable, and integrated into the master system in terms of data, statuses, and so on. Compare multiple systems and software options based on the above-mentioned parameters and then come to a final decision accordingly.
FAQs
1. How can I evaluate the effectiveness of an audit management system for my organisation?
There are several ways in which you can assess the effectiveness of an audit management system. Look for easy report-creation and audit template features along with real-time insights and analytics, task and workflow assigning and scheduling, and overall ease of use.
2. How can I choose the right AMS for my organisation?
You should always check for software that is tailored to the needs of your organisation and business sector. This means more customisable and tailored pre-built reports along with easy notification/reminder setting, assigning tasks and status updates from the field, among other features. Look for an AMS that can be easily used by all stakeholders with everything stored securely and easily accessible.
3. What are the key features to look for in an audit management system?
Some of the key features that should be present in an audit management system include real-time insights and analytics along with workflows and tasks (scheduling, notifications, updates, etc.). At the same time, other features should include report creation, desktop and mobile interfaces, scheduling, findings integration, and more.
4. How can an audit management system improve efficiency?
An audit management system can be immensely helpful in terms of enhancing overall business efficiency. It boosts coordination amongst teams, while helping save time and resources considerably. At the same time, it enables remote auditing and keeps everything accessible and trackable in a single place.
5. Is the AMS compliant with relevant industry regulations and data privacy laws?
Every audit management system has to comply with relevant regulations and data privacy laws. There should be adherence to all notified rules pertaining to data security, consent, encryption, and so on.
