Introduction

Audits are considered to be a crucial part of corporate governance and risk management. Audits are examinations of an organization’s processes and procedures with the purpose of assessing their effectiveness and reliability. Usually, audits are classified as either internal or external. Internal Audits are described as an audit that is performed by a company’s own internal audit functions. External audits are described as ones that are performed by an outside auditor. Now that you know the details regarding audits and the different types that exist, it is important to be knowledgeable about the actions you should take after your audit, especially if you fail one.

Why Did You Fail Your Audit?

When examining the reasons why your audit didn’t go to plan it is likely that there are a few reasons for this shortcoming, one of those being the lack of objectives and targets. This essentially means that it is important for companies to have a clear set of objectives and targets. These objectives should also be well documented because they are actively sought after by auditors. Another possible reason that your audit was unsuccessful is due to your unsatisfactory internal audit. One of the main things that auditors actively seek out are the results of a company’s self audits. This is important because it shows that the systems and procedures work properly. If your systems are not working correctly, it will most likely negatively affect the result of your external audit. When companies fail their audits, it is very easy to be discouraged, but it is important to note that there is no such thing as failing an audit. It should only be seen as an improvement and a period where you reflect on the things that your company can refine.

What To Do After You Fail Your Audit

As I stated earlier, one of the most important things to do after a failed audit is to use this time to analyze the results of your audit and how you could improve on your company’s shortcomings. One of the first steps a company should strive to complete after a failed audit is to perform an internal review of its “Quality Management Systems”, which will help locate any potential errors. After you locate and correct the errors, it is essential that you inform the members of your company, or you could potentially risk non compliance in the future. It is also important to note that if your auditor uncovers nonconformities, the auditing body will give companies the opportunity to correct the findings and present evidence of the corrections. If the evidence meets the criteria, then the status of the audit will be changed to compliant. So while finding out that you failed an audit could be really disheartening, it is important to keep in mind that if you are able to implement corrections and the process of recovering should be relatively easy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, audits are one of the best ways to examine a company’s processes and procedures. If your company fails an audit, remember the things we discussed in this article. Make sure that you analyze the results, figure out where the shortcoming in your business lies, take the proper corrective actions and communicate them clearly with the rest of your team. If your company is in need of an internal audit or internal auditor training, please Contact us to improve operations and reduce risk at 832-326-9796.

Author

Carson Combs | Marketing

Carson is working on obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management with a minor in Legal Studies at Sam Houston State University. By working with The ISO 9001 Group he is able to collaborate closely with members of Leadership and Sales to develop informative articles for The ISO 9001 Group’s website visitors.