Conducting A BCM Audit

Conduct the Audit

Once the opening meeting is completed and it is time to start the first meeting with the Auditee, arrive and meet the executive Auditee. This internal representative will be assigned to the assigned business unit manager.

Expectation of Auditor During Conduct of Audit

As an Auditor, you are expected to:

• Explain what you want to see/do
• Investigate to a necessary depth
• Satisfy the sample requirement
  • Do not over-sample
  • Do not assume wrong exists
• Move on to the next business unit.

While conducting the audit the Auditor may want to observe the following

Learning Useful Audit Tips

• Use your audit checklist as your guide
• Document audit trails as it begins to appear
• You will make many observations.
• Make the following decisions:
  • Disregard
  • Note for later follow-up
  • Follow-up now
  • Call in a team
  • Request for the technical expert
  • Seek assistance from related parties

These are additional guidance to Auditors on:

• Asking questions
• Phrasing questions
• Taking notes
• Practising good audit behaviour

Asking Questions

These are some of the questioning techniques that are used during a typical interview:

• Clear: This question is usually simple and unambiguous.
• Closed-ended: These usually result in a “Yes” or “No” answer.
• Open-ended: This questioning approach will result in a long answer being provided.
• Probing: These specific questions are used for finding details

Phrasing of Questions

The techniques for the phrasing of each question usually start with the 4 “Ws”: Who, What, When and Where. However, questions phrased with “Why”, “How” and “Elaborate” tend to provide better answers.

Taking Notes

It is important to take notes constantly throughout the audit as they make a good reference. The notes can be used for investigation for both the present and at a later stage of the audit. These notes can also be shared with the other Auditors and be referred to in future audits.

Auditors are strongly encouraged not to rely on or trust their memory when documenting evidence. Taking notes requires the writer to have the content recorded legibly, retrievable from the system, and be as specific as possible, with citation of examples.

The notes should be a copious and must-have reference or document numbers, dates, and serial numbers. For the notes to be used as objective evidence, they should have the following:

• Statements that should be admissible
• Dates
• Document numbers
• Item Identifiers
• Locations and Places
• Revision information
• Names
• Designations of Auditees

Practising Good Audit Behavior

Here are some good and bad auditing practices and behaviours that Auditors should constantly be aware of.

Summary of Good and Bad Audit Practices

The Auditors should also avoid known pitfalls and difficulties such as expectation gaps arising from the local environment, cultural divergence, or the lack of specialist expertise.

Resource

Goh, M. H. (2016). A Manager's Guide to Auditing and Reviewing Your Business Continuity Management Program. Business Continuity Management Series (2nd ed.). Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.

Extracted from "Chapter 5-9: Conduct the Audit"

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