IA Catchwords– Series 9

Observe

Observe is an important catchword in Auditing. In fact, an experienced Auditor uses this effectively, in identifying non-compliances and incompatibilities during Auditing. Non-compliance occurs, when there is an observed gap between documents and practices and incompatibility occurs, when the auditee provides a process explanation which is different from the observed ones. In both the cases “observations” by the auditee is critical.

Given below are 10 commandments for the Auditors

1. Observe the process operations in action- conversion of inputs to outputs
2. Observe the deployed process controls for correctness and effectiveness
3. Observe the records of process monitoring for correctness and completeness- including control charts and process cards
4. Observe the workplace arrangement
5. Observe the workplace safety
6. Observe the process document dynamics- how often the process operations have been revised/improved
7. Observe the body language of the auditee to verify the process knowledge
8. Observe the comfort and confidence in the auditee’s answers
9. Observe the handling and retrieval of records maintained
10. Observe the storage & handling of process rejects

Hope you would be able to practice the above. Please share your experiences. Good Luck