Internal audits are an essential aspect of any successful company’s operations. They help to identify inefficiencies, risks, and opportunities for improvement. Performance audits, in particular, focus on measuring and evaluating the outcome of specific objectives or metrics that the company has set for itself. This type of audit pays less attention to the processes involved in achieving these objectives and more on the final result.
The primary goal of a performance audit is to determine whether the company has achieved its performance objectives and to identify any areas for improvement. This type of audit is typically undertaken by an internal auditor who is independent of the process of achieving the objective. For instance, if a company sets a performance objective to expand its use of diverse suppliers, the internal auditor would be tasked with analyzing how the company’s spending patterns have changed since this goal was set.
The success of a performance audit largely depends on the clarity of the objectives that the company sets. Objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This ensures that the internal auditor can accurately measure the outcome of the objective.
During a performance audit, the internal auditor will review data, conduct interviews, and perform other analytical tasks to evaluate the outcome of the objective. The auditor will examine whether the company has achieved its objective within the specified timeframe and whether it has done so within the budget allocated for the objective. The auditor will also evaluate the quality of the outcome, such as whether the diverse suppliers the company has engaged are providing quality goods and services.
In cases where objectives are not easily quantifiable, the internal auditor will use other metrics to evaluate the outcome. For instance, if a company has set a performance objective to improve customer satisfaction, the internal auditor will use metrics such as customer complaints, customer feedback, and customer retention to evaluate the success of the objective.
Performance audits are critical in ensuring that a company achieves its performance objectives and identifies opportunities for improvement. These audits provide an independent, objective assessment of the outcome of the company’s objectives, which can help management make informed decisions about future goals and strategies. Additionally, performance audits are often tied to performance bonuses or other incentives, so the accuracy of the audit’s findings is critical.
In conclusion, performance audits play a critical role in ensuring that companies achieve their performance objectives and identify opportunities for improvement. Internal auditors focused on performance pay less attention to the processes involved in achieving these objectives and more on the final result. By setting clear, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives, companies can ensure that internal auditors can accurately measure the outcome of these objectives. This ensures that companies can identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions about future goals and strategies.
Managing your performance audits can be made easy using a holistic suite of internal audit tools offered by Empowered Systems. Use an on-premise solution to manage your audits from the office or on-the-go, like AutoAudit® Desktop. Need a cloud-based solution? AutoAudit® Cloud is a great choice because it harnesses all of the power of AutoAudit®, in the cloud.
Holistic enterprise audit can be difficult to manage with out-of-the-box solutions. Try Connected Risk™ Internal Audit for all of your internal audit needs.