Internal Quality Audit Checklist

Company audits are performed for various reasons. An internal quality audit is done to determine the quality of goods processed in a company. During the audit preparation process, an internal quality audit checklist is compiled. This checklist is simply an audit plan. The findings of an audit lead a company to conduct actions to correct any negative issues found.

Many tasks must be planned when preparing for an internal quality audit. The first step is planning the audit schedule. When planning the schedule, internal auditors must decide what their focus will be on. They must decide when the audit will take place, what they are looking for and what methods will be used. They must record a list of pertinent questions to be used in the audit. During this stage, auditors are assigned duties and a meeting is held prior to the audit where all topics of the audit are discussed.

An employee working for the company handles internal audits. To maintain a good system of internal controls, the internal auditor may not audit his own department. However, the internal auditor may audit all other departments. Depending on the size of the company, there may be numerous auditors working together on the same audit. Based on what was decided in the preparation stage of the audit, the auditors begin their work by investigating issues they agreed upon. They concentrate on their focus, if one was determined in the planning stages. They conduct the audit by following the methods agreed upon in the preparation.

An internal quality audit checklist includes the findings discovered in the audit. A meeting is held with the auditors where the outcome of the audit is discussed. Any quality issues found by the internal auditors are addressed and steps are determined to correct any problematic areas. Any improvement opportunities that are found are recorded and all information is sent to the senior management of the company.

An audit checklist always includes a follow-up step. To conclude the audit, the auditors meet with the senior management of the company after they have had time to study the findings of the audit. At this time, the management of the company implements strategies to correct any problems. They also institute policies to improve any opportunities found by the auditors. After this meeting, the audit is considered closed.