Complete an audit task

When an audit is due, the Action Officer receives a task to carry out the audit. In the Action stage you can record the action taken, create improvements and upload the audit report. When completed, the Approval Officer will be advised.

Workflow

When an audit has been sent to you to action, it will be in the Action stage of the workflow as per the following diagram:

Form components

Action history 

This component displays instructions, actions taken, progress notes and comments made to date as the item has progressed through the workflow.

Hover over the date to display who recorded the note. 

Task management

You have been assigned an audit to complete

• Instructions - these are the instructions for completing the audit.
• Audit tool - if an audit tool, e.g. HR File Audit tool was linked to the Audit details form a link to the audit tool will be displayed on the Task management form. 
• Related agreements - if related agreements, e.g. funding contract was linked to the Audit details form a link to these agreements will be displayed on the Task management form.

Task options

Sign off as complete

Select this option when you have taken all action as per the task instructions.

• Action taken - add details of action taken. These comments will appear in the Action history and will be helpful in informing others of what action was taken.
• Additional comments (optional) - use this field to add any additional comments relating to the audit. These comments will appear in the Action history.

Make a progress note

Select this option when you have taken only part of the action as per the task instructions. 

• Make a progress note - add details of action taken. These comments will appear in the Action history and can be helpful in keeping others informed of what progress has been made to date in reviewing the contract. For instance, if the task relates to a HR File audit, you might make a progress note stating that you have "Arranged with the HR Department to conduct the internal audit on 22/3/2022".

Identified Issues and Improvement

This component enables you to add non-conformities or opportunities for improvement. They will be automatically added to the Improvement register. 

Select + Add and complete the following fields: 

• Type of issue - select the applicable options: Non-conformance or Improvement opportunity.
• Source of issue - select "Audit" as the source of the improvement opportunity. 
• Origin of issue - select where the improvement was identified: internal (within the organisation) or external (outside of the organisation, e.g. external auditor).  If the improvement was identified by an external source, specify the name of the person or the company name.
• Description of issue - describe the issue, e.g. "65% of HR records did not include a copy of the current  confidentiality agreement". Avoid making comment about what the solution is at this stage. 
  Note: this field is limited to 2000 characters.   
• Recommended improvement - make a recommendation as to how the process or activity could be improved. For example, "Include in the annual staff performance review process, the requirement for the confidentiality agreement in be signed".
• Related meeting - select the team meeting who is responsible for monitoring this type of improvement or select the team meeting that is be kept informed of this type of improvement. 
  "Recognised change management processes recommend engaging those who will be impacted by the change in determining the solution.  Assigning improvement opportunities to the team that will be impacted by the change is an easy way to inform the team of the issues and to engage them in the solution". 
• Report this issue to - select the staff member who is responsible for managing this type of  improvement. The person selected will be notified immediately of the improvement and will be assigned the task to manage the improvement.
• Viewing permissions - select the staff who are to be given authorisation to view the improvement report. 
• Add additional users for viewing permissions (optional) - if there are additional staff who are to be given authorisation to the improvement report, beyond those already selected through the Viewing permission, select the additional staff.

Attach records

This component enables you to attach records such as records verifying the audit has been completed. For example, in relation to the task of a HR File Audit, a copy of the audit report would be a related record. Records can be attached at each stage of the workflow. Click Attach to add records. 

• Record name - When naming the record ensure the description is meaningful and easily found when searching. For instance, "HR File Audit Report - March 2022".
• File or Link - click on Choose file and navigate to the record on your computer.  If you have links enabled, toggle to change the control to add a URL to the record. The URL must be a in a web (http://) or Microsoft SharePoint format (https://<company>.sharepoint.com/...)
• Viewing permissions - by default, the viewing permissions for the record will inherit the viewing permissions set in the Assign component on the Audit details form, however, you can apply a different level of access for the record. This is because the record itself can also be accessed via the Records register. 

Submit/save the form

Once a task option is selected, click the Save/Submit button to save the form and complete the task. Note: The button language will change to Next if you are also responsible for the next stage in the workflow. 

Select Create a related item if you want to create a separate linked item on another register when you save the form. A link between the two items will be displayed in each item's System event history.