We tend to think of audits as a negative, usually as a response to an unwanted outcome. For instance, a surprise tax audit or a visit from a government accountant who wants to see if our finances are in order can seem worrying, as if you’re trying to be caught out. If the border force protection agency arrives to check if you’ve been hiring undocumented workers and exploiting them, then this can feel intimidating even if there was never anything improper to be found on your premises.
There’s usually nothing to fear from these visits. They can make recommendations but they’re just looking to help you become the best business you can, and of course, within the scope of the law. It’s worth taking that example and wonderful what else you could achieve. This can help you decide to curate your own internal audits or use third parties to help you, meaning that if a real audit comes to play, you’ll have already prepared for every eventuality and pass with flying colors.
But where should that apply on an operational level? Let’s consider that and more, below:
Financial Compliance
It’s possible to tell if someone has just been bad at bookkeeping compared to if they’ve practiced fraud, but on the surface the two can look quite similar. Financial compliance means taking a clear-eyed view of your business’s money management and having someone double check all the submission you make. They’ll want to review your financial records, check that your accounting practices match current regulations, and make sure every payment is tracked correctly. This means understanding tax reporting, expense claims, and creating documentation that has a clear image of your business’s financial health. That in itself can give you the confidence to continue on.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity audits help you discover vulnerabilities before someone with bad intentions does, which you may as well consider inevitable if you don’t make those changes. This means examining your network security, reviewing access permissions and shifting them where needed, and ensuring your team can recognize threats through constant training despite how sophisticated those hackers can be. That also means applying consistent software updates, and focused team training especially if you work remotely. This has a knock on effect into everything else, so take it as seriously as you can.
Data Management
How you manage data is essential. In some cases, such as with Leica digital pathology, it can fuel a great part of the business model. A data management audit, then, will take into account how you collect, store, use, and protect information. Every business deals with sensitive data of some kind, like customer details to internal records, but to protect it you need to review what information you’re keeping, how secure it is, and whether you’re following privacy laws as they evolve.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily make good on your internal audit and benefit as a result. It may take a little time to achieve, but with a focused effort and the willingness to admit when your systems need to improve, you can develop a more capable outcome and never fall foul of an official inspection.