Objective
Auditors evaluate the adequacy, effectiveness, and the timeliness of actions taken by management on findings and recommendations during the audit follow-up phase. In reviewing the evaluation results, an auditor determines whether management has implemented the recommendations or accepted the risk of not implementing them.
The following screenshots display the apps where users work on the audit follow-up phase.
The Track Open Action Plans app contains all action plans of the audit follow-up phase in the following statuses: Open and In Process. As an auditor, audit lead, or audit manager, you can change responsible persons of action plans, extend, advance deadline of action plans, add attachments and links to action plans, and set statuses for action plans in the Track Open Action Plans app.
Open an action plan from the list of the Track Open Action Plans app, and select Edit to change responsible persons of the action plan.
You can extend or advance a deadline of an action plan in the Track Open Action Plans app by selecting Extend Deadline or Advance Deadline. Enter a new deadline, reason, optional notes and select OK.
An auditor, audit lead, or audit manager can add attachments and links to action plans in the Track Open Action Plans app. Go to the Documents section of an action plan, select +, and choose Add File or Add Link.
The My Action Plans app allows auditees to track and process action plans that are under their responsibility. An action plan responsible person can set statuses for action plans and add attachments and links to action plans on the audit follow-up phase using the My Action Plans app.
It is possible to add comments for action plans in the Track Open Action Plans or My Action Plans apps depending on your role. Open the Comments section of an action plan, write your comment in the input box and post it.
An audit team monitors the progress of follow-up actions. Some action plans may require urgency or special processing. Investigating the list of issues using the Track Open Action Plans and My Action Plans apps allows the audit team to quickly evaluate what further steps need to be taken. Overdue open action plans have a red-colored deadline highlighting the need for potential escalation. Alternatively, you can escalate any other action plan that may require urgency in completion or attention from the management.
The audit team can escalate an action plan to the audit manager, executive responsible person, or any other role according to business needs. To escalate the action plan as an audit manager, audit lead, or auditor, open the Track Open Action Plans app, and select Escalate. Optional notes can be provided. Action plan responsible persons can escalate action plans through the My Action Plans app. After escalation, the system sends email notification to whom the action plan was escalated.
Escalation of the action plan allows you to inform certain roles about problems or high importance of the action plan. Escalation doesn't affect a workflow for the action plan.
The following figure shows the flow of status changes for action plans.
Action plans can be in the following statuses:
Draft
All newly created action plans obtain the following status: Draft. A draft action plan can be changed or deleted without restrictions.
Open
Draft action plans become open after final report approval, finding approval, or action plan approval. Open status of an action plan means that follow-up phase for the action plan should be started. Open action plans are available in the Track Open Action Plans and My Action Plans apps. Responsible persons and deadline can be changed for action plans in the status, Open.
In Process
An action plan responsible person and audit team members change the status to In Process when work on the action plan is started. Responsible persons and deadline can be changed for action plans in the status, In Process.
Completed, Follow-Up Required, Reasonably Controlled
An action plan responsible person and audit team members set the statuses Completed, Follow-Up Required, or Reasonably Controlled when work on the action plan is finalized. Action plans in these statuses are stored and available in the Display Historical Action Plans and My Action Plans apps. Action Plans in the statuses Completed, Follow-Up Required, and Reasonably Controlled cannot be modified until reopening.
They can be reopened in the Display Historical Action Plans app by audit team members. After reopening, an action plan obtains the following status: Open.
Obsolete
An action plan responsible person and audit team members can set the Obsolete status if an action plan is not needed anymore and work on the action plan should be stopped. Obsolete action plans are stored and available in the Display Historical Action Plans and My Action Plans apps. Obsolete action plans are read-only.
Action plan responsible persons perform mentioned above status changes in the My Action Plans app, and audit team members, such as an audit manager, audit lead, or auditors – in the Track Open Action Plans app.
Submitted
Executive responsible persons can create new action plans for open findings and submit them to an audit manager, audit lead, or auditors in the My Findings app on the audit follow-up phase. Submitted action plans can be changed and submitted again. The audit team approves/rejects a submitted action plan in the My Ongoing Audits or Track Open Findings apps. After approval, the action plan becomes open and available for processing in the Track Open Action Plans and My Action Plans apps. If the submitted action plan is rejected, then the action plan returns to the Draft status and can be submitted again. Find more information about the workflow for action plans created in the follow-up phase of the next lesson of this unit, Processing Open Findings.
Optional notes can be provided for each status change.
It is possible to configure what roles will perform what status changes.
The following screenshot shows you an example of setting a status for an action plan in the Track Open Action Plans app. To set the status, navigate to the action plan, and select the needed status on the top right. Optional notes can be provided.
To reopen an action plan, go to the Display Historical Action Plans app, open the action plan, and select Reopen. Optional notes can be provided. The reopened action plan will obtain the status, Open, and work on the action plan can be continued.
Action plan responsible persons can inform an audit team about the progress of an action plan execution using the respond to an action plan functionality in the My Action Plans app. The action plan responsible person selects the Respond button for the action plan that is in the status, In Process, and provides a description of progress. The audit team will receive email notifications and can check details in the system.
View activity history for an action plan in the Activities section of the action plan.
