Reference no: EM132180647

Every external audit is different based on scope and audit against which you will be measured. These are the five steps that will help a company/organization prepare for an external audit;

• Understanding the standard-An audit is a compliance report based on an external standard. Take your time and read and understand the standard you will be audited against.

This is critical to understand the approach the external auditors will take, and it will help you avoid taking unnecessary actions. Also, having a general understanding can help you manage the external audit more efficiently

• Identify your subject matter-No one knows your internal processes better than your own SMEs. Based on the standard you need to comply with, determine which of your employees have the best knowledge to help the external auditor to understand and evaluate your business and information security processes.

Make sure you explain the importance of the upcoming audit and present them your understanding of the standard, so they can suggest actions for preparation based on their knowledge and experience

• Make sure to allocate sufficient resource to your experts-Usually, experts and specialists in every field are fully engaged with their normal day-to-day activities. Acknowledge that supporting an external audit requires significant time, energy and effort from your SMEs. Make sure that all necessary resources are available, otherwise the preparation and execution of the audit requests will not be successful

• Determine your Internal Procedures- Gather your SMEs and go through relevant internal processes based on the controls relevant to the upcoming audit.

The goal is to identify any gaps where processes do not exist or do not sufficiently meet the standard you'll be audited against. In other words, make sure that all the controls required by the standard are in place in your business

• Gather documentation for your procedure-Having all internal procedures in place is a great starting point. However, external auditors will ask for supporting materials as part of the audit process, such as policy documents, financial statements, and process artifacts.

Based on the business processes determined in the previous step, make a list of that documents the current internal control structure and review these documents. This is another form of gap analysis to determine if your documentation is accurate and complete

References
Aaron, K. (2016). 5 tips to prepare for your first external audit.