Virtual Audit |

Virtual Auditing Services

The rapid advancement of technology has led to an increase in the popularity of the virtual audit among enterprises. High-tech business practices currently enable audit teams to collect and share data, conduct interviews, and make observations with businesses throughout the world. With regard to the rules for the auditing management system, the most recent version of ISO 19011:2018 includes new specifications for carrying out virtual audits, also known as remote audits, in order to complete this shift to e-auditing.

Overview

There is no denying that the current COVID-19 pandemic has compelled businesses to alter how they conduct business. While maintaining their social obligations to the society and their business partners, the corporations are more focused on the safety of their employees.

Numerous sponsors, makers, and holders of marketing authorizations for pharmaceuticals and devices had kept up with business operations and continued to provide necessities. Even established businesses and start-ups are required to comply with regulations and finish their auditing tasks. By using Virtual Audit Services, businesses can preserve the social distancing requirements that restrict them from performing on-site audits while still qualifying and requalifying their compliances.

How do virtual audits work?

Virtual audits are electronic audits that are conducted without the use of paper and without the involvement of the government or business. All of the data is transferred electronically in forms like MS Word, MS Excel, PDF files, and EDI files.

E-audit is another name for a virtual audit, which is also referred to as a remote audit. It is exactly like an audit; the only distinction is that audit evidence is remotely obtained using technological means.

The methods used in virtual audits are similar to those used in real audits, but you can share files via Google Drive, email, and cloud storage, for instance. The company can also share papers via video conferencing on Zoom or Skype or by sharing its desktop screen. It may be more efficient to review documents and records virtual rather than physically.

Manufacturing procedures and product storage are a few of the areas where a virtual audit may run into trouble. In these situations, virtual audits can collect the necessary evidence through live video surveillance.

The execution of a virtual audit does not mandate that all work be done remotely; some work may be done on-site as well. E-auditing typically entails arranging for the auditing activities to be carried out away from the auditee's location, if at all feasible.

What steps are involved in doing a virtual audit?

Following are the steps for doing a virtual audit-

Getting Ready for a Virtual Audit-

For a virtual audit to be successful, preparation is crucial. Before beginning the virtual audit, the auditor must obtain from the auditee all the necessary information that must be given. These might include org diagrams, SOPs, quality guides, etc.

The auditor must make sure he complies with the audit process's data privacy regulations (HIPAA, GDPR).

Obtain the auditee's agreement on how the records will be retrieved and shared. It is obvious that the audited firm's top priorities are document confidentiality and regulated circulation. As a result, read-only file sharing is crucial. There are numerous solutions for this, including file-sharing platforms like Box.com or Share point as well as Screen Share.

The auditor is required to provide the material in accordance with all local and international data privacy laws. In the event that a law prohibits disclosing vital information outside the examined site, the audit's scope will be modified based on a risk analysis. Additionally, additional evaluations can be planned to complete the quality assurance assessment in addition to enabling compliant business continuity.

Make sure that during the specified time, at least one or two auditee employees are devoted to assisting the audit.

The auditee is responsible for ensuring that the virtual audit's technology is tested and agreed upon. Examples of current technology for tours and other possibilities for video conferencing include WebEx and Facetime.

Make sure that enough time is maintained while sending the virtual meeting's invitations to each side, so that they can schedule conferencing and conference room space.

The availability and schedule of the necessary persons for the audit must be confirmed by both parties.

The auditor should ask the auditee to put up a virtual tour for a facility tour or in-depth facilities presentation.

You can develop the audit plans and agendas as usual.

In situations where a facility tour is required, the time typically allotted for completing one should be utilised to view an online virtual tour or presentation supplied by the auditee. If a thorough tour is not possible, a risk-based evaluation must be used to determine the critical areas to be covered as well as the goal of this facility tour.

Carrying out the audit-

The audit must be carried out by the auditor with the greatest attention to the onsite audit.

The audits that need to be done can be split into two distinct parts with enough time between them for the auditee to gather and upload the papers that are needed for the audit in the shared drive.

A virtual tour of the facility must be requested by the auditor, or the auditee may deliver a presentation on the facility's layout, equipment, and process flow. There must be an open meeting after these.

The auditor can start the document review process if any documents and records are delivered by email or through a website service well in advance.

You can ask and receive requests of any kind by chat, phone, email, or virtual web conferencing.

The auditors will be presented the documents and records via video conferencing if the auditee doesn't give them for their examination.

Hold a closing session-

The closing meeting must be conducted as usual, but using the video conferencing system chosen.

The auditor must confirm that this meeting has been organized, arranged, and the appropriate individuals have been invited.

An on-site audit has its benefits and enables the auditor to examine the procedure in real-time and possibly take a tour of the facility. However, the groups have been compelled to adapt and use alternative alternatives as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. One could argue that the greatest option for the business is a virtual audit.

By leveraging tools like virtual audit, Estabizz can assist you in creating and sustaining a risk-based supplier management program to satisfy your business continuity needs.

What advantages can a virtual audit offer?

There are a number of benefits that virtual audits can provide for your company. A few of them include-

Timely and economical

Many of the data can be accessed anywhere using tools like Cloud Portal. Therefore, it is preferable to travel less and review documents that are accessible in other ways in order to save time. Thus, the cost and time associated with traveling to the audit location will be greatly reduced. Additionally, the interviews and observations can be conducted via well-known tools like Skype and Zoom, which are frequently utilized by businesses.

Avoids visiting several different places

For a variety of reasons, some locations for conducting an audit can be difficult to access.

1) The place can be in a remote area.
2) If the audits are being conducted globally, permits may occasionally be needed in order for the auditor to enter.

These challenges can be avoided using virtual audit.

Audit logistics are not necessary

The logistics of scheduling conference rooms, cleaning up after the auditing team leaves, and worrying about the health of the audit team and the employees in light of the current epidemic are typically taken care of by the businesses when conducting a virtual audit. Additionally, the auditors will avoid various annoyances that can arise during an onsite audit.

Greater team efficiency

The audit team will be more at ease working from their home office. Since they will have access to all the required equipment, including computers, printers, high-speed internet, etc. As a result, an e-audit will be significantly more productive than an on-site audit and take less time to finish the task at hand.

What obstacles exist in the execution of Virtual Audits?

When conducting a virtual audit, an organization must overcome the following challenges-

Some certification and accreditation organizations do not approve of virtual audits

Some accrediting and certification organizations continue to reject the validity of e-audits. Despite the fact that ISO 19011: 2018 has specifications for e-auditing, they only certify conventional audits performed on-site.

The main cause is that certain accrediting and certification organizations still haven't made up their minds about how much time is needed to gather trustworthy audit evidence and have confidence in the audit outcomes.

For instance, conducting an audit without visiting the area appears to be the auditor's concern. It also specifically questions the decline in the number of on-site hours that can be substituted with virtual employment.

On the other hand, the auditors hired to perform virtual audits must possess the required technological expertise for completing this type of audits. This indicates that additional work is required on the part of the certification and accreditation bodies to train auditors in these methods.

Technology-related problems

Logistics can be difficult for businesses. Sometimes the network connections are unreliable, or the auditee may experience issues logging into the database to provide proof via the CVPN. Additionally, meetings and interviews may be strewed by network problems.

Lack of participation

Other problems encountered when conducting remote or virtual audits include process owners who are absent because of a scheduled meeting or even auditees who are not paying attention. Companies that are audited can play a big part in this. They are able to provide their staff with awareness training and equip them with all the tools required for e-audits.

Believing the audit

Some auditors prefer to do on-site audits because, in their opinion, they can only trust the audit if they have direct access to the audit material.

For instance, since visiting a site can provide important information for detecting the difficulties of the organization, auditors may view virtual audits as being unsuitable for the purpose of auditing.

Inadequate auditor experience and training

The auditor conducting the audit may be unable to gather enough audit evidence due to a lack of training or expertise. The virtual crew needs to be knowledgeable in order to execute audits using technology effectively.

Why is the future of auditing predicted to be virtual audits?

Virtual audits are now commonplace in the marketplace. Even though there are still a few boundaries to maintain, their preferences over traditional methods are indisputable. Even with proper planning and execution, traditional audits may nevertheless cause some inconvenience and disruption to the organization being examined. Moreover, since decreases in expenses and assets may be verified through virtual methods, corporate managers are becoming more and more interested in these e-audits.

Virtual audits are another alternative for an increasingly successful and profitable examination method, not just from the perspective of the company being examined but also from that of the auditors.

What problems need to be examined before conducting virtual audits?

Before conducting virtual audits, the following issues need to be examined-

Determining the duration for record retention.

Find methods for backing up the files.

Create guidelines that are similar for naming and organizing the files.

Possess thorough knowledge of the IRS's professional standards and requirements for electronic recordkeeping.

Set up security measures to protect against data manipulation and to assure data validity.

Possess appropriate access to sensitive data.

Obtain managerial support and resources for automation.

How you can contact Estabizz?

Fill the form.

Get a call back

Submit the required documents.

Track the progress of your application.

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Our Blog

Overview
How do virtual audits work?
What steps are involved in doing a virtual audit?
What advantages can a virtual audit offer?

What obstacles exist in the execution of Virtual Audits?

Why is the future of auditing predicted to be virtual audits?

What problems need to be examined before conducting virtual audits?

How you can contact Estabizz?
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