Download the 10 most frequently viewed audit tools and publications on KnowledgeLeader in June.

1. Process Documentation Narrative and Flow Chart Guide

Documenting the understanding of a process, related controls, and key roles and responsibilities can be achieved through process narratives and flow charts. Both of these documentation techniques assist internal audit teams and those responsible for the processes with establishing a common understanding of a process. Once these documents are confirmed as accurate, they provide a baseline for performing risk analysis, testing internal controls and implementing process improvements as necessary. Discover the essential elements of process documentation narratives and flow charts with our comprehensive guide, including a process flow example.

2. Risk Assessment and Internal Audit Plan

The detailed risk assessment results in this sample audit report can help you measure and improve your organization’s internal audit process. By conducting a thorough risk assessment, the document provides management with insights into potential vulnerabilities within various business processes, ensuring that critical areas receive appropriate attention during audits. The plan is designed not only to comply with regulatory requirements, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but also to promote best practices in risk management and internal controls.  

3. Enterprise Risk Assessment Board Report

The ultimate goal of enterprise risk management (ERM) is to evaluate total returns relative to total risks, leading to more informed business decisions. This sample report provides findings from a review of a company’s enterprise risk assessment. It serves as a strategic guide for implementing an ERM initiative, starting with detailed management interviews to gather insights into current organizational challenges and risks. The presentation includes a structured risk assessment process involving the formulation of risk statements, distribution of surveys to management, and live voting sessions to evaluate the significance of identified risks.

4. Internal Audit Plan

This audit report sample will guide your organization’s internal audit activities for a specific fiscal year. This tool outlines a methodical approach to auditing, starting with initial discussions with key stakeholders to identify high-level risks and potential areas of focus. These discussions help confirm the areas that require attention and subsequently gain endorsement from executive and audit committees. The plan details the projects to be undertaken, including their scope, timing and the resources required, ensuring that all activities are aligned with the organization's strategic goals and risk environment.

5. System Post-Implementation Audit Work Program

Our System Post-Implementation Audit Work Program provides a detailed framework for conducting post-implementation audits on a variety of systems. It is designed to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a system, ensuring that it meets the intended business needs and complies with established procedures. This tool includes three samples that outline specific audit objectives, procedures and key contacts involved in the audit process. Each sample serves as a guide for auditors, helping them evaluate different aspects of the system such as resource utilization, access controls, data integrity and security configurations.

6. The Business Case for Internal Audit Software

Internal audit software is essential for modern organizations facing evolving risks, strained resources, and fragmented data systems. Traditional manual methods, such as spreadsheets, fall short in addressing these challenges, leading to inefficiencies and heightened risks. Internal audit software streamlines workflows, automates repetitive tasks, enhances collaboration, and provides real-time insights to improve decision-making. Its benefits extend beyond audit teams, driving organizational efficiency, resilience and cost savings. Automation reduces human error and optimizes resource allocation, as demonstrated by the National Bank of Georgia, which cut audit planning time by 50%. The software also strengthens risk management by offering predictive analytics, live dashboards and real-time alerts, enabling proactive identification and mitigation of risks, including regulatory penalties and reputational damage.

7. Accounts Payable RCM

A successful risk management strategy requires a strong internal control environment. The RCM format emphasizes that strong and risk-oriented internal control environments are often optimized with automated/manual controls, depending on the situation. An RCM provides an overview of different control objectives that organizations should take into consideration and the corresponding controls to safeguard the company against risks that may arise if not checked timely. Once customized to an organization, this document can help the user in assessing each control. The control assessment can then also be summarized to develop an action plan. This document outlines risks and controls common to the 5.2.1 Process Accounts Payable process in a risk control matrix (RCM) format.

8. Project Management Office (PMO) Audit Work Program

This tool was designed to help organizations understand the PMO audit process and build an audit program focused on the PMO. The two work programs included in this tool focus on evaluating the following areas: PMO program goals and expectations; PMO approaches; PMO responsibility, accountability and ownership; program management approach, tools and templates consistency; training provided to enterprise personnel on standard processes; communication protocols related to project portfolio status; project status communication tools and capabilities; and project portfolio and risk management capabilities, including project prioritization, capabilities and monitoring.

9. Strategic and Operational Process Review Report

This audit report summarizes a strategic and operational review of a company’s business environment and production processes. It is particularly valuable for management as it identifies critical issues within production planning and defect density processes following the site's acquisition. This report outlines specific strategic and operational challenges, such as the absence of formal business plans and inadequate performance measurement systems, which hinder effective decision-making and risk management. The report not only highlights existing weaknesses but also proposes actionable recommendations and best practices to address these gaps.

10. Vendor Contracting Policy

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines and procedures to be followed by all employees of a company for legal review of proposed or actual activities and other matters related to vendors, which may impose a legal obligation to a company and required approvals prior to signing vendor contracts on behalf of the company. This policy serves as an essential framework for all company employees, detailing the processes required for the legal review, approval and execution of vendor contracts to ensure compliance with legal standards and corporate policies. It includes definitions of vendor contracts, delineates the scope of services, contractual timelines, pricing structures, and terms and conditions.