How to Conduct an Internal Document Audit

An audit is a review of a company’s records, systems, and processes to confirm the right steps are being taken and that the organization is compliant and risk-free. They can also draw attention to any inconsistencies between what you ought to be doing and what you actually do. The fact that auditors can require a vast array of documentation is one of the main headaches when it comes to audits. Papers may be dispersed throughout your company’s inboxes, filing cabinets, desks, and off-site storage if you use a manual approach to handle your documents. In addition to taking a lot of time and effort, manually collating, and storing documents in such a disorganized manner can also make your company non-compliant.

Common challenges that companies are faced with when it comes to document management governance include:

• Having a combination of physical and digital records can be unmanageable and offline documents don’t always have digital counterparts and could possibly disappear, this makes document auditing more difficult.
• Adherence to regulations for documentation to be compliant and pass the audit. This can be challenging for different sectors that have rigorous controls.
• Conflicts between software and document versions and formats can present compatibility and .

Audits can be complex, so using a document management platform that creates a digital audit trail can make a world of difference to any company. A digital audit trail is a chronological record with dates, times, and user actions that serve as evidence for all transactions and communications within the business.

Pointers for Internal Document Auditing

1. Investigate relevant laws

First and foremost, it is of utmost importance to obtain the necessary document auditing requirements specific to your industry to keep the appropriate records.

2. Make a plan for managing documents

Organizations can define the requirements for document production, storage, processing, and security with the use of a document management governance strategy. You must choose which styles and document templates to use, where to store the documentation (cloud or on-site servers), and how to safeguard it. As an illustration, a lot of businesses lock all filing cabinets, limit user access to certain papers, employ two-factor authentication to access document management systems, etc.

3. Whenever possible, automate the digital audit trail

Manual record-keeping is time-consuming and inaccurate. When managing documentation by hand, people frequently make mistakes, omit crucial information, lose physical records, and inevitably waste too much time. Automation is key for effective document management governance and document audits. Automation tools can generate audit trails, automatically format documents for storage, send instant alerts and warnings, generate reports, and do much more.

4. Transform paper records into digital ones

Making the switch to paperless documents streamlines governance of document management and establishes the digital audit trail. All documents are processed electronically, allowing automated tools to track them for improved internal control. Additionally, you may quickly locate and retrieve data at any time, and use the proof gathered for document auditing. All these records can back up anything that comes into question.

5. Run routine internal auditing programs for the expertise

It is always advisable to set up internal audits to ensure that external document inspections are meticulously planned for and carried out. These auditing programs will provide you the chance to improve internal processes before an external audit is carried out. Risk management is also provided by internal audits. To enhance internal record-keeping, you can identify and fix governance gaps in document management.

Simplify Audits with Audit Trails

KRIS Document Management System (DMS) has all the document management capabilities that your company need for accurate record-keeping. The system automatically generates an audit trail for every document in the system and is designed with corporate governance and top-notch security in mind. Companies can get reports on who accessed what document, when, and how. Every modification and document version is tracked and securely stored.

Audit trails provide thorough information that helps external understand your procedures while demonstrating compliance. With KRIS, even remote audits can be carried out and any required documents can be easily found and exported in digital form, saving everyone time and money.