Have you ever wondered if your internal audit team is doing its job effectively?
Well, it is understandable that your internal audit activity might not be subject to the rigorous audit that your other departments and business units go through, there are ways you can gauge the performance of your internal audit department. One way is to hire an external auditor to undergo all aspects of your business, including your internal audit process and function.
Let’s look at why it is beneficial to hire external auditors and how they can benefit your business.
Importance Of Outsourced Internal Audits
It is important to get an idea of how well your existing internal audit department is performing. By hiring an external auditor to monitor your internal audit, you’ll get an expert external opinion on your existing auditing mechanisms. If they’re not up to the industry standard, you can take relevant measures to ensure that they operate at the highest level.
Furthermore, it will also give you valuable information on any potential employee errors or mismanagement. Internal audit departments may be at risk to produce biased outcomes. This may be due to company pressure or external influences rather than bad intentions or incompetency.
An external auditor will be unbiased, and their judgement will not be impaired by any potential personal gains or emotional connection with the company, which helps to objectively assess business processes and their effectiveness. A fully independent expert can provide you with the judgment that will help you in the long term.
Benefits Of Outsourced Audits
Apart from getting an unbiased opinion and the performance reports of your internal audit function, there are various other benefits of hiring an external auditor. Hiring a specialist auditor will provide you assurance in key business operations, as these auditors will bring specialist expertise that you may not have in-house.
Furthermore, their expertise will help you remain compliant with relevant standards such as ISO 9001, and ISO 14001. They will do an extensive in-depth analysis of your operations, that your internal audit department might not be able to do.
An external auditor can help you find mistakes and errors, that can severely impact the reputation and continuity of your business. Furthermore, there might be mistakes that are not picked up by your internal department. Involving additional pair of eyes to audit your internal auditors will ensure that no such mistakes occur, and even if they do happen their impact is mitigated quickly.
If you’re looking for a boutique consulting firm that conducts internal audits, then check out EQM Consult. We provide comprehensive environmental management system audits and internal quality management system audits to help our customers remain compliant with the relevant ISO standards. We also help businesses create strong environmental management systems and quality management systems.
We have affordable pricing, and you can select us for a project or task-based services. We help you fulfil outsourced auditing obligations through the internal and suppliers’ audits of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS 9100 and more. You can check our website for more information about the services, or contact us for a consultation.
Ph.D. Beata Paliwoda
Founder and Owner of EQM. Environmental and quality consultant and auditor. Professional career built in Quality Assurance departments in various companies from the automotive, aerospace, railway industries, as well as a management systems consultant. Successfully completed many complex projects related to the implementation of management systems, process improvements and business transformation. Auditor of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS 9100, project manager of APM, lecturer at the Poznan University of Business and Economics, researcher on the effectiveness of EMS and QMS in organisations.
