Concept, goals, and tasks of an audit
The attention of boards, consultants, and company advisors must currently focus on their internal control concepts, the task of which is to detect in a timely manner any deviations from the planned course of economic (logistics) processes. Proper control of an enterprise’s functioning allows for the verification of implemented processes, guarantees their “transparency,” and ensures the possibility of aligning the plan with the operational outcome. Hence, in the subject literature, as well as in practice, regarding the internal control of enterprises, there is very often talk about the necessity of rigor in processes, systems, and procedures. Certainly, one of the modern tools realizing the above postulates is an audit.
The concept of an audit is interpreted in a fairly broad sense. The etymology of the word audit comes from the Latin language, where audire means: to hear, to listen, to examine, to investigate. In English or French, the word auditor most often appears in the meaning: listener, or possibly a book examiner. It can be assumed that in the Polish language, the concept of an audit, and especially an external audit, means the examination of accounting books. An external audit is therefore defined as an audit of financial statements of institutions obliged to verify accounting and financial reporting. On the other hand, the concept of an internal audit is the result of searching for ways to improve information and decision-making processes; generally speaking – management processes. The internal audit standards existing in Poland distinguish between internal audit and internal control – often wrongly equated with internal audit. One of the internal audit standards (general standard no. 300) defines the scope of internal audit work as “the examination and evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of an institution’s internal control systems and the quality of performance in carrying out its assigned tasks.” In this sense, an internal audit is exercised by an institutional control unit, appointed by the head of the organization to verify the existence and effectiveness of the internal control system in that institution. Conversely, the internal control system is implemented at all organizational levels. Its organization (structure) consists of both units and procedures, regulations. The theory of organization and management focused on control issues distinguishes many concepts and models of internal audit.
Logistics audit in the system of industry audits
A natural step in the evolution of internal audit is the industry audit. It is directed at specific areas of an organization’s activity, where both in practice and in literature, the complement “internal” is not used. As examples of a significant, meaningful audit that introduces new information, one can point to such types of industry audits as: quality audit, marketing audit, IT systems security audit, occupational safety audit, or finally, the logistics audit, which has recently been achieving great practical success in Poland. Industry audits, as modern management tools, are primarily intended to provide information regarding the suitability (adequacy) and effectiveness of the existing internal control system and the quality of its operation. Industry audits are also intended to promote effective control systems while maintaining an optimal level of costs, promote pro-development changes, and act as a catalyst for development processes in the organization. Industry audits are also tools for critical evaluation of the management of individual functional areas in an enterprise. For example, a quality audit is a tool enabling the achievement of one of the main goals of an enterprise, which should be satisfying customer needs while simultaneously limiting variability and fluctuations in the quality level of delivered products or services. Concern for quality covers every element of the production chain – from suppliers to the final customer, and thus the entire sphere of enterprise management organization. Very often, enterprises, out of concern for the proper quality of their own products, implement concepts that pay homage to quality management, implemented at almost all levels of management. It is pointed out that the best tool for control and evaluation (certification) of an implemented quality management system is precisely quality audits.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2007.