The external auditors are coming…

New federal regulations and taking on external auditors

With new federal regulations you will have to deal with external audits… TODAY!!! Are you ready?

The new federal regulation/external audits can be a nightmare and potentially can kill your business overnight if not addressed properly. In this article we have provided information to help you know what these regulations are, how to get your business to the next level and come out ahead of your competition.

1. What is this new bill proposing? First and foremost understand what you are on the hook for as a company with the new regulations. "The Bill"

2. Know your enemy: Know who can request for an audit on your organization. In most cases it can be your prospects, customers, the government (sometimes influenced by your competition) that can request for an audit at any time.

3. What is going to be audited? All audits have only one thing in common. They ask you only three questions,

a. What polices guide your organization? Show a list of your Company Policies (CP)?

b. What are the procedures that help execute these Company Policies. Usually referred to as 'Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)’.

c. Proof that you are in compliance with your Company Policies. This is refered to as ‘Audit traceability’. You have to maintai
Execution Logs (EL) to show how you are operating your Company Policies using Standard Operating Procedures.

4. The Do’s for an audit: Very simple. You need to have three sets of documents (That are all in sync with each other Company Policies, Standard Operating Procedures, and Execution Logs) for every operation that you conduct in the company! (From your operations, to HR, to proving that your people are trained to do the job that they are doing).

In a static world it is easy to keep these documents in sync. But when internal and external factors of business are changing all the time, keeping our Company Policies in sync with Standard Operating Procedures and Execution Logs is a whole different challenge. This sounds like an insurmountable challenge. You might be thinking “Gasp! Do I run my business or do I take care of these documents. This is impossible and is it going to cost me more money and time just to keep up with these audits!”

Don’t worry. There is a way…

One of the ways to ensure that you are keeping your documentation auditable is by using VA's Enterprise Compliance System, VA Comply. This tool has been built to help you get across the audit hurdle at anytime. Click on the link below to see a demo of VA Comply (NOTE: Please use Internet Explorer) and see how this tool gets your organization audit ready. It takes 2 minutes to load and about 3 minutes to run.