Business Performance Audit Checklist
All businesses need to have a system in place to audit their organization's performance. This analysis helps companies identify their strengths and weaknesses by identifying challenges, uncovering inefficiencies and ensuring that organizations stay on track with its mission, objectives and goals. Conducting performance audits can help companies evaluate their actual performance and compare the results their mission statement and business plan to help pinpoint gaps -- where they are and where they want to move their company. The types of business functions audited include management, financial and operations.
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Management Evaluation
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A critical aspect of a business performance audit entails conducting an evaluation of the organization's processes and staff. The assessment starts with the company's mission statement. Identify if the company actually carries out the mission statement and if employees understand it and share its objectives. The company should also have a written plan for delivering its products or service and making ongoing improvements in quality. The organization requires a budget and the proper control in place to compare the budget to actual expenditures.
Operations Assessment
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The operations audit examines business processes related to each function of the company, such as production, sales, marketing or customer service. The audit determines if processes follow the intent of the operations plan and has the desired results. This analysis helps the business to understand, develop and improve processes and procedures. It compares actual performance against the company's standards for costs, operations and services. It also looks at how to make the necessary changes to achieve objectives and goals related to customer results and strategic and business outcomes.
Customer results assesses whether the company delivers products or service to customers according to the operations plan. It reveals if the organization needs to commit more resources to increase customer satisfaction or if it can lower costs of delivering goods and services without affecting the quality. Strategic and business outcomes focus on if current resources can continue efficiently deliver products and services and if competitors are doing it differently or more effectively.
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Personnel Evaluation
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The personnel assessment ensures the company has adequate staffing to meet its plans and objectives. This includes evaluating the skill level employees are ascertaining and whether they have the skills and training necessary to help the company accomplish it goal and objectives. The organizations must also evaluate the abilities of supervisors and managers. These individuals must have knowledge to motivate and build teams. They also must enhance staff and division performance and conduct performance evaluations.
Financial Audit
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The financial audit evaluates financial statements, processes and accounting systems. It also examines internal oversight and control. This evaluation has the purpose of revealing cost efficiency and if expenses fall in line with actual budgets and performance. The company's owner or financial manager must have the knowledge and skills to ensure the company has adequate cash flow, the proper financial statements, ability to analyze and compare financial documents and identify trends or irregularities or reconcile statements with accounts. In addition, the organization must have a reliable system for filing and paying taxes and handling employee payroll in a timely manner. Other aspects of the financial audit evaluate the company's compliance with local, state and federal regulations, procedures for extending credit, collection on accounts receivables and payable, lines of credit or contributions to reserve funds.
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References
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