3.3.4 How is Audit Objective Evidence Evaluated an...
An audit is a co mparison of audit objective evidence to audit criteria to deter mine findings.The evidence is t he objective inf or mation collected t hrough inter views,visual reconnaissance,and docu mentation review.The audit criteria are the expectations or rules of how conditions shoul d be.
In compliance auditing,the criteria are the regulations,guidelines,and/or standards.
When audit objective evidence is co mpared to criteria,one can deter mine whet her the audited entity does or does not conf or m.This deter mination is a finding,and a finding can eit her be one of conf or mance,or nonconf or mance.Theref ore,an audit will al ways produce findings,even if what is being audited is in f ull confor mance with criteria.
It is i mportant t hat t he auditor recor ds all audit objective evidence available,bot h of deficiencies and of conf or mance in sufficient detail.If a deficiency has been observed,the auditor needs to ensure t hat t he auditee/representative agrees wit h t he f acts of what has been observed.(https://www.daowen.com)
Audit findings are eval uated on t hree criteria:
a)Does the parameter being evaluated comply with required standards;
b)Has t he finding been verified;and
c)Is there any existing,residual,inherent,contingent,or potential risk revealed by this finding?