In regards to a corrective action plan in response to audit findings, an important first step is to find the root cause of the identified deficiency. Once the root cause has been identified, a plan to rectify the problem should be put in place with goals, measures of success and a timeline. A system of verification should also be included to prove that the process has been improved or problem has been rectified. This ensures that steps are being put into place to avoid a recurrence.
The corrective action plan should include the following for each finding:
1) Cause of finding
2) Policy change impacting the finding
3) Procedure change impacting the finding
4) Corrective action needed to implement change
5) Training details if necessary
6) Timeline associate with desired outcome
7) Measureable goals including baseline measures and a way to determine if the corrective action has been successul
I guess should be of this way:
1. Audit Repor Number
2. Finding number
3. Finding
4. Corrective action taken or to be taken
5. Department Response
6. Additional Comments
7. Department Contact Resposible for corrective actions.
obviously this is just an example but in reality there are a variety of examples depending on the objective of the audit
Certain elements are required for each corrective action plan related to an audit finding.
Required elements are listed below:
• Reference to Finding Control Number
• Statement of Concurrence or Nonconcurrence- Each organizational unit should provide a
statement of concurrence or nonconcurrence with the findings and recommendations. If your
organization does not agree with a finding, specific information should be provided by your
organization to support its position.
• Corrective Action - The plan should provide pertinent comments on the detailed action taken or planned to correct the deficiencies in the audit findings, or a statement, as appropriate, which describes the reasons that corrective action is unnecessary.
•Contact Person- Officials responsible for completing the proposed actions should also be
identified. Please indicate the name, title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the responsible official.
I would include everything related to very sensitive departments like: Financial Aid, Registrar and Bursar Office also, because they wokr all the time with students information.
These departments definitely all have documents that are critical and one may impact another. For example, records maintained by the registrar's office may impact financial aid eligibility.
The findings; specific plans on how each finding will be resolved; which dept or person will be responsible for ensuring resolution; a reasonable timeframe for the new procedure to be implemented
A corrective action plan should contain the original "findings", the steps taken to mitigate and procedures set in place to avoid future misgivings.
The corrective action plan should include the department's plan to correct each problem found during the audit. It should include updated copies of any revised process procedures (SOP's) that employees will follow in order to prevent the findings from reoccuring.
Corrective Action Plan:
*Identify and acknowledge the finding, dated
*State reason behind the finding (if able)
*List corrective action(s) to take place
*Date corrective action took affect
*Include any documentation supporting correction
*Action Plan to avoid future findings
*Staff training documentation, if applicable
*Signature/Date of staff member responsible for completing corrective action plan
A corrective action plan should include action items and next steps to rectify the findings identified during the audit review. In addition to the elements previously mentioned on the discussions boards, a campus should consider re-testing as an ongoing practice the findings to ensure such have been remediated.
Reference the finding. Agree or disagree with the finding. State the changes or modifications implemented to the procedure or process relevant to correct the deficiency. State the timeline for implementation and the timeframe for expected results. Name the person responsible to implement and oversee the corrective action plan.
A corrective action plan serves several functions. It acknowledges the process that needs improvement, it identifies the department/person responsible, it establishes a plan to correct the finding and it sets a time frame to accomplish the objective. The action plan also sets the accountability chain in place to not only correct the previous mistakes but also to change the process and prevent the mistakes from repeating themselves in the future. If the findings are repeat findings, then an analysis of the previous plans will also need to be reviewed for effectiveness and creditability
1.Each finding should be clearly documented with the students name, program designation and date of finding.
2. Stand-alone explanation of why the finding occurred.
3. Policy and procedure that will be put in place to correct finding and avoid repeat of same finding in the future.
Charles,
Great points! Accountability is key and I like your comment about analyzing previous plans if they were unsuccessful in preventing subsequent findings to avoid making the same mistake twice.
Traci Lee
In any case; alot of times auditors provide a checklist of what needs to be corrected, they provide a certain amount of time for corrective action. At my University we take immediate action to reply on deficiences and correct the issue.
I think a corrective plan should first acknowledge the findings and then list a plan of action for each correction and a timeframe for which they will be corrected along with a plan of action to monitor and ensure that this wont happen again.
Audit findings and the corrective action plans should be given to all employees involved. When this action is taken the solution,with the involvement of more employees can sometimes be very simple.
In addition to the list of items provided in previous reponses an action plan should include processes in place to prevent issues from reoccuring. Policies should be drafted, catalogs updates, etc. If errors, evidence they have been addressed and corrected.
In response to an audit finding, I think the following should be included in a corrective action plan:
The Auditors’ name
Date of the finding
The finding
Responsible party
Circumstances that led to the finding
Detailed information on correcting the finding
Estimated time frame for follow up
Citation number, if applicable
