There are a number of key features which should appear in all audit reports which we will detail here:
Include a front page
The front page of an audit report should include the name of the organization, the name of the person and company who completed the audit, and the date or dates on which the audit took place.
An executive summary
The job of an executive summary is to provide a very brief overview of the results of the audit - what you found, what your findings mean for the company, and any conclusions you have drawn from the audit.
A background summary
A background summary should briefly cover the actions of the auditor or auditing company before the audit was carried out. It should include any reasons the auditor or auditors have for completing the audit, and who was assigned to the audit and why.
Objectives
In this section, the auditor should state any goals or aims that they were hoping to achieve before carrying out the audit. For example, was the audit carried out in order to improve the company's standards? Or simply to keep up with the strict regulations in the industry?
Methodology
The methodology section should contain a highly detailed report of the processes that were used to perform the audit. Every step of the audit should be analyzed, such as the size of the sample: Why was that size of sample used? How was the sample gathered? How long did it take to gather the sample? This should be the most in-depth section of your report.
Findings
This section should also be highly detailed. The findings section should include written reports of the findings of the audit, which should be accompanied by a visual representation of the data - a chart, table or graph, for example. Your findings should be completed with a conclusion, which everyone within the organization should be able to understand - therefore, don't use terminology which is too specialized.
