Auditing Without Disrupting Your Daily Duties

The contemporary realities of professional work pose many challenges for auditors. Conducting audits is often not the main occupation of the person responsible for their performance, but is an additional duty performed in addition to everyday tasks. In practice, this means that auditors must reconcile audits with other, priority duties, which often results in frustration and the perception of audits as unnecessary formality or work for the sake of it. Moreover, awareness of the benefits of regularly performed audits, although growing, still remains at a low level. As a result, many people treat audits more as a burdensome duty that does not bring any positive results than as one of the key tools influencing quality, safety and improving the functioning of the organization.

When designing Action Audit, we aimed to address the market’s needs and create a tool for auditors and managers that would ensure:

• Audits are completed as quickly as possible,
• The process is both accurate and detailed, yielding reliable results,
• Auditors do not need to perform additional tasks after completing the audit,
• All observations, suggestions, and discrepancies are appropriately addressed, and their implementation is monitored in subsequent stages.

Our goal has always been to provide a tool that simplifies and streamlines the entire audit process while ensuring the highest quality and effectiveness.

Everything Starts with Configuration

It’s no surprise that each of our clients has unique needs and that every organization is one of a kind. Although processes in the manufacturing sector, where most of our clients operate, are largely standardized, their implementation can vary significantly in practice.

To provide users with an audit tool that is not only functional but also intuitive, we developed an advanced audit management panel. This panel allows for precise customization of the application to suit each organization’s specifics, ensuring proper functionality and process optimization according to the users’ individual requirements.

Don't Make Me Think

Our primary principle in designing the most critical screen of the application—the audit execution screen—was to ensure maximum simplicity and intuitiveness for the user. The user should not have to think about how to use the application but rather focus on achieving the goals for which it was created. Every moment spent figuring out the interface is a loss for the quality of the audit and creates unnecessary frustration.

The audit execution screen is the central element of the application, as it is where all the auditor’s activities converge. Therefore, its design must be as intuitive and well-thought-out as possible. We use a “convention over configuration” approach, meaning that basic actions are immediately accessible, often with a single click, and the most frequently used settings are pre-selected by default. This way, the user instantly knows how to start and conduct an audit without needing to search through options and configurations. This design approach allows for quick standard audits and, at the same time, offers full flexibility and support for more complex scenarios.

The Hidden Power of Automation

One of the most tedious aspects of an auditor’s job is manually filling out tables, summaries, and reports, as well as informing all relevant parties about the audit results. When an audit concludes, the auditor’s work should theoretically be done, but in reality, this is when the time-consuming process of data processing, information dissemination, and planning further actions begins.

With the proper configuration of the audit process, all these tasks can be fully automated by the system, freeing the auditor from repetitive activities. Once entered, the data is automatically processed and used in subsequent stages, eliminating the need for manual completion of reports and summaries.

Action Audit automatically marks the audit as completed in all reports and generates the input data necessary for creating reports and charts. The system independently prepares a plan for post-audit corrective and preventive actions, assigns responsibilities to specific individuals, and monitors progress in completing tasks. This ensures that all information reaches the right people and that the process is conducted transparently and systematically.

Such automation not only relieves auditors from tedious, repetitive tasks but also minimizes the risk of errors associated with manual data processing. The system itself reminds users of deadlines for completing post-audit actions, facilitating effective management of the entire process. As a result, auditors can focus on the key aspects of their work, while the magic of automation takes place in the background, ensuring that the process during and after the audit runs smoothly and without interruptions.

Have We Succeeded? Both Yes and No

During numerous business meetings, consultations, and training sessions, we often encountered various objections that could hinder the implementation of Action Audit into auditors' daily work. Many of these concerns were addressed thanks to the fact that our tool proved to be intuitive, transparent, and user-friendly. Here are some of the most common objections we encounter:

• I’m swamped and don’t have time for more tasks – The concern that auditing would be too time-consuming was dispelled by accurately estimating the time needed for this task. Performing one audit per week takes only two hours a month, which is just 1.25% of the total work time.
• It’s a waste of paper – In response to the objection about wasting paper, we emphasize that the entire audit process is conducted digitally, without the need for paper or even Excel sheets.
• I don’t have a laptop and have to re-enter results from notes after returning to the office – The issue of re-entering audit results from notes was resolved with the mobile app. Users can use the tool on their smartphone, enabling them to conveniently and instantly enter data.
• No one (except management) knows when and where to conduct the audit – Organizing auditors’ work is facilitated by automatic push notifications. Thanks to these, each user receives precise information on their phone about the time and location of the audit, eliminating confusion and communication gaps.
• I report discrepancies and assign tasks, but then nothing happens – Concerns related to the lack of follow-up on reported discrepancies were addressed by implementing a system that monitors the completion of post-audit actions. Automatic reminders and reports presenting overdue tasks allow effective management of the process and ensure that colleagues don’t forget their responsibilities!

Despite these successes, we acknowledge that we have not fully achieved our goal because perfection is not an endpoint but a continuous process of improvement. We are constantly refining and developing Action Audit to better support auditors' work. We regularly meet with our most engaged clients, listen to their feedback—both positive and negative—and together set the direction for further development. It is this openness to user feedback and commitment to continuous improvement that enables us to create a tool that meets our clients' real needs while always leaving room for further enhancement.