1. Define audit types

Auditing is used in management systems, particularly as an internal improvement tool. Audits can be carried out on more or less extensive perimeters, on more or less variable levels of organization, and on more or less targeted issues.

One type of audit is more or less appropriate to the situation:

• A system audit covers all processes and other system elements, their interfaces and overall system operation;

• A process audit concerns a given process, addressing its characteristics as well as the interfaces between this process and the upstream and downstream process(es);

• A product audit consists in auditing the characteristics of a product or service in relation to a set of specifications, for example.

Audit practice...