Audit scope and plan

1. Regulatory Concept & Core Standards

In this video we will work through a concrete decision: define an audit question and suitable evidence. The aim is to explain the criterion used and apply it to a workplace situation. We will start with the concept, move to the procedure and finish with a case to solve. Audit assesses specified criteria and evidence within a limited scope. This recommended method confers no statutory certificate. Auditors also observe confidentiality and privacy. Match conclusions to period, sample and processes checked.

Define aims and criteria, separating laws, policy and recommendations. Auditing one’s own design may need independence safeguards. Audit status does not give every team member automatic all-file access.

Apply the following rule: Section 5 requires an internal system in public institutions regardless of workforce, and private legal persons with at least 50 workers. Specified financial and other regulated sectors are exempt from the headcount threshold. Sharing follows section 5(3); outsourcing does not remove protection.

2. Practical Implementation & Procedure

Set scope, period and risk-based sample. Connect questions and sources. Provide competence, objectivity and necessary rights. State exclusions and handling of material new information. Before moving on, turn this procedure into a sequence you could explain to a colleague. Identify the first check, the action that depends on its outcome and the record that allows the decision to be reconstructed. Follow the sequence on screen and identify the point where an error would change the result.

3. Case Study & Compliance Action

A proposal promises whole-programme assurance from one link test. The revised plan separates access, handling timing and prevention-control evidence. Now read the case carefully. Separate established facts from information you would still need to confirm. Do not add motives or events that have not been described. This distinction matters when choosing a response proportionate to the information available.

The exercise is as follows: Why define boundaries? Choose an answer and write one sentence explaining it. During the pause, compare your choice with the criteria we have just considered. Also think about the material you would retain to explain the decision later.

They guide work and align findings with evidence. Unlimited promises can imply an unjustified complete review.

One mistake to avoid is: promising compliance within undefined scope.

Now apply the national rule to a second decision. A subsidiary adopts its foreign head office’s procedure unchanged. What should be checked?

Identify the Latvian legal person, workforce and regulated activities. Check section 5 threshold exceptions and shared-system conditions. Public-institution duties do not depend on headcount. A shared platform gives no automatic group-wide access. Name the owner and substitution arrangements.