Audit Checklist - computer format or handwritten?

Gilbert, your auditor wasn't far off the mark, in my experience. I use such a technique, regardless of the medium used in communications, during the audit. Firstly, "checklist" is a bit of a misnomer. Auditors don't use checklists - or at least shouldn't - like a pilot does. What an auditor is doing is a) planning their audit and b) demonstrating objectivity and freedom from bias, all of which ARE required by the standard. Furthermore, if you consider this activity to be more like creating a shopping list, than simply things to "check off" as done, then the use of some type of working document (as ISO 19011 calls them) takes on a greater importance. We all know what happens on shopping trips without planning....

 

If you're referring to the notes taken by the auditor during the course of the audit, where does it state in the standard that internal auditors need to have handwritten notes?

In this day and age as people become more tech savvy, maybe typed notes are a viable option. Some people type faster than they write. Some people can't read their rushed handwriting when they go back to flipping through their notes. Do what works for your organization. We tried using a tablet with a stylus once - didn't work too well for us, but it was a fun experiment to try.

That being said, be careful with the typing on a virtual audit...the constant, never-ending clackity-clack of a keyboard is annoying, can drown out people's voices (depending on the proximity of the mic to the keyboard), and people may start to wonder if you're truly listening to them instead of simply transcribing what they're saying.

And if someone raises the issue of "how do you know this typed set of notes is really from the auditor", tweak the process to include some form of authorized communication such as an email from the individual's account (these are often password protected), so if the email has the notes attached, problem solved.

Is there a loophole? Yes. But hey, there's a loophole with handwritten notes, as well...after all, how we do know that Internal Auditor Bob actually wrote these notes? Do you keep a handwriting sample available for comparison? Of course not...it's a silly notion. Personally, whomever made that suggestion needs to recognize that tech changes and organizations need to adapt to make it work for them.

 

I guess it really comes down to the environment and some other factors. I have found that in manufacturing, a clipboard, a paper "checklist" and a pen are very effective/efficient. Of course, the amount of notes taken will be driven directly from the degree of compliance of the system being audited. Low compliance = high notes taking. Hence, using a computer for "checklist/notes taking in an office, over a Zoom meeting with a highly compliant management system is going to work well.

 

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I still use my handwritten note sheets during virtual audits, simply because I am familiar with their format (I have a set of templates using Rocketbook, which can be saved as a .pdf file then erased and written on over and over) and my process notes set up helps me quickly find samples later for segments like document control, training, maintenance and calibration. Some software can turn handwriting into text, but I have not yet found that to work for me so I just have to be sure to write legibly.