4+ IT Audit Report Templates – PDF, Word
Just about every company makes use of information technology nowadays, especially considering the fact that it’s much easier to store, send, and receive data via machines. However, it’s important that one makes sure that all information within a company is secure from anyone or anything that could endanger it. You may also see report samples.
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This means that those in charge of conducting audits on an organization’s IT infrastructure will need to point out if there are any flaws or problems that need to be solved as soon as possible. And that’s why this article is going to teach you how to create an IT audit report. You may also like Report Templates in PDF.
Sample IT Audit Report Template
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IT Internal Audit Report Example
What Is an IT Audit Report?
An IT audit report is designed specifically for showing the results of an examination and evaluation of an organization’s information technology infrastructure, policies, and operations. It’s meant to show readers if a particular organization’s IT controls to protect corporate assets, ensure data integrity and are aligned with the business’s overall goals. You may also see quality audit reports.
Considering the fact that every modern company’s operations generally makes use of computers, and IT audit report is used to used to ensure information-related controls and processes are working properly. The primary objectives of this type of report would be the following: You may also see Report Samples in Doc.
- To show the results of the evaluations regarding a particular organization’s systems and processes in which they secure their data. You may also see internal audit reports.
- Ensure information management processes are in compliance with IT-specific laws, policies, and standards.
- To determine if whether or not there are inefficiencies in IT systems and in its management.
- To help see if there any risks involving an organization’s assets.
How to Make an IT Audit Report
Now that you’ve learned about the purpose of an IT audit report, the next step is for you to learn how to actually make one. Remember that its entire purpose revolves around determining whether an organization’s IT infrastructure is able to live up to standards. This means that the report is going to require information that will tell the reader everything from the positives to the negatives. The more detailed the report, the better for its credibility. You may also see safety audit reports.
With that in mind, here are the steps that will allow you to conduct a proper and effective IT audit report:
1. Know How You Should Present Your Report
Before you can begin writing, you need to understand that there’s a proper guideline that one has to follow to ensure that an audit report has everything that it needs. This means that there are a certain set of principles that you’re going to have to know about. Those would be the following:
- Give the reader a perspective on both the positives and negatives – Your audit report can’t just focus on one over the other. You’ll need to find the perfect balance in which you can convey both the positives and negatives. Best to start off with the positives and then move on to the negatives once you’re through. If there are more positives and negatives or vice versa, then you should still start with the positives before moving on to anything else. You may also see sample internal audit reports.
- Be precise with whatever it is that you have to say – It’s important that your report is as clear as it can possibly be to ensure that readers will have an easy time going through it. What you should avoid from doing is coming up with redundant phrases or inexact terminology. Do that, and there shouldn’t be any problems. You may also see clinical audit reports.
- Go with shorter sentences over longer ones – There are some who think that going with longer sentences will give more detail, only to find out that readers didn’t bother reading everything that was written down. This is because having longer sentences can make the report feel like a chore to go through. So it’s best that you opt for sentences which are brief, yet are able to provide the important information that one needs. You may also see communication audit report templates.
- Always make use of an active voice – As much as possible, you should never make use of a passive voice. The reason for this is because readers can find it difficult to understand a report if one mainly uses a passive voice. This can confuse them in terms of when something is about to be done or if something had already been done. You may also see compliance audit report templates.
- Make use of bullet points – You want your report to look as clean as possible, meaning that you’ll want to do everything that you can to organize whatever information is on it. Bullet points can help you break up difficult information, making it so much easier for the reader to analyze what you’ve written down. You may also see forensic audit report templates.
- Do not use audit buzzwords – Nobody really understands buzzwords as they don’t really have much meaning. Also, they’re overused and can make your report feel generic. So try to avoid phrases such as “generally improved,” “significant risk,” and “tighten controls.” You may also see compliance reports.
2. Create an Outline of Your Report
Before you begin writing, read the results of the audit and make an outline for yourself based on all of the different sections that your report is going to need. This means you’re going to have to know what it is that the report should contain to ensure that the reader is able to understand what it is that you want to say regarding your audit on an organization’s IT infrastructure. You may also see financial audit report templates.
A standard outline is comprised of headings, marked by Roman Numerals, and subsections that use letters, numbers, or lowercase Roman Numerals. You can go about in outlining your report in whatever way you wish, just make sure that the reader can understand what it is that you’ve written down.
3. Make Your Report Introduction
As soon as you start, you need to come up with a proper introduction. With it, you will be telling the reader exactly what he or she may expect when going through whatever you have written down. Also, the introduction is a very handy tool in terms of acting as a disclaimer. What that means is that you can use it to inform the reader of any background that he or she will need to know before reading through the report. You can also see engineering audit reports.
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4. Follow With the Purpose and Scope Methodology
This section provides information about the audit, as well as answering a couple of questions regarding how it was done. This section should also be able to address the methodology that was used upon conducting the audit. You can also read corrective action reports.
So here are the questions that you will need to cover:
- For what reason was the audit conducted? – This is pretty simple and straight to the point. You basically state the reason as to why the audit had to be done. Perhaps there was a report stating that management of a particular organization’s IT has not been following with the current IT standards. While there are many reasons that could prompt an audit report, you’ll need to figure out what those are. You can also read energy audit report templates.
- What information was and was not included in the report? – The reader will definitely want to know about this as he or she would like to determine if whether or not you were able to provide everything needed in the audit report. Make sure that you come up with a list of everything that you’ve managed to get a hold of during the audit, as well as what you refrained from using upon making the report. You may also like brand audit reports.
- What was the time period in which the audit was conducted? – This is very important as determining when the audit was conducted can state when violations were spotted as well as allowing one to compare the current audit to that of any previous ones. You can also like management audit report templates.
- What are the objectives of the audit? – Basically, you’re trying to point out what it is that the audit is supposed to do. Is it trying to prove that a particular organization’s IT department is living up to the standards and are following proper procedures? Or maybe it’s to show whether or not there are any violations that have been committed? Make sure to point out the objectives clearly when writing it down in the report. You can also like data audit reports.
5. Write Down the Overall Audit Rating and Recommendations
When you’ve done providing all the other information that’s vital in the report, then the last step is to provide the audit rating as well as what you can recommend in terms of what needs to be done. You can also check out stock audit report templates.
For example, if an organization’s IT management has one too many flaws but has not exactly committed any violations, you must state as such in the report. Also, point out the negatives and the best methods by which the organization can fix these flaws to ensure that they live up to the modern business IT standards.
If you would like to learn how to do other types of sample reports, then all you have to do is to go through our site. It has many different articles and all of them have information that should be able to provide you with the help that you need. Just make sure that you are able to write them thoroughly so that you can make the most out of whatever they have to provide.