Auditing for the future

I spent the day yesterday working with a client who wanted audit training.  It was a very relaxing and interesting day, during which we explored the background to management system standards and the role of audit within them.  We spent some time talking through the benefits of a risk based audit programme and came up with some good ideas for inclusion in the 'going forward breaking away from all procedures being audited once a year' programme.  We explored the skills needed to be effective when undertaking an Internal Audit.  My client said she'd never really got her head round audit before - their system was 'put in' by a consultant who simply said 'I'll come back and do the audits for you' - and I was delighted that she went away with ideas for risk assessing the business, tools to put together an audit plan and the skills to then deliver against it.