Audit Execution
Evidence Collection and Documentation
Best practices for collecting, organizing, and documenting audit evidence
2026-01-05
Audit Evidence must be sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful to support audit conclusions and recommendations. Proper collection and documentation are critical for audit quality.
📊 Types of Audit Evidence
- Physical: Direct observation and inspection
- Documentary: Policies, procedures, records, reports
- Testimonial: Interviews and inquiries
- Analytical: Data analysis and comparisons
- Electronic: System-generated logs and data extracts
✅ Evidence Quality Criteria
Ensure evidence is:
- Sufficient: Adequate quantity to support conclusions
- Reliable: From credible sources and independently verifiable
- Relevant: Directly related to audit objectives
- Useful: Helps achieve audit objectives
📁 Documentation Best Practices
Maintain organized workpapers with clear indexing, source attribution, and conclusions. Include sufficient detail for an experienced auditor to understand the work performed and conclusions reached.
💡 SmartHubs Feature
Use SmartHubs' centralized evidence repository to organize, tag, and link evidence to specific audit findings and testing procedures for seamless documentation.