Skip to content

Free template

Updated

Internal audit schedule template

An internal audit schedule, or audit programme, plans which processes are audited, how often, by whom and when, across a year. A quality management system such as ISO 9001 expects an organisation to audit itself at planned intervals, to take account of the importance of the processes and the results of earlier audits, and to use auditors who are objective and impartial. This template turns that into four working pieces: an annual programme with a risk rating and the last audit result for each process, a rule for how many audits each one needs, an audit register with dates, findings and actions, and an auditor pool that keeps people off their own area. The Excel version works out the audits needed, checks the plan against it, flags overdue audits and conflicts of independence, and summarises findings and actions. The PDF has the same pages to print and a worked example. It names ISO 9001 only as the public standard; it does not reproduce its text.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the internal audit schedule templateHeader fields above a table of processes with columns for requirement areas, risk, last audit result, audits needed, twelve month columns from January to December and an auditor.
Annual audit programmeRisk-based audits neededMonth gridAudit registerIndependence checkAuditor poolFindings and actions summaryWorked example
Filled-in Internal audit schedule template: a 14-process plant, 18 audits planned
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 4 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use an internal audit schedule

  • When you plan the year's internal audits for a quality management system and need to show that the frequency follows risk and past results.
  • When audits are planned ad hoc and some processes have not been audited for years.
  • When you have to show an auditor or a customer which audits were done, what they found and whether the actions were closed.
  • When you need to spread audits across a small pool of auditors without anyone auditing their own work.
  • Not for the audit questions themselves; use an audit checklist for the process being audited.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    List every process or area

    Put each process of the management system on the programme, from planning to shipping and support. One line for each, with the requirement areas it covers.

  2. 2

    Rate the risk and note the last result

    Rate each process high, medium or low by what a failure would do to the customer or to a requirement. Record the worst grade at its last audit: none, clean, observation, minor or major.

  3. 3

    Work out how many audits each needs

    The rule here is 2 audits a year for high risk and 1 for medium and low, plus 1 if the last audit found a major, never more than 4. Change the rule if your own is different, and write it down.

  4. 4

    Plan the months and the auditors

    Mark each audit's month and spread them so no month is overloaded. Choose an auditor for each who is trained and who does not work in that area.

  5. 5

    Record each audit and its findings

    In the register, write the planned and actual dates, the findings by grade, the report date and the actions raised and closed. Close an audit's actions before it is forgotten.

  6. 6

    Review the programme

    Check the summary for overdue audits, processes with too few audits planned and open actions. Review the programme at least once a year and after any major finding, and take the results to management review.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example (illustrative): a made-up plant with 14 processes, looked at on 15 August.

  • Purchasing is medium risk, but its last audit found a major nonconformity, so the rule asks for 2 audits a year. Calibration is low risk and clean, so it needs 1.
  • Across the 14 processes the rule asks for 19 audits. Eighteen are planned, because customer complaints has none: the plan check shows Add 1.
  • By 15 August 11 audits are completed, 2 are overdue and 5 are still to come.
  • The completed audits found 1 major, 9 minor and 8 observations. Ten actions were raised and 7 are closed, so 3 are still open.

The summary points to the two overdue audits, the one process short of an audit and the three open actions, which is the agenda for the next programme review.

Common mistakes

  • Auditing the same easy processes every year

    A programme that skips awkward processes is not a programme. Every process is on the list and its frequency follows risk and results.

  • Letting people audit their own area

    An auditor who audits their own work is not impartial. Record each auditor's own area and keep them off it.

  • Planning audits and not tracking them

    A schedule that nobody updates hides overdue audits. Use the register and the status date so late ones show up.

  • Findings with no owner or date

    A finding is only useful if someone fixes it. Raise an action with an owner and a date, and watch the open count in the summary.

  • Never changing the frequency

    A process with a major finding needs more attention, and a long clean record may need less. Review the programme at least once a year.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite you build any audit checklist, schedule it, complete it on a phone or tablet with photos as evidence, and turn every non-conformance into a tracked action with an owner.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Internal audit schedule template: common questions

  1. An internal audit schedule, or audit programme, is the plan for which processes are audited, how often, by whom and when over a year. It shows that internal audits are planned at intervals and cover the whole management system.

  2. There is no fixed number. ISO 9001 expects the frequency to take account of the importance of the processes and the results of earlier audits. This template uses a simple rule you can change: 2 a year for high risk, 1 for medium and low, plus 1 after a major finding.

  3. No. Internal auditors should be objective and impartial, so they should not audit their own work. The auditor pool in this template records each auditor's own area and the register flags a conflict.

  4. The audit number, the process audited, the planned and actual dates, the auditor, the scope, the findings by grade, the report date and the actions raised and closed. This template has a column for each.

  5. No. It names ISO 9001 only as the public standard that internal audits usually serve. You can type the clause numbers your auditors use in the requirement areas column; no clause text is included.

More free templates

All templates
Browse all 236 templates

Can't find the template you need?

Tell us what you're looking for. We'll make it and send it to your inbox, free.

A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.

By sending this form you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Pass it on

We want LeanSuite to be the best place on the internet for lean help. If this was useful, send it to someone on your team or in your network who needs it.