{"id":7740,"date":"2024-01-23T10:44:15","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T10:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imsm.com\/tz\/?p=7740"},"modified":"2024-01-23T10:44:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T10:44:15","slug":"external-auditing-vs-internal-auditing-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imsm.com\/tz\/news\/external-auditing-vs-internal-auditing-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"External Auditing VS Internal Auditing: What\u2019s the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
ISO standards are crucial in today’s business landscape, helping businesses establish robust management systems and demonstrate their commitment to quality, environmental responsibility, and information security.<\/p>\n
Businesses often undertake ISO audits to maintain compliance and continuously improve their processes. Regarding ISO auditing, there are two primary approaches: external and internal. This blog will explore the key differences between external and internal ISO auditing and help determine which approach best suits your business.<\/p>\n
External auditing involves hiring independent auditors or certification bodies to assess your company\u2019s compliance with ISO standards. These auditors are unbiased third parties with specialised expertise and knowledge of ISO requirements. They conduct thorough assessments, evaluating your processes, procedures, and documentation against the applicable ISO standard.<\/p>\n
External audits provide an objective view of your compliance status and offer an unbiased assessment of your ISO management system. They are necessary for gaining ISO certification and instilling confidence in your clients and stakeholders.<\/p>\n
The benefits of external auditing include the following:<\/p>\n
Internal auditing involves conducting audits by trained personnel within your business. These auditors are familiar with your business operations, policies, and processes. Internal audits focus on verifying compliance with ISO requirements, identifying gaps, and driving continuous improvement. Internal audits are a proactive tool to monitor and enhance your management system’s effectiveness, identify non-conformances, and implement corrective actions.<\/p>\n
Businesses wishing to maintain their ISO management system standard must conduct internal audits of their system. This is also a necessary requirement to maintain their ISO certification. These internal audits can be conducted by trained personnel or qualified external consultants. Internal audits, conducted correctly, will allow for continuous improvement of the management system.<\/p>\n
Organisations can conduct the internal audits necessary for improvement by having an in-house auditor trained to identify and act on non-conformances.<\/p>\n
The benefits of internal auditing include the following:<\/p>\n
You can read our blog here<\/a><\/span> for further information about internal auditor training<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Depending on the nature of your business, available resources and business objectives, an organisation may use the services of an external auditor to conduct their internal audits. However, this is not the same as having an external auditor conduct your certification audit on behalf of a certification body.<\/p>\n When an organisation hires an external auditor to conduct an internal audit, they will assess an organisation\u2019s internal processes, control and compliance with specific standards or regulations. The external auditor, independent of the organisation, reviews its systems, procedures, and documentation to evaluate their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement to ensure compliance with internal policies and external requirements.<\/p>\n When an organisation is ready to seek certification, they engage with an external auditor from a certification body or registrar to conduct the certification audit. This holds a different purpose, as the external auditor\u2019s role is to evaluate whether the organisation\u2019s management systems, processes and controls align with the requirements of the standard being certified. They will perform on-site inspections to verify compliance. The outcome of a successful certification audit is the issuance of an official certification that demonstrates compliance.<\/p>\n Internal auditing is a requirement for all ISO management system standards to maintain compliance and the upkeep of their management systems. Regular internal audits enable organisations to assess their compliance with the requirements, identify gaps or non-conformities, and take corrective action to maintain or improve their system\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n Therefore, internal auditing is a requirement for organisations to monitor and evaluate the implementation of processes, procedures, and controls, which fosters a culture of continuous improvement.<\/p>\n Organisations may improve their overall performance, optimise their operations, foster stakeholder trust, and assure long-term success in a competitive business environment by offering an objective review of the system’s performance.<\/p>\n At IMSM, we provide internal auditor training courses for businesses that want to maintain the upkeep of their ISO management systems in adherence to the standard\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n We provide internal auditor training on the following ISO courses:<\/p>\nWhat are the differences and similarities between internal and external auditing?<\/h2>\n
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