Who this is for: Template builders (needs Manage My Audit Templates) to switch it on, and auditors to complete it.
The Audit Plan on Audit Details is a short plan for one audit, written before fieldwork. It records the things the rest of the audit doesn't already hold: how you'll sample, the practical arrangements, and what the audit will produce.
Not the same as the programme Audit Plan. View Audit Plan in My Audit Templates shows when every location is due to be audited over the next one to three years. This article is about the plan inside a single audit. See Viewing the Audit Plan for the programme view.
You don't need to repeat what's recorded elsewhere. The template's questions already set out the approach, the schedule sets the timing, the owner and auditors set the roles, and the conflict of interest declaration covers independence.
What the Audit Plan holds
Part | What to write | Example |
Sampling approach | How you'll choose what to check, and how many | 10 permits picked at random from the 120 issued in September, plus every permit for hot work |
Logistics | The practical arrangements | Start 07:00 at gatehouse; PPE needed; site manager to escort; interviews in meeting room 2 |
Expected outputs | What the audit will deliver, and to whom | Published report to the Operations Director within 5 working days; closing meeting on the day |
Plan document | A link to your own plan | The certification body's audit plan, or your sampling procedure |
Each note takes up to 1,000 characters. You can fill in the notes, add a link to your own plan, or both.
Switching it on in a template
Go to Audits › My Audit Templates and edit the template.
Open ② Audit Details and set Audit Plan to On.
Publish a new version of the template.
The Audit Plan is always optional. There's no Required setting, and an empty plan never stops an audit being published.
Audits started after you publish the template get the Audit Plan. You can't change a template while one of its audits is in progress, so finish those first. When you duplicate a template, the setting is copied.
Writing the plan on an audit
Open the audit and go to the Audit Details step.
In the Audit Plan section, complete Sampling approach, Logistics and Expected outputs as needed.
Select Save. The notes save with the rest of Audit Details.
Linking to your own plan
If you already have a plan, for example one sent by a certification body, link to it instead of retyping it. Each audit holds one plan link.
On the Add link tab, paste the web address of your plan (for example a SharePoint or OneDrive link) and select Save link. The address must start with http:// or https://. Save link stays greyed out until it does.
The link saves straight away. Select Open to open it in a new tab.
To change it, save a new link in its place; this replaces the old one. Select Remove to take it off (there's no confirmation). Each change is recorded in the audit's History.
In the published report
When the template includes it, the report and export have an Audit Plan card showing the three notes and the link to your plan.
Once the audit is published, the notes and the link can't be changed. Open still works, so the plan stays available with the record.
If this doesn't work
There's no Audit Plan section on my audit. The template has Audit Plan Off, or the audit was started before the template was changed. Ask your template builder to switch it on and publish a new version.
Save link is greyed out. The address must start with http:// or https://.
I can't change the plan. The audit has been published. You can still open the document.
Related articles
Recording objectives, boundaries and exclusions for an audit
Viewing the Audit Plan
Completing Audit Details
Preparing for an audit: scope, criteria and the opening meeting