ABSTRACT
The author’s metaphor for risk-based auditing, The Audit Adventure™, is set at Poldhu, in the UK county of Cornwall. It is aligned to ISO 19011:2018. Poldhu is a beautiful sandy cove with high ground left and right, forming a valley beach. This powerful image of The Audit Adventure™ is intended to make this complete auditing approach memorable to lead auditors and their audit teams. At any time, they’ll know where they have been, where they are, and where they’re going next. The metaphorical topography—top-down, and bottom-up—charts the project steps that an audit team will progress to complete their work on time through the five stages in ISO 19011:2018—Initiate, Prepare, Conduct, Conclude, and Report. Only when the journey is complete will auditors have assembled the facts and evidence upon which to base their independent audit opinion.
