The strength and future of a business depends on continuity of operations, especially during times of volatility. In this most uncertain time, executives are looking for ways to use the tools they have on hand to adapt and adjust to change—while maintaining smooth operations.

By leveraging auditing resources, businesses can gain insight and direction for delivering this stability in operations. An auditor’s perspective can help strengthen awareness of the financial impact of day-to-day business decisions made in unsettled conditions.

Engaging the audit department, or audit consultants, to evaluate operations can be more than just a compliance verification with policy or statutory requirements. Auditors can help ensure that underlying business processes are designed to effectively and efficiently operate. From evaluating supply chain workflows to onsite job safety and cost tracking, an audit can identify weaknesses in processes that could cause critical and costly failures.

Managing supply chain disruptions and vendor oversight

Whether it's sheet rock, steel and rivets, or personal protection equipment, supply chain disruptions have been one of the most significant symptoms of the pandemic’s effect on construction and other businesses. Even the most reliable vendors can quickly get backlogged or experience shipping delays as they struggle to provide these supplies in uncertain conditions.

Auditors can help evaluate critical vendors to understand their ability to deliver the goods or services needed in a timely manner, as well as their overall business stability. A vendor evaluation can also help identify when supplier diversification would help prevent delays in the delivery of goods and services, as well as ensuring quality standards are maintained.

Times of crisis never fail to draw fraudulent vendors and those looking to profit at the expense of others. An auditor’s evaluation of the supply chain can bring to light vendor red flags such as:

• Unrealistically short lead times;
• Organizations that are new and unheard of by others in the industry;
• Promises of supplies or equipment that are at a cost significantly lower than other vendors;
• Vendors that cannot provide references; and
• Vendors that cannot provide specifics on their criteria to meet CDC and your organizations quality requirements for critical supplies.

Protecting workers and management while still getting the job done

As the country begins to reopen, businesses will face the long-term challenge of creating, enforcing and monitoring new safety protocols, including monitoring which employees are on-site, employee compliance with safety requirements and compliance with sanitization methods. Auditors can develop oversight and monitoring protocols to help protect the health of workers and management while minimizing disruptions caused by absences and illness.

Together with existing safety procedures, these new protocols can help maintain stability at a jobsite if an outbreak does occur. They will also aid companies in identifying employees who could be potentially exposed to illness.

Exposing risk and identifying overlooked areas of operations

Beyond typical compliance and monitoring engagements, auditors bring to the table a unique mindset for risk assessment and risk management. A comprehensive risk assessment can offer management a new perspective. Working with an auditor to complete a risk assessment across all business divisions and operations often exposes risks and calls attention to areas of operation that may have been overlooked. Identifying and managing these risks and prioritizing time, resources and risk management efforts differently will help maintain continuity for employees and customers.

Planning for a different future

With their unique position and perspective, auditors can provide management with key insights that may affect the long-term future of the business. The days of “traditional” audit for compliance monitoring have long since passed. Partnering with audit teams to use their expertise and consultative abilities should be a key part of strategic planning and an integral part of monitoring operations. Even after the coronavirus pandemic is under control, the auditor’s toolbox will provide the perspective and knowledge businesses need to prepare for a different future.