In some cases, you may find that a user is unable to modify an Audit despite them having ‘Edit’ or ‘Admin’ rights to the Audit Manager. This is an issue that usually affects Audits that have already been started, and that are in the ‘In Progress’, ‘Awaiting Review’, or ‘Reviewed’ stages: it does not impact Audits that are in the ‘Scheduled’ state, as these have not yet been begun. The issue itself is the direct result of the underlying rules within the Audit Manager, and these rules cannot be overridden by any user of your system, regardless of their permissions. As such, it is important to be aware of how your Audits will behave at each stage of the process, so that you can manage your Audits accordingly.
The module’s underlying rules will be dependent upon the affected Audit’s current status, and are outlined within the following sections:
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‘Scheduled’ Audits
Audits at the ‘Scheduled’ status have not yet been started by any user within your system, and therefore do not contain any data beyond their basic details (shown on the Properties tab) and a log of changes made to those details (shown on the Change Log tab). Whilst an Audit is in this state, it can be modified by any user who has ‘Edit’ or ‘Admin’ permissions to the module, enabling you to adjust basic information such as its due date, title, and the individuals or areas it is to cover. Audits within this state can also be started by any ‘Edit’ or higher user, meaning that, if needed, they can be completed by someone other than the user who was originally assigned as their auditor.
If an Audit has already been assigned to an auditor, and someone else starts the Audit, Activ will automatically update the audit’s Auditor field to display the name of the person who begun the Audit. Similarly, if no auditor was assigned, then Activ will automatically enter the name of the person who begun the Audit as soon as someone starts working on it.
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‘In Progress’ Audits
Audits at the ‘In Progress’ status have been started by a user, but have not yet been submitted for a review. When an Audit is started, its record is automatically updated to include a set of ‘information’ tabs that will be used to store the auditor’s findings and any documentation or records they may add to support those findings. In addition to this, because Audits should be completed by one person, the Audit is automatically locked to the auditor at the point that it is started. This means that only the currently assigned auditor can modify an Audit’s properties and contents whilst it is in this state.
In Progress Audits cannot be transferred to another auditor, and cannot be progressed by anyone other than the auditor who is currently assigned to them. If you need to transfer ownership of an In Progress Audit from one user to another, then you will need to:
- arrange for the existing Auditor to Clear and Reschedule the Audit. This will wipe any data from the Audit, and return it to the ‘Scheduled’ state; OR
- contact the Activ Support team for assistance.
Similarly, if any of an In Progress Audit’s details need to be changed (e.g. you need to change the assigned Reviewer before a review is requested), then those changes will need to be actioned by the assigned auditor.
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‘Awaiting Review’ Audits
Audits at the ‘Awaiting Review’ stage have been completed by their assigned auditor and passed on for a second party to review their findings. This provides you with an opportunity to escalate any issues that the audit might have uncovered, to query any findings that do not appear accurate, and to formally accept the findings of the audit. Although the reviewer can be the same user as the auditor if needed, this stage is most effective for processes that include separate auditors and reviewers, and the rules affecting it have been designed with this workflow in mind.
When an Audit is at this stage, its contents are locked for editing and can no longer be modified by any user. This is because the review stage is focused on checking the audit’s contents, and the contents themselves should not be changed as part of the review. Because of this, if any changes need to be made to the Audit’s contents, or it needs to be assigned to a new reviewer, the review will need to be cancelled so that the Audit is returned to the auditor and set back to the ‘In Progress’ stage. At this point, the assigned auditor will be able to make any necessary changes, including assigning a new reviewer, and can then request a new review once they are happy with the updated content.
‘Awaiting Review’ Audits can only be reviewed by their assigned reviewer, and only this individual can cancel the review should the Audit’s contents need to be updated. As such, it is strongly advised that you do not assign a reviewer until the audit is sent for review. This will help you to avoid situations in which a pre-assigned Audit becomes ‘stuck’ due to the assigned reviewer leaving the company or otherwise being unavailable when the Audit is progressed to its review stage.
If you have an Audit that has become ‘stuck’ due to the assigned Reviewer leaving the company, you will need to contact the Activ Technical Support team for further assistance.
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‘Reviewed’ Audits
Audits at the ‘Reviewed’ stage have been completed by their auditor, reviewed by a second party (if the reviewer was another user), and fully signed-off. At this point, all of the contents of the Audit have been formally accepted, and there should be no further changes made to any of the information that it contains. For this reason, Audits at this stage are permanently locked for editing, meaning that no further modifications can be made. A ‘Reviewed’ Audit cannot be re-opened or modified by anyone, regardless of their user permissions. This allows the Audit to be used as a historical record of Audits, and of your company’s compliance to the Audit’s criteria at the time of the Audit’s completion, without any risk of its contents being invalidated by later adjustments.
