The user (auditor) of AuditSoft can submit an audit detectly to the Certification Body / Certifying Partner from the submit tab within AuditSoft to a Quality Assurance (QA) review process.
The review process is outlined in the diagram below:
The steps in the diagram above are:
The AuditSoft user (auditor) Submits and audit to the quality assurance process.
The audit is transmitted to AuditXchange and enters the Pending Review stage. The Certification Body / Certifying Partner administrator(s) are notified by email. In this
The audit is assigned to a reviewer (or administrator) to start the review.
At any stage, as the audit moves through the review process, it can assigned to another reviewer (or administrator). These changes are tracked as part of the audit revision history.
If the reviewer identifies a deficiency the reviewer can request a correction and send anonymous notification to the auditor to make corrections. This correction loop can be completed multiple times.
Once the review has been complete the audit revision is Acceptedand the content of the audit be made available for data aggregation and analytics.
IMPORTANT: Acceptance is not an indication of whether the audit has "passed" or "Failed". It is an indication that the QA process was completed.
If the Audit does not meet the Certification Body / Certifying Partner requirements to be reviewed it can be Rejectedat any time.
IMPORTANT: Rejection is not an indication of whether the audit has "passed" or "Failed". It is an indication that the QA process was completed (reasons for rejections can include, lates submission, member not in good standing, auditor not qualified to do the audit, etc.).
Audit Review States
The toolbar at the top of the page enables easy access to lists of audits that are in different states
Pending Review
The audit review has not yet been started
When an audit is in this state the Auditor:
can Submit an Update (this will be tracked as a new revision)
can Withdraw their submission
Withdrawn
If an audit was submitted accidentally while it is still incomplete, or if an auditor realizes and error after submitting, but before the review has started, the audit can be withdrawn. It is stored in the Withdrawn state until it is resubmitted.
Either the Auditor or the Reviewer/Administrator can withdrawn the audit depending on its current state.
An Auditor can only withdraw a audit from within AuditSoft if the audit is in the Pending Review state.
When an audit is in this state the Auditor:
can Submit an Update (this will be tracked as a new revision)
In Review
The audit review process has been started by the reviewer
When an audit is in this state the audit is temporarily locked and the Auditor:
cannot Submit an Update
Awaiting Revision
The reviewer has requested a revision from the Auditor
When an audit is in this state the Auditor:
can Submit an Update (this will be tracked as a new revision) once submitted the audit goes back to the Pending Review state
Accepted
The Quality Assurance (QA) process has been completed and the audit submission has been accepted.
IMPORTANT: Acceptance is not an indication of whether the audit has "passed" or "Failed". It is an indication that the QA process was completed.
When an audit is in this state the audit is locked and the Auditor:
cannot Submit an Update
When an audit is in this state the audit is locked and the Reviewer:
can Undo Acceptance and the audit will be returned to the In Review state
The accepted audit does becomes part of the data comparison and analytics data pool.
Rejected
The Quality Assurance (QA) process was not completed and the audit submission has been rejected.
IMPORTANT: Rejection is not an indication of whether the audit has "passed" or "Failed". It is an indication that the QA process was completed (reasons for rejections can include, lates submission, member not in good standing, auditor not qualified to do the audit, etc.).
When an audit is in this state the audit review is locked and the Auditor:
cannot Submit an Update
When an audit is in this state the audit review is locked and the Reviewer:
can Undo Rejection and the audit will be returned to the In Review state
The rejected audit does not becomes part of the data comparison and analytics data pool.
Opening an audit record
An audit enters the QA process at the pending review step.
To view the submission click on the submission record (1)
On the Pending Review page review the audit content and assigned the audit to a reviewer
Changing State
Depending on the State of the audit there are number of different actions that can be performed on an audit, which are typically listed at the bottom of the page. Each state change can optionally include email notification:
These action are:
Assign Reviewer
An Administrator assigns a Reviewer to the audit.
State: This does not change the state of the audit review (it is usually in the Pending Review state).
Start Review Process
A Reviewer starts the review process
State: changes from Pending Review to In Review.
Reassign Reviewer
The assigned Reviewer can, at any time, reassigned an audit review to another Reviewer or Administrator.
State: This does not change the state of the audit review.
Send Auditor Note
Is the equivalent to the Reviewer sending an Auditor an anonymous email message.
State: This does not change the state of the audit review.
Require Revision
A Reviewer can request a correction or revision from the Auditor.
State: changes to Awaiting Revision.
Accept Submission
If an audit completed the QA review the Reviewer can accept it to become part of the data comparison and analytics data pool.
State: changes from In Review to Accepted.
Reject Submission
If an audit does not meet the requirements to enter the QA process the Reviewer can reject the audit. The audit will not become part of the data comparison and analytics data pool.
State: changes from In Review to Rejected.
Withdraw Submission
An audit can be withdrawn by a Reviewer at any time (it can also, in some states, be withdrawn by the Auditor)
State: changes to from In Review to Rejected.
Undo Accepted
State: changes to from Accepted to In Review
Undo Rejection
State: changes to from Rejected to In Review.
Private Notes
Private notes can be read by the reviewer on the audit and any association administrators. Essentially anyone who can access the audit submission in AuditXchange. These notes can be used to share notes between reviewers, but the auditor will not see them.