Project Audit

Project auditing is a formal type of

"project review", most often designed to evaluate
the extent to which project management standards
are being followed. 
Audits are typically performed by a
designated audit department, the
"Project Management Office", an empowered
Steering Committee or an external auditor.

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Purpose & Goals

 Efficiency in meeting both the budget

and the schedule
 Customer impact/satisfaction
 Business/direct success
 Future potential

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The Project Audit- Approach

 The main purpose of an audit is to help

achieve the goals of the project
 All facets of the project are studied
 The strengths and weaknesses are
identified
 Recommendations are prepared to help
current and future projects

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Project auditing

 Project auditing can be defined as the process

of detailed inspection of the management of a
project, its methodology, its techniques, its
procedures, its documents, its properties, its
budgets, its expenses and its level of
completion.
 Project auditing can help you assess the
current state of a project, and tells you if your
project management processes are being
followed.
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benefits

A project audit provides an opportunity

to uncover the issues, concerns and
challenges encountered in the execution
of a project.
 Ifdone at the close of a project, a project
audit can be used to develop success
criteria for future projects by providing a
forensic review.

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Depth of the Audit

 Time and money limit the depth of an

audit
 Audits are distracting to those working on
the project
 A poor audit result will lower morale on
the project

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Types of Audits

 General Audit
 Detailed Audit
 Technical Audit

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Timing of the Audit

 All significant projects should be audited

 Larger projects may be audited several
times
 An audit may also be conducted after the
project is over (post-project audits)

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Format and Use of the Audit Report

1. It should facilitate the comparison of

actual versus predicted results
2. Significant deviations should be
highlighted
3. Reasons for significant deviations
should be given
4. Plans for resolving negative deviations
should be discussed
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Audit Information

1. Introduction
2. Current status
3. Future project status
4. Critical management issues
5. Risk management
6. Caveats, limitations, and assumptions

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Responsibilities of the Project Auditor

 Be honest and ethical

 Be independent
 Tell the whole truth
 Seek help for technical issues

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The Project Audit Life Cycle

 Project audit initiation

 Project baseline definition
 Establishing an audit database
 Preliminary analysis of the project
 Audit report preparation
 Project audit termination

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Some Essentials of an Audit/Evaluation

 Need to select an audit team with

experience and expertise
 Auditors
need access to top
management
 Auditors
need access to project
personnel and others
 Auditors need access to all
records
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Three phases

A project audit consists of three phases:

 Phase 1: Success Criteria and
Questionnaire Development
 Phase 2: In-depth Research
 Phase 3: Report Development

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Project Audit Recommendations

 Identify problems earlier

 Clarify scope, cost, and time relationships

 Improve performance

 Locate technological advances

 Evaluate quality

 Reduce costs

 Improve risk identification

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The Project Audit-outcomes

 Current status of the project

 Expected status of the project
 Status of critical tasks
 An assessment of potential
 risks
What lessons can be applied to other
 projects?
What are the limitations of the audit?
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Conclusion

•identify “Lessons Learned” that can help improve the performance

of The
 a project or to improve oftheaperformance
projectof audit is toby
future projects
purpose
undertaking a forensic review to uncover problems to be avoided.

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