Creating a Corrective Action Plan

Corrective Actions

Each audit exception requires a corrective action. A corrective action is the unit leader’s statement of what he or the clerk will do to correct the problem and to determine and correct its fundamental cause so that it does not happen again. The unit leader determines what corrective actions are necessary, and he records them as part of the audit results.

For example, if an audit exception in a ward is that a receipt is missing, the bishop’s corrective action may include an explanation of:

• Why the receipt is missing. This explanation may help the stake audit committee understand some of the financial challenges in the stake or the need for additional training.
• What will be done to find the missing receipt.
• What will be done to determine whether this is a single problem or whether other expenses from the audit period may also be missing receipts or invoices.
• What will be done to make sure that all future expenses have receipts or invoices.

The stake audit committee evaluates the adequacy of each corrective action. As needed, the committee guides and trains unit leaders to make sure that the proper corrective actions are taken. The stake audit committee chairman assigns a member of the audit committee to verify that each corrective action is completed. Stake audit committees should verify that corrective actions have been implemented no later than 30 days after the due date of the audits.

Corrective Action Plan

An audit’s corrective action plan contains the auditor’s explanation for each exception, the unit leader’s corrective action for every audit exception, and the verification that an audit committee member confirmed the corrective action has been implemented.