Module 7 - Planning Review, Sign off & Notes
Levels of review
The system allows for the person completing the documentation to mark an item as completed and ready for review. Up to four levels can then indicate that they have reviewed the item but the system does not force the recording of the review on each individual item. In practice, each document or option would only be reviewed by one person and, if this is not evidenced on the item itself then signing off the area is deemed to indicate that you have reviewed all relevant items in the area.
You can mark an item as reviewed by right clicking on it in the index and selecting the option Working paper review from the popup menu. From here you can mark review at your level of below. If you are recording your review at your own level, you can simply select the review option, which will show your current access level, form the popup menu:
The individual tests in the programmes can also be reviewed but not by the person who completed the test.
Finally the audit planning section itself needs to be signed off and the levels that have to do this are defined in the audit methodology.
Reports available
To access the Audit Summary Reports, click on the reference tab and then summary
The Audit progress summary dialog should now be dispalyed. This shows a number of reports including the tests and questions outstanding in the planning section – it is not possible to sign off planning unless all these tests and questions have been answered.
The excluded tests and planner changes reports are particularly relevant to the review process as these show the customisation of the audit tests done by the computer and the planner.
Notes
One of the items on the review planning dialog is notes and these will need to be cleared before planning can be signed off.
Audit notes can be entered at various stages during the course of the audit - entering test completion details, answering checklist questions, from the Audit documentation completion window and from the Audit notes window. Review notes can also be entered from the Add note button on the toolbar or Add new note from the Completion menu. When a note is entered it is recorded by the system as an uncleared note, and will remain in this state until it is cleared by the recipient. Uncleared notes are clearly flagged when you are reviewing audit programmes and checklists and are shown on the audit summary. To review the audit notes, click on the Notes button in the Toolbar, or select Notes from the Completion menu and the Audit notes window will appear.
From this screen you can clear notes, enter a general or review note in respect of the audit, print and print preview the notes. The window contains a list of the full text of all outstanding audit notes, with columns showing the audit area reference to which the note related, who the note is aimed at, the source of the note (i.e. if it was entered during audit test completion, checklist completion, as an area note or a general note), the date it was raised, and by whom. If a red arrow appears by a note, it indicates that the note has been referred by the original recipient to a different level.
When the list is first displayed it will only contain uncleared audit points aimed at your level of user. You may request the system to show all notes to your level by clicking on the Show cleared button. Cleared notes will be included, shown in grey, and the name on the button will change to Hide cleared.
To view the notes aimed at a different level, or to show notes to all levels, click on the relevant radio button.
You may restrict the notes listed to a specific note type, audit points or review notes, or display all note types. To change the listing, click on the appropriate radio button. This setting, and the level setting, is persistent and will be retained for subsequent accesses.
Entering a general audit point or review note
To enter a general note, click on the General note button. The Note for area dialog will appear with an indication that you are entering a general or review note.
You may now enter the note and click on the radio button to indicate the level of the recipient. If the note represents an audit point rather than a review note, you should click on the Audit point radio button. Finally click on OK to save the entry. If you decide that you do not wish to record your note, clicking on Cancel will abort the process.
On returning to the Audit note window, the system will add your note to the list. All general notes appear at the foot of the list and with no audit area reference.
Note that while it is possible for a manager, or partner, to raise review notes to a lower member of staff in respect of a section that has already been signed off, once a staff level has signed off the audit on the Completion menu, the system will no longer allow notes to be raised to that level.
To ensure that any review notes raised to a level that has signed off an area have not been missed, the system checks that all notes to lower levels have been signed off when the manager or partner runs the option to sign off the audit.
To clear a note
If you have logged in as a senior, manager or partner, you may select an audit note aimed at your level and action it, either by double clicking on the note, or highlighting it and clicking on Action note. The note action form will be displayed
You may clear a note by entering a clearing comment and clicking Clear note. If you have logged in with a level lower than that to which the note has been directed, you can view this dialog but the Clear note button will be inactivated.
If the note was cleared it will turn grey in the Audit notes window. The next time this window is accessed the note will not be shown as the list only contains uncleared notes when first shown.
Review Notes
Once a review note has been cleared it will appear in red in the list. This is to indicate that the person the note was aimed at has dealt with it, but the system does not consider the matter complete until the person who raised the note, has confirmed that they are happy with the way the note has been cleared. To do this, select the note for action and two new buttons will be show; Reinstate note and Confirm answer.
If you are happy with the way that the note has been dealt with, select Confirm answer. However, if you wish the matters looked at again, click on Reinstate note and enter your instructions.
If you take the latter course, the note will be reactivated and will need to be cleared again by the recipient. The only restriction on confirming review notes is that you can only confirm notes raised by someone of your level or lower.
Manager and partner sign off
To sign off as manager and partner go to planning drop down menu and select sign off first for the manager and then the partner. System will highlight that risk model or TB has changed since programmes and checklists were generated so just confirm this. User will then be given chance to edit standard conclusion before signing off.
Please note: the partner cannot sign off until the manager has signed off. Neither manager nor partner will be able sign off if there are any unanswered questions, uncleared notes or riskd mot mitigated.his highlights a note or tip! It introduces a piece of information that the user will find useful - e.g. because it saves time - or something it would be easy to overlook. It's not as strong as a Warning. Consider introducing the note or tip with a bolded summary.