{"id":11,"date":"2024-04-04T01:50:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/34-common-methodologies-environmental-audit\/"},"modified":"2025-01-14T14:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T12:35:24","slug":"34-common-methodologies-environmental-audit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/34-common-methodologies-environmental-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"3.5. Audit methods"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"methods\" name=\"methods\"><\/a><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\">Audit methods<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">It is important to identify <b>audit methods<\/b> for assessing the meeting of audit criteria and to be able to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. This requires the auditor to describe what kind of information and data are to be collected, the sources, the techniques needed to gather data and the kind of methods to be used to analyse data.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: black;\">Auditing methods are chosen based on the type of information needed to prove the real-life problems assumed in the preliminary study and demonstrate the scale of these problems. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">When choosing auditing methods, the following questions should be considered:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Where are the relevant data to be found?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Are the data complete (including metadata)?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">How will the data be collected?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">How will the data be analysed?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">What do we expect to find?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">Different types of audit evidence can be obtained using various methods of data collection (source of classification: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.issai.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/GUID-3920-The-Performance-Auditing-Process.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.issai.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/GUID-3920-The-Performance-Auditing-Process.pdf\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">ISSAI GUID-3920<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">):<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1084\" height=\"1150\" src=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36.png\" alt=\"pic\" class=\"wp-image-62\" style=\"width:950px\" title=\"screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36.png 1084w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36-283x300.png 283w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36-965x1024.png 965w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.49.36-768x815.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1084px) 100vw, 1084px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">The data collection and analysis methods used in environmental audit do not differ much from other performance audits.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">When planning an audit it is necessary to find out what kind of environmental data is available in the field. There can be good quality statistical data, but it may be scattered across\u00a0different data sets, reports, inventories etc. Often the data is of poor quality or incomplete. Therefore, environmental auditors frequently face difficulties in <b>sampling<\/b>. Environmental data is often incomplete and contains irregularities. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">Therefore, <strong>case studies<\/strong> are often used instead of taking statistical samples. Case studies are useful for understanding the situation and the reasons behind a problem, as all aspects of the case are thoroughly analysed, often using several methods. It is also easy to use case studies as illustrative examples in the audit report.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">Examples of possible case studies:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">Nature protection measures taken in one nature protection area<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">Selected cases\/examples of issuing environmental permits and controlling their implementation<\/span><\/span><\/span><br>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table class=\"table table-hover\"><tbody><tr><td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" class=\"wp-image-262\" style=\"width: 80px;\" src=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/raamat-2.png\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><h3>Reading suggestion on research methods!<\/h3> <ul><br><li style=\"margin-bottom: 7.5pt;\"><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">INTOSAI IDI (2023): <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/idi.no\/work-streams\/professional-sais\/work-stream-library\/performance-audit-issai-implementation-handbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Performance Audit: ISSAI Implementation Handbook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"> (handbook is also available in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/idi.no\/elibrary\/professional-sais\/issai-implementation-handbooks\/handbooks-en-espanol\/1443-idi-performance-audit-issai-implementation-handbook-v1-es\/file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Spanish<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.idi.no\/elibrary\/professional-sais\/issai-implementation-handbooks\/handbooks-french\/1435-pa-hb-v1-french\/file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">French<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/idi.no\/elibrary\/idi-administrative\/tenders\/professional-sais-work-stream\/1989-performance-audit-handbook-v1-final-arabic\/file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Arabic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li><br><li style=\"margin-bottom: 7.5pt;\"><a title=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.issai.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/GUID-3920-The-Performance-Auditing-Process.pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.issai.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/GUID-3920-The-Performance-Auditing-Process.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">INTOSAI GUID 3920 The Performance Auditing process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"> (2019) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li><br><li><a title=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.eca.europa.eu\/en\/publications\/ECA_methodology_guide\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eca.europa.eu\/en\/publications\/ECA_methodology_guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Guide to our methodology<\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"line-height: normal;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\">(European Court of Auditors)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li><br><li><a title=\"\" data-url=\"http:\/\/www.socialresearchmethods.net\/kb\/index.php\" href=\"http:\/\/www.socialresearchmethods.net\/kb\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #428bca;\">The Research Methods Knowledge Base<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li><br><li><a title=\"\" data-url=\"http:\/\/methods.sagepub.com\/\" href=\"http:\/\/methods.sagepub.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #428bca;\">SAGE research methods<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li><br><\/ul><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The qualification of auditors and the availability of resources (time and money) are significant factors to consider when choosing audit methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ADM example of audit methods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1108\" height=\"1054\" src=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39.png\" alt=\"pic\" class=\"wp-image-63\" style=\"width:950px\" title=\"screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39.png 1108w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39-300x285.png 300w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39-1024x974.png 1024w, https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/screenshot_2021-05-27_at_15.54.39-768x731.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1108px) 100vw, 1108px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table class=\"table table-hover\"><tbody><tr><td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/test2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"67\" height=\"71\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%2214836%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\"><\/td><td>\n<h3>Thinking exercise \u2013\u00a0ADM (4\/5)<\/h3>\n<p>You have chosen the problematic environmental\/sustainability issue to audit in your country and given a title to your imaginary audit (thinking exercise\u00a0in sub-chapter 2.3), you have also set the objective, formulated the main audit question and\/or sub-questions\u00a0and criteria (sub-chapters 3.2-3.4).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Please think now what could the possible<strong> audit methods <\/strong>helping you<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to find the answers to\u00a0your questions and criteria. Write them down for yourself.<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"risks\" name=\"risks\"><\/a>Risks endangering auditing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When planning an audit, several risks need to be considered, such as insufficient human resources, lack of time, high travel cost<span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">s.\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"background: lime;\"><span style=\"line-height: 107%;\"><span style=\"color: #565656;\"><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">In some cases, these risks are included in ADM or are at\u00a0 least covered in audit strategy\/plan.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides these usual risks, an environmental audit can be endangered by additional risks. One common risk is a <strong>lack of knowledge about environmental issues<\/strong>. To overcome this risk, auditors need to study but could also consider recruiting experts to conduct an analysis. The selection of subject matter experts needs careful consideration, as an auditee may question the expertise. Sometimes, it is wise to form an expert panel in order to increase the credibility of results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In environmental audits, there are often different data sets that could be analysed. There is often a risk of <strong>receiving incomplete data<\/strong>. Sometimes, data are not in a suitable format for analysis. The auditor needs to think about how to overcome this risk. Sometimes, there is a need to plan more time. It may even be that the entire audit needs to be redesigned if it appears that data is not usable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audit methods It is important to identify audit methods for assessing the meeting of audit criteria and to be able to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. This requires the auditor to describe what kind of information and data are &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/env-intro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}