ISQM 1 standard: what role does planning play in the quality of audits?
Julie Sergent
Content manager
March 7, 2024
5 min
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ISQM 1, International Standard on Quality Management, is an international quality management standard that applies to audit firms, published in December 2020.
The latter deals with quality management for firms that conduct audits or reviews of financial statements - obligations of firms to design, implement and control a quality management system for audits, limited reviews of financial situations - or other assurance tasks and associated services.
With regard to mission quality controls, integrated into the firm's quality management system, the standard in question:
a) Addresses the requirement for the firm to put in place policies and procedures concerning missions requiring specific quality control.
b) Discuss the appointment and qualifications required for the person responsible for the quality control of missions, as well as the procedures for carrying out and recording this control.
If you want to know more about the specificities of this standard, do not hesitate to consult the website of the IAASB, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).
The standard aims to establish and maintain a quality management system for audits, limited reviews of financial situations, or other similar insurance tasks or services, in order to ensure that:
A quality management system aims to be stable and recurrent, while adjusting to changes in the organization and its environment. Its operation is not linear.
For this ISQM standard, the quality management system focuses on eight essential components:
Napta takes engagement and return on investment (ROI) to the next level by providing accurate analysis and optimized talent management. Beyond offering a comprehensive view of employee skills and aspirations through advanced features such as employee profiling, competency mapping, and a dynamic Jobboard for awarding projects aligned with individual preferences, Napta distinguishes itself by its ability to generate customized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). A notable example is the creation of personalized KPIs that allow our clients to effectively monitor the junior to manager ratio across all of their missions. This specific feature not only ensures an optimal balance of teams but also contributes to maximizing ROI by optimizing the distribution of resources and strengthening the performance of projects.
These tools help align human resources with mission needs, thus strengthening the overall quality and efficiency of the firm.
Napta, powered by artificial intelligence, provides advanced tools to guide firms in accepting or maintaining specific missions and client relationships. It is a solution that aligns the needs for resources, skills and capacities with current availability, while identifying critical adequacies or gaps.
Key features include:
These capabilities allow for accurate and flexible planning, improving the monitoring and traceability of activities, and optimizing the allocation of resources to effectively meet the needs of customers and missions. Napta thus helps maximize operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and consultant professional development.
For firms, Napta represents a powerful tool for accurately monitoring the progress and performance of projects, ensuring an appropriate allocation of the qualifications, skills and experiences necessary for each phase of the project. The software makes critical performance information accessible to diverse users, across different levels of the organization, thereby promoting shared responsibility for quality.
This system makes it possible to monitor and implement commitments with real-time precision on the economic performance of projects. Napta is reinventing the continuous improvement of the quality of missions by focusing on evaluations at the end of the project, engaging employees in a regular and constant process. They receive performance evaluation forms, thus facilitating a culture of learning and excellence. This feedback allows an immediate update of the skills in their profile, promoting the constant evolution of talents within the team. This continuous evaluation method aims for excellence and systematically improves the quality of missions: each project benefits from the best expertise, ensuring optimal performance and rapid adaptation to new challenges.
Napta facilitates the optimal management of the resources required to design, implement, and maintain a quality management system, thanks to its advanced features:
With Napta, the risks of underutilization or overuse of resources are reduced, schedules are better controlled, and project management is refined through the effective use of reports. Resource managers save time and effort through standardized processes and rapid consultant scheduling.
By integrating Napta into the information system, instant access to data is transforming the way firms communicate and act, making processes more fluid and efficient. The instantaneity of information facilitates clearer communication and rapid decision-making. Additionally, real-time notifications serve as an additional example of this increased efficiency, ensuring alignment and transparent communication between parties.
The real-time visualization of financial data and the customization of KPIs for each project allow accurate monitoring of activity. Napta makes it easy to adhere to the standard by focusing on agile data management and advanced personalization. With functionalities allowing immediate visualization of financial indicators and the adjustment of KPIs for each project, it ensures precise and real-time control of operations, in accordance with quality standards. Automatic notifications and alerts keep all interested parties in the loop, while a detailed history of commitments makes it easy to find employees for specific projects, optimizing communication, information exchange, and resource management.
Complying with the ISQM 1 standard, Napta facilitates detailed performance evaluation and accurately detects deficiencies in the quality management system, focusing on end-of-mission assessment and continuous quality optimization. Its sophisticated features, including comprehensive audits and proactive monitoring, allow for accurate management and rapid response to challenges.
Napta simplifies the task of monitoring and reporting, centralizing critical data to improve the transparency and flexibility needed to rigorously enforce the standard, by:
With Napta, project monitoring encompasses multiple dimensions, including team composition, work progress, and instant notifications for proactive management. The platform helps to anticipate project variances through time tracking and the identification of discrepancies, allowing strategies to be adjusted in real time.
The integrated platform also enhances decision-making with its comprehensive reports that include the analysis of commitment by project, the comparison of planned time against the actual time per individual, as well as the assessment of collective and individual skills. These key functionalities promote accurate end-of-mission assessment and the implementation of targeted corrective measures, which are crucial for strengthening and improving quality within audit firms.
ISQM 1 represents an essential alignment of audit firms with international quality standards, ensuring overall consistency in audit practices. This harmonization not only promotes an improvement in the quality of audits globally but also reinforces the confidence of investors and other stakeholders in financial reporting.
With the implementation of ISQM 1, audit firms are encouraged to adopt a more responsible and transparent approach to quality management. Napta supports this aspect by providing monitoring and reporting tools that allow for increased visibility into audit performance and processes, thus strengthening the trust of customers and regulators.
The combination of ISQM 1 with Napta provides audit firms with the means to evolve with agility in the face of market changes and regulatory adjustments. Napta's ability to customize resource management and project planning ensures that firms are equipped to flexibly approach challenges and seize emerging opportunities, maintaining their competitiveness and market position.
ISQM 1's focus on the importance of skills, training, and performance evaluation aligns with Napta's abilities to support the professional development of employees. By using Napta's tools for competency tracking and career management, firms can promote a culture of continuous learning and talent development, which is essential for conducting high-quality audits.
For any questions or if you want to go deeper into the subject, do not hesitate to contact us.
We are available to guide and support you in your actions.
