An audit programme does not need to be complicated. Rate each area, set how often it gets looked at, and the yearly schedule picks it up for you. The clause checker then shows straight away whether your checklists cover every clause of the standard.

Effective Excel Registers

Part of the alphaZ ER series of Excel registers, built for listings that grow and need to be sorted and filtered. Supplied in fully editable MS Excel format, with a Google Sheets version included, and all text in Calibri font for improved readability.
The register is set up with:

• Drop-downs for the areas to be audited, risk rating, planned frequency, checklist and audit status
• Yearly schedules that pick up each area and its frequency from the planning sheet
• Colour-coded audit status and risk ratings, and an interactive clause checker

alphaZ documents - tried and tested registers with no junk, jargon or unnecessary columns, developed over 25 years through practical use in the real world.

Further Reading

Further guidance on planning and running internal audits:

• The Audit Schedule and Programme
• Audit Planning and Scope
• Internal Auditing Explained
• Internal Auditing knowledge base

How to Download

To get access to this file please click on Add to Cart to purchase for immediate download. If you have an alphaZ Subscription just click on Download Files to view all the files available to download. This register is also included in every alphaZ toolkit covering ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 22301 or ISO 37001, including the integrated toolkits, so the toolkit route gives you this file plus everything else you need in one download.

Need Help Implementing?

If you'd like a hand running the audits through the year, following up the findings, or with your wider management system, our remote support services provide direct expert input from our team, by the day, by project, or on an ongoing basis.

Internal Audit Schedule Template

An internal audit schedule template in Microsoft Excel format for planning your audit programme on a risk basis, scheduling the audits across the year, tracking which have been completed, and checking that your audit checklists cover every clause of the standards you work to. A Google Sheets version is included.

Every ISO management system standard requires a planned programme of internal audits (clause 9.2), taking into account the importance of the processes concerned and the results of previous audits. The schedule is where that programme is set out, and it is one of the first documents asked for when internal audit is looked at during ISO certification audits.

What's Included in this Internal Audit Schedule

The workbook is laid out as separate sheets, each doing one part of the job:

• Audit Planning - the areas and processes that can be audited, each with a risk rating, planned frequency, planned auditor and planned checklist. A starting list of typical areas is included for you to edit.
• Yearly schedules - a month-by-month schedule for each year. Pick an area and its frequency comes across from the planning sheet, then mark each month as scheduled, partially completed, completed or completed with findings, with a column for issues raised.
• Example - a completed schedule showing how a programme is laid out across the year.
• Audit Checklists - a listing of alphaZ audit checklists, showing which standards each one applies to and which clauses it covers. Add your own checklists to the list.
• Checklist Clause Checker - select a standard, including ISO 14001:2026, and the checklists you use, and any clause they do not cover is highlighted.
• Instructions - the audit status key, frequencies and risk levels used across the workbook.

A Risk-Based Programme

Not every area needs auditing at the same frequency. Rating each area on the planning sheet lets the higher-risk processes be audited more often and the lower-risk ones less often, which is what the standards ask for. The clause checker then shows that the programme as a whole still covers every clause, so a clause is not left out because the checklists used happen to skip it.

Who Needs an Internal Audit Schedule?

Any organisation implementing or maintaining an ISO management system, whether a single standard or an integrated system covering several. It is equally useful for anyone taking over responsibility for internal audit who needs to see at a glance what has been audited, what is due and what is overdue.

Pairs with the Audit Checklists and Report

The schedule plans the audits. Each audit is then carried out against the F-Q2 Audit Checklist or one of the alphaZ management system audit checklists, and the F-Q31 Audit Report records the outcome. Findings raised are followed through on the ER1 Issues Actions Register.