In our series regarding various auditing techniques, we have touched upon many topics namely qualities of an Auditor, time management during audit, conflict management during audit and various types of communications during audit etc. In the present article, we shall be discussing about nuances of conducting interview during audit. Interviewing is the most challenging but important aspect of an audit. Interviewing is not only difficult for an auditee but at times is equally or rather more difficult for an auditor. Experience, knowledge and training may help an auditor to alleviate nervousness of an auditee as well as himself.

The art of interviewing is the ability to ask a question in a way that invites an open, honest and verifiable response. This skill lies at the heart of the audit profession. As the independent auditor, it is critical that you are able to obtain, and process, information in a way that contemplates a broad range of options.

Interviewing helps to extract information from an auditee which otherwise is not available clearly in the documents being reviewed. Information received during interviewing may be used as corroborating evidence.

A good start of an interview determines the success of the interview. One should ensure that the interviews shall be relaxed and conversational. A good auditor takes time for formal introductions and shall understand the interviewee’s position, duties etc. before switching on the question mode. An auditor should understand that during an interview, an interviewee is the central figure. Any information received during the interview shall be linked to the other collected evidences and shall be documented properly.

Open ended Questions:

An auditor shall ask open ended questions. The broader and more open the question you ask, the more information you will obtain from your auditee. Open questions make no assumptions and encourage discussion with the auditee. An auditor may adopt a 5W and 1H approach to elicit information from the interviewee. This approach involves asking “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “how,” and “why” questions. Open ended questions normally make the interviewee provide a detailed response. More the details and information, more will be the opportunity to understand the processes and procedures being followed. This also helps the auditor to ask follow-up questions to ensure better understanding.

Leading Questions:

A leading question is a type of question that prompts a respondent towards providing an already-determined answer. This type of question is suggestive as it is framed in such a way that it implies or points to its answer(s). Leading questions are prone to judgmental biases. The framing of leading questions is impacted by these judgmental biases.  Judgmental biases include confirmation, anchoring and availability.

An auditor should avoid asking Leading questions and hence, shall not lead an interviewee through the questions asked during the interview. Instead, the auditor should always emphasize on asking open ended questions. Few examples of framing the questions are given below:

 

Interview questions during audit

Follow-up Questions:

Normally first question asked is not the best question, but the follow up question. One should be alert to any interactions that may indicate an issue/ information worth following up, whether it be data integrity issues, ignoring market complaints, failure to adhere to self-inspection schedule etc. One should make a conscious effort to follow up on these signals by asking more probing questions. Pass the information gained from these enquiries on to your audit team, particularly where you still feel uneasy about the auditee’s response. Example of useful follow-up questions are:

  1. Can you walk me through that?
  2. Could you demonstrate that?
  3. Can you show me the documentation which supports that?
  4. What makes you feel comfortable that these controls always operate as you describe?

Framing Neutral Questions:

One should avoid all sort of judgemental biases. It is important to frame questions as neutrally as possible to avoid leading your client into a pre-determined response, or making them feel like they are being accused. It is important to be aware of your own personal judgemental biases and self-check that your question does not lead your client down a certain path by making assumptions based on readily available information or your current understanding.

Interviewing a group of people:

An auditor should avoid interviewing a group of people. Auditors should avoid this method of interviewing unless there is a very good reason for doing so. The main reason to avoid interviewing group of people is the obvious difficulty in reading the body language of several people at the same time. It is easier to understand the importance of question asked by reading the body language of one person, accordingly follow-up question can be framed. However, when interviewing a group, it is difficult to make a proper assessment in order to ask the appropriate follow-up questions. It is sometimes observed that when a group is interviewed, the junior staff always seek approval from their seniors through eye contact, nods, or gestures or by deferring the question.

Using a translator:

Audits should always be conducted in the common language or preferably in the language of the auditee. However, this is not always possible, hence, wherever possible services of a translator must be utilized. One shall assure that the translator appointed is independent in order to ensure credibility of the audit. The use of a translator requires much more time for conducting interviews, evaluating evidence, and summarizing audit results. Therefore, the audit team leader must adjust the time allotment for interviews requiring a translator. The auditor’s questions must be short and to the point for the translator to convey the proper meaning. Appropriate planning with a skilled translator will result in an effective audit.

Corroborating information:

During an audit, the auditor shall corroborate all the information available with him. Information collected by other auditors shall also be taken into account. One should understand the relevancy, reliability, completeness of the information collected. Different auditees may provide different responses and one may miss the entire perspective. Hence, the facts stated and other data collected during an audit interview must be corroborated to ensure accuracy.