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sourceDocument: Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/governance-risk-compliance

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ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance

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# Audit Types Overview

# Audit types {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read
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## Summary of Audit types

Audit types serve distinct purposes within audit engagements, helping organizations evaluate various aspects of their operations, controls, compliance, and performance.
Understanding these different audit types enables ServiceNow customers to select and apply the appropriate audit processes aligned with their organizational needs and regulatory requirements.
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## Key Audit Types and Their Uses

* **Internal Audit:** Reviews internal controls, corporate governance, and accounting processes to ensure organizational integrity.
* **External Audit:** Provides an independent examination of financial statements prepared by the organization.
* **SOX Audit:** Focuses on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance by assessing internal controls related to financial data infrastructure.
* **IT Audit:** Evaluates the IT infrastructure, policies, and operations for effectiveness and security.
* **Financial Audit:** Independently assesses financial reports and processes, providing assurance to regulators and stakeholders regarding accuracy and completeness.
* **Compliance Audit:** Verifies adherence to external laws, regulations, and internal policies or guidelines.
* **Certification Audit:** Confirms conformance to standards such as ISO 9001 before certification issuance.
* **Regulatory Audit:** Ensures projects meet applicable regulations and standards.
* **Operational Audit:** Reviews business operations to identify efficiency and effectiveness improvements.
* **Continuous Audit:** Employs ongoing, often technology-driven, processes to monitor accounting, compliance, IT systems, and business procedures in real time.
* **Vendor Audit:** Assesses vendor or contractor compliance with contract terms and conditions.
* **Customer Audit:** Evaluates customer perceptions and needs to understand the company's role in their business.
* **Store Audit:** Analyzes retail location performance through data collection on sales and operations.
* **Quality Audit:** Systematically examines quality systems internally or externally to ensure standards are met.
* **Project Audit:** Reviews project management practices and compliance with standards, performed by internal or external parties.

## Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

ServiceNow customers can leverage these audit types to tailor their governance, risk, and compliance programs effectively. Recognizing each audit's scope helps in planning audit engagements, allocating resources, and ensuring alignment with business objectives and regulatory demands. Automating continuous audits, for example, can enhance real-time risk detection and control monitoring within ServiceNow workflows.  
There are many types of audits and each of the audit types has a specific use in an
audit engagement.
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| Audit Type | Description |
|-|-|
| Internal Audit | An internal audit checks a company's internal controls, corporate governance, and accounting processes. |
| External Audit | An external audit is an independent examination of the financial statements prepared by the organisation. |
| SOX Audit | A Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance audit is a measure of how well your company manages its internal controls. SOX doesn't specifically mention information security. However, an internal control is understood to be any type of protocol dealing with the infrastructure that handles your financial data. |
| IT Audit | An IT audit is the examination and evaluation of an organization's information technology infrastructure, policies and operations. |
| Financial Audit | A financial audit is an independent, objective evaluation of an organization's financial reports and financial reporting processes. The primary purpose for financial audits is to give regulators, investors, directors, and managers reasonable assurance that financial statements are accurate and complete. |
| Compliance Audit | A compliance audit is an independent evaluation to ensure that an organization follows external laws, rules, and regulations or internal guidelines, such as corporate bylaws, controls, and policies. |
| Certification Audit | A certification audit is an audit your registrar conducts to verify conformance against the ISO 9001 standard before they issue your official ISO 9001 certificate. |
| Regulatory Audit | The aim of a regulatory audit is to verify that a project is compliant with regulations and standards. |
| Operational Audit | An operational audit examines how an organization conducts business to identify improvements that increase efficiency and effectiveness. |
| Continuous Audit | A continuous audit is an internal process that examines accounting practices, risk controls, compliance, information technology systems, and business procedures on an ongoing basis. Continuous audits are usually technology-driven and designed to automate error checking and data verification in real-time. |
| Vendor Audit | A vendor audit assesses whether contractors or vendors comply with the terms, conditions, and intent of their contracts or agreements. |
| Customer Audit | A customer audit reviews how your company is perceived by its customers and evaluates each customer's needs. It assesses the role your company plays in each customer's business. |
| Store Audit | A store audit assesses the health of your retail location using hard data. Retailers, staff, or a third party combs through your store or pop-up shop to collect information on what's working and what's selling or what isn't. |
| Quality Audit | A Quality audit is the process of systematic examination of a quality system carried out by an internal or external quality auditor or an audit team. |
| Project Audit | A project audit is a formal review of a project, often intended to assess the extent to which project management standards are being upheld. Audits are generally carried out by a specially designated audit department, the Project Management Office, an approved management committee or an external auditor. |
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