External audit preparation: it is not your system we prepare, it is your teams.
The final coaching before a certification or Notified Body audit: document review, team preparation and interview rehearsals.
Initial scoping is free, with no commitment. Schedule it in the weeks leading up to the audit.
What you get
- Documentary review
- Team preparation
- Interview rehearsals
Good to know
- To be scheduled in the weeks before the audit
Ideal if: your teams have never been audited, or the last audit went badly, and there are a few weeks left to prepare.
Findings often start in the audit room, not in the documents
A significant share of the non-conformities raised in audits does not come from a missing document. It comes from how the question was understood and how the answer was phrased.
An operator who answers "we always do it this way" to a question about a documented process opens a line of enquiry the auditor will follow. A manager who volunteers three related topics widens the scope beyond what was asked. Someone who spends eight minutes looking for a piece of evidence plants doubt about document control, even if they eventually find it.
None of this is about the QMS. All of it can be learnt.
What we actually work on
Answering the question asked
Exactly that one, without widening it, without anticipating the next, without justifying beyond what is needed. It is the most useful skill and the least natural.
Knowing where every piece of evidence is
Not just that it exists, but the exact path to display it in front of the auditor, in under a minute. We check this under real conditions.
Owning what is non-compliant
A known gap, recorded and being addressed, can be defended. A gap the auditor discovers when the team already knew about it is an aggravating factor. The rule is simple: nothing is hidden.
Staying within your scope
Everyone interviewed knows which topics they answer on and which they refer to someone else. Improvising outside your scope is a classic source of findings.
Preparation or mock audit?
The two services follow on from each other rather than replace each other.
The mock audit takes place two to three months before the deadline. It looks for gaps in the system, leaving time to fix them. Its deliverable is a prioritised gap report.
Preparation takes place in the final weeks, once the system will no longer change. It no longer looks for gaps; it trains the people who will have to defend the system. Its deliverable is a team that is ready.
If your audit is in a fortnight, preparation is what you need. If you have three months, start with the mock audit.
See the mock auditFrequently asked questions
In the weeks leading up to it, once the system has stopped changing. Two to three weeks before is a good benchmark. Any earlier and the teams will have forgotten; any later and there is no margin left to work on the weak points identified.
Everyone who might be interviewed, not just the quality and regulatory team. Production, purchasing, design, customer service: the auditor goes wherever the process leads. It is often the least prepared people who end up on the front line.
No, and it would be counterproductive. A concealed gap that gets discovered costs far more than a gap that is disclosed and being addressed. What we work on is presenting the real situation along with the evidence that shows it is under control.
That is exactly where preparation adds the most. A first audit experience is often harsh: the pace, the format of the questions and the demand for immediate evidence catch people off guard. Rehearsing the interviews removes that element of surprise.
Yes, it is part of the service. Its purpose is to check that the expected evidence exists and is accessible, not to redo a full gap analysis. If the review reveals significant gaps, we tell you immediately, because that changes the nature of the problem.
Audit coming up and your teams have never been audited?
Tell us the date and who will be in the room. Scoping is free.