Auditing is currently an essential aspect of a business. Companies, big or small, have to go through the auditing process to verify products and services’ quality before they reach the markets. Business enterprises in big economy cities like Dubai face stiff competition due to their stature in the global market.
This puts more pressure on firms to ensure their products and services are audited for quality. That is why, today, there are many freelance auditors. Accordingly, choosing the best freelance quality auditor can be a bit dazzling. You need to identify the best freelance quality auditor that suits your business needs and budget.
This article offers the insight you need to identify the best freelance quality auditor if you are looking to hire one for your firm.
Read on…
What is a Quality Auditor?
A quality auditor checks your products and services to ensure they meet all standards and quality requirements. They may also test for quality and review processes to verify that goods and services and produced and delivered in top quality.
Quality auditors should form part of your company’s quality control team. Accordingly, you can consider the senior members in the team responsible for supervising production and distribution processes.
A majority of quality auditors are found in the manufacturing industry. However, quality auditors can work in every industry, just like accountants.
With that in mind, you can now guess who a freelance quality auditor is.
Quality auditors can be contracted in the company payroll as employees (internal auditors) or part-time contractors (external auditors). A freelance quality auditor is an external auditor who works as an independent contractor.
You can outsource quality auditing functions from an external auditing firm. If you are not sure where to get such services, Bawabba is a great source to start your search.
Duties and responsibilities of a quality auditor
As suggested above, quality auditors are tasked with reviewing products and services and assessing production processes for quality. They have to do more in their line of duty.
Here are some responsibilities of a quality auditor:
Participating in quality control audits
Quality auditors schedule quality control audits and take part in them. They also inspect product appearances to ensure they look how they should. Accordingly, quality auditors conduct tests to ensure goods and services are how they are supposed to. In other words, they are always looking for errors and inconsistencies in goods and services.
Supervising inspection teams
Quality auditors may supervise inspection teams. While acting in this capacity, they schedule and assign audit teams and supervise their work. The team can be located in a single firm or spread in the entire industry.
Developing testing metrics
Freelance quality auditors develop test parameters for goods and services. They establish quality standards and ensure products pass such metrics. They may also conduct employee training on production and distribution standards.
Writing assessments
After successful tests, quality auditors write assessments that record errors and inconsistencies identified. They may also include recommendations for improving quality. These assessments are presented to the management for decision-making.
Qualities of a good freelance auditor
Are you thinking of hiring a freelance quality auditor for your company? What qualities of an auditor should you consider when selecting the right candidate? Well, the entire process can be grueling. However, we simplify your work by listing qualities that make an excellent quality auditor for the task.
While many people will look at technical skills, the current digital era requires more soft skills for a competitive advantage. Now more than ever, quality auditors should possess analytical skills, business and risk understanding, communication, adaptability, and critical thinking above everything else. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As quality audit functions continue to evolve due to competition in the market, the spectrum of skills determines success in the profession. Accordingly, regulatory changes, technology, and economic conditions put a lot of pressure on auditors to operate in an agile manner in offering assurance, mitigating risks, and exploiting opportunities.
Agile auditing is a requirement in the current business environment. Agility helps firms respond to external change factors. On a professional level, agility requires quality auditors to absorb new information and display flexibility in the rapidly changing business environment.
Auditing styles vary significantly. However, unique and versatile skills are driving factors that can help an organization improve production and succeed immensely.
So before you start hiring a freelance quality auditor, consider the qualities listed below:
Integrity
Freelance quality auditors must objectively analyze, advise, and influence conduct from the topmost organizational levels. Sometimes, this quality can be subject to resistance and disagreements.
A professional quality auditor has the mandate to fulfill. Therefore, he should display integrity and resilience to develop constructive solutions to errors and inconsistencies in the production chain. The highest-paid person’s opinion does not faze the best freelance quality auditors. Suppose you see an individual agreeing to whatever the senior manager in the room says because they are uncomfortable to challenge diverging opinions. In that case, chances are they are not the right candidates for the tasks.
Self-confidence is essential to comment and object to matters that might otherwise destroy the company.
Technology savvy
Apart from the ability to leverage automation brought by various audit software, audit experts with most advanced technology are often in a better position to understand and offer assurance on various technological risks in the chain of production, including cybersecurity and system failures.
Technology-savvy quality auditors spend their time strategizing and enhancing better corporate governance and risk management to ensure goods and services meet regulatory standards.
Effective communication
We cannot stress enough just how effective communicators are to your organization. This trait has been long considered a fundamental auditor skill. Accordingly, transformational business changes in communication systems have placed more demands on quality auditors.
Currently, good communication goes beyond written reports and verbal discussions and presentations. Two-way communication is becoming an essential aspect of business success. In this case, your freelance quality auditor must be understandable, concise, and prescriptive in their evaluation and reports to ensure the management values their consultations and draw meaningful decisions from their opinion.
Accordingly, since the amount of information to deal with is increasingly becoming vast, the importance of excellent visual analysis cannot be understated.
Excellent relationship building
The best quality auditor should engage various stakeholders in the company while attracting trust and respect. Though developing such relationships need time, freelance quality auditors should lay the groundwork to reduce resistance, promote a better understanding of the firm’s audit functions, and increase the speed of sharing information in response to any request that supports the audit.
Ready to learn and adapt
The business environment can change rapidly. Therefore, a quality auditor must retain curiosity for new insights. They must be in a position to ask questions that challenge the status quo. Continuous education is another aspect that promotes learning and adaptability to changes.
Formal training, development initiatives, certification, and self-guided learning offer lifelong learning opportunities for auditors with a knack for being proactive in the face of changes.
Ability to leverage data analytics
Many production aspects often need improvement to ensure products are competitive and of the highest required standards. The pressure that comes with such demands can be overwhelming for a quality auditor. A skilled freelance auditor will take a risk-based approach and prioritize tasks. Using data analytics offers the opportunity to identify focus points to avoid wasting time.
Top-rated quality auditors know how to exploit data analytics’s power across the audit lifecycle and align them with auditing goals. They can easily focus on production risk areas and wider business issues to generate an efficient report that helps improve performance.
Innovativeness
Problem-solving is often the heart of auditing. Accordingly, the best problem solvers are more creative and innovative in addressing issues that are not black and white. Fluctuating regulatory and business demands, evolving production processes, and advancing technologies put pressure on auditors to take a forward-looking approach in their analysis of problems. They have to anticipate risks and devise remedies in real-time.
Innovation goes beyond processes. Freelance quality auditors must be open-minded, lateral thinkers, and willing to appropriate risk-takers who can look into the future to help an organization avoid unnecessary problems.
Team-oriented
Fostering positive relationships with the entire organization signifies a high level of emotional intelligence. Accordingly, this trait is useful in making auditing seamless.
Quality auditors have varying levels of experience and professionalism to bring to the organization. The integrated nature of quality audit functions requires collaborations on all fronts to share the knowledge that improves audit quality. Additionally, freelance quality auditors should influence, lead, and empathize with subordinates for successful and smooth operations in the department.
There you go. These are the top qualities to look for in a freelance quality auditor to help your organization move forward. However, it is essential to understand that these are just the tip of the iceberg. You need more to identify the best freelance quality auditor for your firm. Luckily, this article captures ten aspects that will point you in the right direction.
If you want to know a different way to support your firm during this time of uncertainties, especially due to the Coronavirus pandemic, take a look at this whitepaper, Agile Audit for a post-COVID world.
Advantages of a freelance quality auditor
There are many advantages of hiring a freelance quality auditor compared to hiring one on a full-time basis. Here are some.
Saves money
Even though companies pay freelance quality auditors more per hour than a full-time employee, the overall cost of hiring a freelance quality auditor for the work is less. Hiring a full-time quality auditor means paying many expenses that an independent contractor does not cost. You will save more on employee benefits, office space, and equipment.
Offers staffing flexibility
Independent contractors allow you greater leeway in hiring and letting go of employees at will. Since you won’t need a quality auditor all the time, you can opt to hire one when the workload is high and let go when the job is done.
Accordingly, you can hire a freelance quality auditor for a specific project, knowing that they will be gone once the task is completed. This saves you the legal tussles of laying off employees.
You may also enjoy efficiency because a freelance auditor will likely come with personal and specialized expertise to the company. This enhances productivity and eliminates the time and cost of training employees.
No training expenses
Hiring a freelance quality auditor means choosing from a pool of qualified and talented experts. You may not need to train them since they come ready for the task. However, you may need to facilitate onboarding to help them align with your company policies and processes. Nonetheless, this procedure may not cost as much as training new employees for the same role.
Reduces exposure to lawsuits
Employees are guaranteed many rights under labor laws and may come with a wide array of legal claims, especially violations of rights. However, freelance quality auditors are treated as independent contractors under labor law and may not bring any legal claims to the company.
You do not have to worry about meeting minimum wage or overtime expenses as independent contractors come with their prices that you have to agree on. Lastly, you may not guarantee the right to time-offs as independent contractors schedule their work to meet your deadlines without legal interference.
Disadvantages of hiring a freelance quality auditor
You can opt for a freelance quality auditor to offer an independent opinion on the quality of goods and services as well as production processes. However, external auditors may come with some shortcomings. Here are some:
Time-consuming
You need to go through a lot of processes to hire a qualified freelance quality auditor. The processes can be time-consuming, especially if your organization is understaffed. For instance, you need to identify reputable freelance quality auditors, schedule interviews, check references, decide on whom to hire after the overall evaluation.
The overall time taken to complete these processes may be longer than if you have an internal quality auditor within your ranks.
Comes with a steep learning curve
Hiring a freelance quality auditor means you have to facilitate onboarding to get them up to speed on company policy and processes. The entire process can be complex. This may be a significant disadvantage compared to having an internal quality auditor. Internal quality auditors understand the company well and do not need any further onboarding.
Brings along the problem of confidentiality
Hiring a freelance quality auditor means giving up essential company information to an external and private firm. You may also give the freelance quality auditor information regarding your manufacturing and production processes, which are patented and confidential. The entire process might put confidential data at risk. However, many companies try to negate this problem by mandating freelance quality auditors to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Involves a lot of money
An external quality auditor is likely to charge more per hour compared to an internal quality auditor. Independent contractors often charge more for a freelance task than you would have paid for a permanent-basis employee.
If you need regular monthly quality audits, it is advisable to choose a quality auditor on a long-term basis. For instance, consider hiring an internal quality auditor.
Turnover and loyalty issues
Hiring a freelance quality auditor means you may not rely on the expert as you would on a loyal workforce. Independent contractors come and go as long as the task is completed. Freelance quality auditors like this kind of work because it guarantees them control over who they work with. Accordingly, you are likely to hire a freelance quality auditor for short-term projects, which may not cultivate loyalty.
Relying on freelance quality auditors means dealing with high turnover levels. You also do not have control over them as you would employees.
Increased scrutiny
Using a freelance quality auditor leads to higher chances of increased risk of audit. Most regulators want to ensure that you have not misclassified employees to save money on income taxes. Hiring a freelance quality auditor means you do not offer various employee benefits such as unemployment insurance, Social Security, and Medicare taxes.
Most companies are motivated by the cost-saving opportunity to misclassify employees. This has led to increased scrutiny on companies that use independent contractors.
Freelance Quality Auditors Vs. Permanent Internal Quality Auditors
Having looked at the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a freelance quality auditor, you might be tempted to weigh your choices. Therefore, which way would you go?
Considering the benefits of hiring a freelance quality auditor, it is the most logical step for any small business. Small firms are more prone to audit risks and may lack access to qualified internal quality auditors. This makes it financially viable to opt for a freelance quality auditor.
How To Hire A Freelance Auditor
An online search for the term “freelance quality auditor” will bring you an extensive list of freelance quality auditors who claim to offer qualified quality audit services. However, it is essential to consider the most experienced freelance auditor. Look for freelance quality auditors that explain their terms and rules to you. Avoid an auditor who advises you on how to dodge quality assurances. You might end up being prosecuted while they walk free.
Before hiring a freelance auditor, it is always recommended that inquire about their charges. Usually, auditing firms vary in their charges. After surveying the market, settle on one that offers services that suit your needs. It is always advisable to avoid going for the lowest bidder.
Here are steps to help you find a freelance quality auditor:
Prepare your request for proposal
A request for a proposal will help you evaluate an auditor’s qualifications. The proposal will contain all information you need to assess if the freelance auditor suits your needs. Accordingly, you can easily compare every proposal form and decide on the best freelance auditor to choose.
Very an auditor’s independence
Regulations require that an auditor be independent to deliver objective, unbiased opinions about your products and services. Ensure that the quality auditor is independent and does not, by any chance, take part in the production or distribution of your products or supply your company with raw materials.
Cross-check the license
An auditor must be licensed or certified as a public accountant by relevant regulatory bodies. You can investigate whether a firm is licensed and certified to perform auditing before you hire anyone. Always ensure that the freelance quality auditor you choose has all papers to prove their licensure. Accordingly, you can verify these documents online.
Check their references
You can always evaluate a freelance auditor by looking at their previous works. Ensure you request a list of referees and counter-check to assess their previous performance in the same role.
Choose your finalists
Evaluate every proposal separately based on your set metrics. If you have to consider prices, make sure it comes after other technical aspects. After you have evaluated everyone, make a list of all your finalists and invite them for interviews.
Interview your finalists
Once you have made a list of all potential freelance auditors, invite them to present and discuss their proposals. This step will help you get a better insight into their qualifications and engagement. You want to work with a firm you can trust to deliver. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to have a direct consultation to determine if they qualify for the job.
Write down the agreement
Ensure you document your agreement in writing. You should consider legal opinion on what to capture before you sign any agreement with an external auditor.
Factors To Consider When Hiring A Freelance Quality Auditor
A quality audit is one of the essential things you can do to ensure your firm grows in a competitive business environment like Dubai. Therefore, you need the best freelance auditor because a small mistake can lead to massive losses. Hiring the wrong quality auditor can jeopardize the future of your firm. Therefore, you must consider various factors while choosing an auditing firm that would suit your needs.
Here are some factors to keep at the back of your mind:
Reputation
An auditor’s reputation represents how other people who have utilized their services think and feel about them. Previous clients can help you determine if an auditor is capable of handling your project or not. If the peer reviews are negative, look in the opposite direction. S
Qualification
Checking an individual’s qualifications is a way of understanding the skill set they possess. You cannot risk hiring an unqualified auditor. Before hiring anyone, conduct a background check to verify their qualifications.
Experience
Experience means finding a quality auditor who has worked with a company in the same industry. Anyone with previous knowledge about a similar task is likely to perform better. Accordingly, it will save you time and guarantees quality assessment.
Service offered
Various freelance auditors offer more than a quality audit. It is essential to hire someone who can offer multiple services and understands what you need.
Security and confidentiality
An external auditor should guarantee you security since you are likely to share confidential company data. Any data loss may result in losses. Therefore, ensure the auditing firm signs a confidentiality agreement.
Cost
Cost is among the fundamental factors you should consider before hiring a freelance auditor. Even if the auditor provides excellent quality, you cannot hire them if the fees charged are too high. The cost is a significant consideration because it will affect your budget. However, you should avoid going for the most affordable auditors because you may compromise the service quality.
Technology
We live in an era where technology influences every aspect of business operations. Every company that needs to develop a competitive advantage must embrace technology. Business processes are dynamic and cannot be predicted easily. Therefore, you need a technologically sound quality auditor with advanced knowledge in matters of technology. This way, you can be sure that the company will utilize the best auditing and accounting tools that comply with current regulations.
Communication
A freelance quality auditor must be excellent at communicating the details to your firm. If the person or firm cannot demonstrate proper communication with the management, you can expect a mismatch in the information that may have a negative effect on the company.
The most significant factor of them all should be professionalism. Any auditor that takes his or her work lightly is capable of bringing your company down. Therefore, you should choose a reputable auditor above everything else.
You can always find a reputable freelance auditor by browsing different websites. If you are looking for a freelance quality editor, you must consider services provided by some of the best auditing firms in Dubai.
The Best Quality Auditors In Dubai
The list of the best quality auditors in Dubai is prepared based on digital surveys on various audit firms in Dubai. International standards are emphasized along with affordability to ensure that you are financially burdened when you hire one of these freelance auditors. This also means that some of the biggest firms are not included in the list because they tend to be more expensive.
BDO United Arabs Emirates
BDO UAE is a member of the BDO International group with various offices around the globe. This audit firm specializes in helping businesses of all sizes achieve their goals. They have a wide range of experienced auditors who can help your firm improve quality and enhance its position in the market.
Accordingly, BDO UAE has a robust understanding of the business world that will help your company grow better in every aspect. They offer a wide range of services apart from quality auditing.
Crowe UAE
Crowe UAE is one of the largest and most reputable accountancy firms in the UAE. The company has more than 200 professional auditors and is among the most well-placed to deliver excellent quality audits. Crowe UAE serves both private and public clients with a focus on the service sector. Accordingly, their pricing is quite competitive, making it an excellent choice if you are looking for a freelance quality auditor.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. International
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) started as an accountancy firm in 1972. The company has grown over the years and now offers a broad range of services including external auditing. It is among the most reputable auditing firms in the UAE and has clients worldwide.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. International (TAG-Audit) is currently a leading global auditing firm with headquarters in Amman, Jordan. It is an independent member of the TAG-Org. and offers both internal and external auditing services to companies of all sizes. They meet professional standards. Accordingly, their processes and operations are internationally certified.
Baker Tilly
Baker Tilly JFC has been offering high-quality auditing, consulting, and business advisory services for many years. The company works closely with its clients, driven from different industries and countries, such as government agencies, private and public corporations from within the UAE and beyond. With its headquarters in Dubai, Baker Tilly operates in more than fifteen offices across different countries to serve its multicultural business partners worldwide.
Baker Tilly JFC is a member of Baker Tilly International. This organization is ranked as the world’s eighth-largest accountancy and auditing firm. Any business partnership with Baker Tilly means dealing with a rich network of highly trained professionals for seamless audit services. Accordingly, their dense network ensures they can offer their services to any part of the world.
Over the years, Baker Tilly has embraced an adaptable culture to align its operations with the changing business environment to attract and retain the best professionals. The company is committed to offering outstanding services and maintaining the industry’s highest levels of audit excellence. Also, Baker Tilly employs quality auditors driven to serve you with integrity and a relentless commitment to excellence.
Saif Chartered Accountants
Saif Chartered Accountants is a renowned audit establishment in Dubai. The company boasts a full-fledged team of quality audit professionals with the experience and qualifications needed to drive your company to the next level. Accordingly, the firm offers a wide range of audit functions that makes it a plus to deal with its teams of highly-trained and certified accountants and auditors.
Saif Chartered Accountants has various offices in London, Cardiff, India, and other locations worldwide to guarantee easy access to its services from wherever your company is situated.
The company is an affiliate of SGA World, a professional consultancy and service organization that helps businesses of all sizes develop better success strategies. The firm is better placed to help your organization adapt and continually improve by building on your unique operations, business model, philosophy, structure, industry, and methods of delivering products and services to your customers. SGA World utilizes technology to develop business ideas and strategies that fit into any firm. This will help you improve quality and productivity.
RSM Chartered Accountants:
RSM Chartered Accountants is a Dubai-based audit firm that offers taxation, consulting, and auditing services to other organizations. The firm operates in more than 120 countries worldwide to enhance its experience and expertise in different markets. Its affordable and competitive pricing will help you save on costs while receiving professional quality auditing services.
RSM Chartered Accountants has a fast-growing customer profile to handle complex quality auditing issues with the technique and knowledge required to guarantee success.
Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton (G.T) is among the leading auditing and accountancy firms in Dubai. The company has a large base of commercial customers that should convince you of its high-quality professional services in taxation, accounting, and auditing. Accordingly, the firm boasts experience in handling different clients from all over the world and different business sectors.
It is essential to consider the above-listed firms if you want to hire a freelance quality auditor. Accordingly, if you want to deal with an individual directly, you can consider searching for independent contractors who are not part of any auditing firm. A source like Bawabba can be inspirational in your search.
Choosing the best freelance quality auditor requires that you consider what you think will work for your firm. The decision can vary according to your business operations, preference, and industry. However, you must make the right choice for better results.
Multitasking is vital
Many skills can be used to evaluate freelance auditors. However, the most important aspect should be their attention to detail. Additionally, they should look at the bigger picture and analyze production processes to identify errors and inconsistencies. Excellent problem-solving skills is another requirement. A quality auditor needs to develop solutions for errors and inconsistencies identified in production processes through an audit.
In other instances, you require someone who can easily shuffle multiple tasks and prioritize the magnitude of the most important task at hand without compromising performance quality. In a supervisory role, a freelance auditor must possess excellent people skills and leadership abilities to guide a team of inspectors. Suck skills include the ability to confront and confidently challenge subordinates and their actions. Along with these traits, other skills and requirements are identified in this article to help you determine the best freelance quality auditor for the job.
The bottom line
Choosing the right freelance auditor is an essential business decision. Your company will work with an external quality auditor to ensure your products meet regulatory requirements and are competitive enough to thrive in the market. But how do you hire the right freelance quality auditor? This article has listed ten different aspects to look into in your quest.
Remember, although there are several freelance quality auditors online, getting one from credible freelance sites like Bawabba is advisable. Sign in on Bawabba today and begin vetting the best freelance auditor there is.
from Bawabba Blog https://blog.bawabba.com/freelance-accounting/hiring-a-freelance-quality-auditor-10-things-you-need-to-know/
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