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Action Taken Report (ATR) Format for Internal Audit — Word Template

Downloadable Action Taken Report format for internal audit — observation reference, rating, management response, action owner, target date, revised date, status, closure evidence and follow-up trail.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned
Updated 31 Aug 2026
Standard
SIA 360 / SIA 370
Contains
Every observation + management response
Feeds
The follow-up register (SIA 390)
Format
Microsoft Word (.docx)
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Your firm — letterhead
Appears at the top of the document as the audit firm letterhead.
Used as the letterhead block.
Engagement details
The client and period this document is for.
What’s inside

An excerpt from the template.

MANAGEMENT ACTION TAKEN REPORT (ATR)

Entity: ___ · Period: ___ · Reports to: ___

Consolidated per SIA 360/370 — every observation from this engagement, its rating, management's documented response, the responsible owner and the target closure date. This ATR feeds the follow-up register in the subsequent period (SIA 390).

Prepared by: __________ Reviewed by: __________ Date: ___

↑ Excerpt only — the full template is what you download as Word
About this template

What you’re downloading, and when to use it.

This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

Everything is generated in your browser and on a stateless API endpoint — no account, nothing stored on our servers. We’ll ask for a work email once before your first download so we can send you the file and the occasional relevant update; after that, downloads on this device are instant. Edit freely in Word, Google Docs or Pages before sending to your client.

Common questions

FAQs.

What does ATR mean in audit?
ATR means Action Taken Report. In internal audit, it is the tracker for what management agreed to do after an observation, who owns the action, the original and revised due dates, current status, closure evidence and whether follow-up testing confirms implementation.
What is the purpose of an Action Taken Report if the observations are already in the audit report?
The audit report is a narrative document; the ATR is the consolidated, tabular action register circulated alongside it (and often to a wider distribution, including the Audit Committee) specifically so every observation's owner, response and due date is trackable in one place — it is the operational document that gets checked against in the follow-up period, not just re-read.
Should the ATR record every observation, or only the higher-severity ones?
Best practice is every observation, regardless of rating — a Deficiency left untracked is exactly how it turns into a repeat, escalating finding next period. Some firms do split into a "management letter" for lower-severity points and a formal ATR for Significant Deficiencies and Material Weaknesses; either approach works as long as nothing is dropped from tracking.
What happens if management disagrees with a recommendation?
The disagreement, and management's stated rationale, should be recorded in the ATR exactly as given — internal audit does not overwrite a "disagreed" response to make it look resolved. Where internal audit still considers the risk material, that disagreement itself should be escalated to the Audit Committee rather than silently dropped from tracking.
What closure evidence should an ATR keep?
Closure evidence should be stronger than an email confirmation. Depending on the observation, keep the revised policy, system configuration screenshot, approval log, reconciliation, sample retest, monitoring report or other evidence showing the corrective action actually operated.
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