What should the contingency audit plan outline?

The contingency audit plan serves as a structured approach to addressing potential risks and unexpected events that may arise during the audit process. It should outline a scale for the severity of occurrences, as this provides a framework for auditors to assess and prioritize issues effectively.

By establishing a severity scale, auditors can categorize issues based on their impact on the organization and determine an appropriate response. This allows for efficient resource allocation, ensuring that the most critical issues are addressed urgently while less severe issues can be monitored or resolved over time. Having a defined scale helps maintain a consistent approach among audit teams when evaluating risks, leading to more informed decision-making and improved audit outcomes.

The other options, while relevant in a broader context, do not specifically serve the primary purpose of a contingency audit plan. A checklist of audit tools, general feedback for auditors, and a budget for future audits are all aspects that can support the auditing process, but they do not directly relate to managing unexpected events or risks in the same way that a severity scale does.