Audit workflow template: before-and-after or record-only

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How to build AuditIt workflow templates

Learn how workflow shape, photo ranges, option values, and preview create clear field rules.

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Open the template builder on mobile or web and name the audit workflow. Choose record-only for one visit, or before and after when the same subject needs two capture stages. Add sections and fields in the order field users should follow. For a photo field, set the minimum and maximum number of images; a range such as two to eight means at least two photos are required and up to eight are allowed. For a select field, add the option values users can choose, such as Pass, Faults noted, and Not tested. Mark only genuinely required fields, add clear help text, then preview the workflow to confirm its stage behavior and evidence rules before publishing. The template experience is designed for feature parity across web and mobile.

Before you add a single field, decide whether the work happens once or has two deliberate stages. That choice is the backbone of an audit workflow template.

For one visit, choose record-only. When the same subject must be recorded at two comparable moments, choose before-and-after. Then add sections, questions, required answers, and media ranges in the order the work actually happens.

A template can make submitted observations more consistent. It cannot tell you whether an asset is safe, what caused a change, or who is liable.

Start with the shape of the work

AuditIt's current builder calls this choice Shape of the work. The two options are Record only and Before and after.

Record-only is for one complete visit

Use record-only when the observation is the job: a pre-hire note, a meter reading, a one-off damage record, or a safety walk. There is no second visit to invent and no After stage to fill.

Before-and-after is for a deliberate return

Use before-and-after when a person will record the same subject at two planned stages—checkout and return, for example—and a later reviewer needs selected fields shown together. Do not use it when the second visit is really a different inspection.

AuditIt ships starters for sixteen named industries plus a general fallback. Adopting one makes an editable copy for the organization; it does not turn the starter's fields into a universal inspection standard.

Sketch the visit before choosing inputs

Write down the route an operator will follow. A compact-equipment handover might move through Identity, Machine condition, Hours and attachments, and Reviewer notes. A one-visit damage note might need only Identity, Observed damage, and What was not checked.

That rough walk-through exposes awkward forms early. If the operator has to jump between unrelated sections, the form is probably following a database rather than the job.

Keep the form as short as the review allows. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidance notes that people generally prefer simple, short forms and advises asking only for information needed to complete the process. This is form-design guidance, not an inspection rule or an AuditIt certification.

Choose a field because you need its answer

The current AuditIt builder offers ten field types: Photo evidence, Video evidence, Short text, Long text, Acknowledgement, Multiple checks, Number, Rating, Single choice, and Multiple choice.

Match the input to the question:

• Use Photo evidence or Video evidence when the reviewer needs to see something. Say what should be visible and from where.
• Use Short text or Number for compact values such as an asset ID or hour-meter reading. Put the unit in the label or guidance.
• Use Long text for an observation that cannot be reduced to a choice. Ask for what was seen, not a hidden conclusion.
• Use Acknowledgement for one deliberate confirmation and Multiple checks for several independent items.
• Use Single choice or Multiple choice when the options are stable and understandable without guesswork.
• Use Rating only when the team already has a defined scale.

Every field needs a label and an explicit required-or-optional setting. AuditIt also keeps sections and fields in a defined order, with optional guidance for the operator.

W3C WAI's labeling guidance says form controls should be identified with labels. Its instructions guidance recommends making required and optional input, formats, and other relevant details clear. Those are useful habits for any form; they do not prove that a particular workflow meets a legal standard.

Treat media counts as instructions, not proof

Photo and video fields can have minimum and maximum counts. Under the current product rules, a required media field needs a minimum of at least one. An optional media field cannot enforce a minimum above zero, and the maximum cannot be lower than the minimum. When no maximum is entered, the current default is five.

Write the requirement so an operator can act on it: “Take two to four photographs of the left boom: one wide view and one close view.” A count does not make the images accurate, sufficient, or conclusive. If the underside cannot be seen, record that limit instead of guessing.

Compare only what someone will review side by side

On a before-and-after template, the builder can mark a field Compare this field in the After stage. That control is limited to before-and-after work; current preview validation rejects a record-only snapshot that still has an After comparison turned on.

Good comparison candidates include the same panel, hour-meter, attachment list, or overview angle. A return note that exists only at the second visit usually belongs outside the comparison.

The comparison helps a person find a difference. It does not establish when the difference occurred, why it happened, or who caused it.

Preview the template before it goes live

Walk through the template as if you were the operator. Read each label, check the required fields, try the options, inspect the media ranges, and confirm that only relevant fields appear in the After comparison.

Saving is not publishing. In the current import review, Create draft saves the reviewed template. It becomes active only when someone publishes it in the editor. Template status values include draft, active, and archived.

Use fictional data for this dry run. It is much easier to repair a confusing label before a real record depends on it.

Worked example: the same excavator, two different jobs

Imagine a fictional compact excavator, EX-204, at Yard 4. The example is invented; it is not customer data or a recommended machinery inspection.

A one-visit damage note

The hire desk wants to record a scrape reported at the gate. There is no return visit in this record, so the honest shape is record-only.

The form asks for the asset ID, where the mark was seen, two to four photographs, and an optional note about anything that could not be viewed.

A useful observation might read: “Paint scrape on the left boom, photographed once in context and once close up. Underside not visible from the yard surface.” The record does not guess when the scrape happened or who caused it.

Checkout and return

Now imagine the same machine is being handed out and later returned. Before-and-after fits because the desk wants to compare the asset ID, hour-meter, attachment list, and overview photographs at two deliberate stages.

At checkout, the record might say: “Hour-meter 1,248. Bucket and hitch present. No scrape visible in the submitted left-boom overview.” At return: “Hour-meter 1,261. Bucket and hitch present. Scrape visible in the submitted left-boom overview.”

That pairing gives a supervisor something concrete to inspect. The supervisor still decides whether the difference matters and what should happen next.

Where AuditIt fits

AuditIt's template builder supports this sequence: choose record-only or before-and-after, arrange sections and fields, set requiredness and media ranges, select comparison fields for two-stage work, preview, save a draft, and publish separately. An adopted starter is editable, so the workflow owner remains responsible for suitable wording, lawful collection, training, and review.

AuditIt creates tamper-evident, human-review-ready records. It is not legal certification and does not determine liability.

Once the template is ready, create your first audit or start with AuditIt.

• audit template
• workflow builder
• before and after
• record only
• field operations