How often should we audit our access cards?
A full card audit once a year suits most sites, with a quick reconciliation every quarter and after any staff changes or lost-card spike.
Start here
A full audit once a year works for most small and mid-sized sites. Add a short reconciliation every quarter, and run one straight away after events that change who should have access.
Triggers for an extra check
- A round of departures or a contractor team finishing
- A cluster of lost or replaced cards
- New doors, readers or software added to the system
- Any door event that nobody can explain
Quarterly reconciliation
Export the list of active cards from the access system. Compare it with your current people list. Disable any card without a living owner. That takes an hour, not a day.
Annual audit
The annual pass goes further: card technology, reader settings, door schedules, unused access levels and how lost cards are handled. It is also a good time to sample cards by hand and confirm they match the records.
The audit checklist covers both. For physical tags on equipment, see our inventory walkthrough.
Check every tag, card and reader before someone else does