Record template
A record template is the pattern a record is created from: the sections to fill in, any structured fields, and the clauses the record gives evidence for. Sted’s knowledge base holds 168 of them, each sitting under the policy or procedure it proves, such as the Access Review Record under the Access Control Policy.
Where the term appears
The standards ask for records, not templates. ISO management system standards call them retained documented information and expect them to show that a process ran as planned, and SOC 2 auditors sample them across a period. None prescribes a form. A template is how you make each record of one kind answer the same questions, so the tenth access review is as complete as the first. The records page shows how one becomes a record.
The form is not the evidence
Auditors read records, not templates. An empty template proves only that you planned to keep evidence; the record created from it, dated, filled in and closed, is what shows the work happened. Sample size matters too: one well-kept record a year will not satisfy an auditor testing a quarterly control.
How Sted uses it
- Sted’s knowledge base holds 64 policies and procedures, 3 notices and charters, and 168 record templates, each tagged to the clauses it serves.
- Every record template in Sted’s knowledge base sits under the policy or procedure it gives evidence for, such as the Access Review Record (REC-ARR) under the Access Control Policy (POL-ACC).
- Records follow templates with sections and, where useful, structured fields you can report on.
- Records are part of the Full Management System plan.
- A record is opened, completed, submitted for closure and closed (or withdrawn); closure is reviewed by the document owner.
Related terms
- Repeating record: a template with a schedule.
- Approved document: the policy or procedure a template sits under.
- Evidence: what a completed record becomes.
- Documented information: the ISO term that covers both documents and records.