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SOPNov 14, 2025· 5 min

The three RACI mistakes that break process audits

Every process audit we run surfaces the same three RACI failures. Fix these three and 80% of the friction disappears.

Mistake 1: Two 'Accountables' on the same row. RACI's whole premise is that exactly one person is Accountable per activity. Two accountables means neither is — and the moment something breaks, the finger-pointing tax alone costs weeks.

Mistake 2: Confusing 'Responsible' with 'Consulted'. Legal or Finance often gets tagged R on activities they in fact only review. Result: they end up doing work they shouldn't own, and the true Responsible party quietly slips out of the loop.

Mistake 3: No 'Informed'. Teams downstream get blindsided by decisions taken upstream. A one-line 'Informed' commitment (Slack channel, weekly digest) prevents most of this — but it has to be codified, not implied.

Publish the RACI in the SOP. Reference the SOP in performance reviews. The document only works when it's referenced in consequences.

Further reading

Primary sources & references.

Links open on official portals (CBIC / ICAI / MCA / SEBI / others). For an application-specific opinion, book a consultation.