QMS, CAPA & Quality System Management worked example

Supplier Audit Cost at 81% share requiring on-site audit: a worked example in qms, capa & quality system management

This scenario runs the supplier audit cost calculation on the strong side: 81% share requiring on-site audit, with every other input held at its documented default. A supplier quality engineer plans the annual audit schedule and its budget across the approved supplier base.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Suppliers audited this year: 30 suppliers (unchanged)
  • Fully loaded audit cost per supplier: 1,800 $/supplier (unchanged)
  • Share requiring on-site (not remote) audit: 81 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 70)
  • Fixed audit program administration cost: 6,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total supplier audit cost = suppliers x audit cost x on-site share + program administration) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 49,740 $ for total supplier audit cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,658 $ / piece for supplier audit cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 43,740 $ for variable supplier audit cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6,000 $ for fixed supplier audit cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share requiring on-site audit sits at 70% and the headline result is 43,800 $, this scenario comes in 13.56% above the baseline at 49,740 $.
  • Use it during annual quality budgeting, when deciding how many supplier visits to convert to remote audits, or when justifying audit headcount. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total supplier audit cost: 49,740 $ (headline result)
  • Supplier audit cost per unit: 1,658 $ / piece
  • Variable supplier audit cost: 43,740 $
  • Fixed supplier audit cost adder: 6,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Supplier Audit Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.