Annual Audit Best Practices for Google Admins

Keeping your Google Workspace organised and secure is essential for managing your domain effectively. As we approach the new year, it’s the perfect time to review your setup and ensure everything is working smoothly. Regular audits can help you stay compliant, manage user accounts efficiently, and secure your organisation’s sensitive data.

This month, we’ve compiled practical advice to help you optimise your Workspace, along with a new resource: the Annual Auditing Guide for Enterprises, which offers step-by-step strategies for auditing and preparing your domain for the year ahead.

Best Practices to Prepare Your Workspace for the Year Ahead

1. Audit Your Data Regularly: Review your domain’s shared files and activity. Use Google Drive filters to identify large, outdated, or inactive files and clean them up. Check the Admin Console for activity reports to spot unusual behaviour or inactive accounts that no longer need access. Use tools like GAT+ to scan for externally shared files, inactive accounts, and outdated data for a more comprehensive overview.

2. Set Up Retention Policies: Retention rules help declutter data while ensuring compliance with GDPR and SOC2. Use Google Vault to create retention policies for emails, chats, and files. For Drive, implement shared folder guidelines with rules like archiving project files after six months.

3. Review User Permissions: Unchecked permissions can expose your organisation to data breaches. Use the Admin Console’s Drive audit log to review file and folder-sharing settings. Remove unauthorised access, update permissions, and regularly review shared drives to ensure only the right people have access to sensitive data.

4. Automate Your Processes: Set up Google’s alert systems to monitor unusual activity and use automated retention rules in Vault to ensure data is managed consistently. Use GAT Flow's workflows to automate recurring tasks like archiving files or managing inactive accounts, saving time and maintaining consistency throughout the year.

FAQs About Workspace Audits

Q: How often should I review my Google Workspace domain?

A: Regular reviews, ideally quarterly, can help you stay ahead of potential risks like outdated files, inactive accounts, or unchecked permissions.

Q: What’s the best way to handle suspended accounts?

A: Remove permissions for all shared files and archive any critical data. Use retention rules to manage suspended accounts efficiently and securely.

Q: How can I automate repetitive audit tasks?

A: Google Workspace tools like Vault can automate data retention. You can also set up alerts in the Admin Console to monitor activity and simplify ongoing audits.

Q: Why is setting retention rules important?

A: Retention rules prevent data clutter and ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR and SOC2 by managing how long data is stored and when it’s removed.

Discover the Annual Auditing Guide for Enterprises

Our latest guide walks you through:

• Step-by-step strategies to review your domain

• Best practices for compliance, user management, and data security

• How GAT tools can make these tasks faster and more efficient

⬇️ Download your copy here

Join the Conversation

What are your biggest challenges when auditing your Workspace? Comment below or share your own tips. We’d love to hear from you!