Klaviyo audit checklist (2026)

---

title: "Klaviyo audit checklist (2026)" description: "A complete 28-point Klaviyo audit checklist covering flows, deliverability, segmentation, forms, attribution, and SMS — the full quarterly review most operators skip." slug: "klaviyo-audit-checklist-2026" publishedAt: "2026-05-19" updatedAt: "2026-05-19" painCluster: "meta" intent: 8 tier: 2 faq:

• q: "How often should I audit my Klaviyo account?" a: "Most operators audit quarterly, which catches major issues but lets weekly drift accumulate. Monthly audits catch more but eat operator time. The honest answer: audits are a one-off snapshot, and what you actually want is continuous monitoring of the same signals. An audit checklist is the right structure for a periodic review; for the signals that matter most, automate the checking."
• q: "What's the most important thing to check in a Klaviyo audit?" a: "Whether your trigger metrics are still recording. Open Analytics → Metrics and look at Started Checkout, Added to Cart, Placed Order, and Active on Site. If any of these has flatlined in the last 24-72 hours when historical volume was steady, your integration is broken and every downstream flow is affected."
• q: "Should I audit my Klaviyo flows or my campaigns first?" a: "Flows. Flows run continuously and silently — a broken flow leaks money every day until you notice. Campaigns are one-off; a broken campaign hurts once. Always audit the persistent surface first."
• q: "How long does a Klaviyo audit take?" a: "A thorough audit takes 4-8 hours depending on account complexity. The first audit takes longer because you'll find issues that have been compounding. Subsequent quarterly audits typically take 2-3 hours once you've established a baseline."
• q: "Do I need an agency to audit my Klaviyo account?" a: "No. The audit is structured enough that any operator with platform access can complete it. Agencies often do it faster because they've seen many accounts and pattern-match quickly, but the checklist below is the framework they use, and you can run it yourself."
• q: "What's the difference between a Klaviyo audit and Klaviyo monitoring?" a: "An audit is a one-time snapshot. Monitoring is a continuous signal. An audit catches problems that have been compounding for months; monitoring catches problems within hours of when they happen. Both are valuable; they answer different questions. Quarterly audits + continuous monitoring is the complete coverage."
• q: "Where can I find a free Klaviyo audit tool?" a: "Klavauditpro.com offers a free one-time audit. The Anthropic-Klaviyo MCP integration through Claude provides a similar free audit. Both are good for the periodic snapshot. Neither tells you when a flow breaks the day after the audit." related:
• klaviyo-flow-audit-tools-compared
• klaviyo-monitoring-tools-2026
• klaviyo-vs-claude-mcp-audit

---

Most Klaviyo audits happen because something already went wrong. Revenue is down. A campaign tanked. An agency is taking over a client account. The audit is reactive, exhaustive, and time-consuming — and three months later, the same audit needs to be run again because the issues compound continuously.

This page is the audit checklist itself. 28 items across the surfaces that matter — flows, deliverability, segmentation, forms, attribution, SMS, list hygiene. Each item has a quick verification step and a "what to do if it's broken" pointer. Use it standalone if you're auditing right now. Use it as a baseline if you're building a continuous monitoring practice.

If you're auditing once a quarter, this is the list. If you want to do this continuously, we'll get to that at the end.

How to use this checklist

Work through the sections in order. The order isn't alphabetical — it's organized by leverage. Items in section 1 (integrity) can mask issues in every other section, so verify them first. Items in section 7 (advanced) are useful but lower-impact.

For each item: do the verification step. If it passes, move on. If it fails, log the issue and continue — fix everything at the end rather than getting derailed mid-audit.

Section 1: Integration integrity (4 items)

1.1. Shopify integration is active and authenticated

Settings → Integrations → Shopify. Status should read "Connected" with a recent sync timestamp. If you see "Your credentials have expired" or any error message, this is your single highest priority — every Shopify event downstream is affected.

1.2. Started Checkout is still firing

Analytics → Metrics → Started Checkout. The chart should show steady event volume during traffic hours. A flat line on the right edge of the chart means the event has stopped recording — see Klaviyo Checkout Started not working.

1.3. Placed Order matches Shopify order count

Pull Shopify's order count for the last 7 days. Compare to Klaviyo's Placed Order event count for the same period. They should match within a few percent (accounting for cancellations and test orders). If Klaviyo is missing 10%+, the integration is dropping events.

1.4. Onsite tracking snippet is loaded

View your storefront's page source. Search for "klaviyo." You should see a script tag from static.klaviyo.com. If missing, re-enable Onsite Tracking in the integration settings.

Section 2: Authentication and deliverability (5 items)

2.1. DKIM is configured and passing

Settings → Domains → check DKIM status for your sending domain. Should read "verified" with all expected records present. If DKIM is failing, expect Gmail/Yahoo deliverability degradation.

2.2. SPF includes Klaviyo's sending infrastructure

Your sending domain's SPF record should include Klaviyo's sender via the appropriate include directive. Verify this through DNS lookup or Klaviyo's domain status page.

2.3. DMARC policy is set to at least p=none with reporting

DMARC at p=none allows mail to pass through but generates reports. p=quarantine or p=reject is stricter. For Gmail/Yahoo compliance, p=none with valid reporting is the minimum.

2.4. Spam complaint rate is below 0.1%

Analytics → Deliverability → Complaint Rate. Anything above 0.1% needs attention; above 0.3% is acute. See Klaviyo spam complaint rate too high.

2.5. Bounce rate is below 2%

Same page. Sustained bounce rates above 2% indicate list hygiene problems or sender reputation issues. A sudden spike (5x trailing average) is a separate emergency.

Section 3: Flows (8 items)

3.1. Every Live flow has had at least one entry in the last 24 hours

Flows → list view. For each flow marked Live, click in and check the "Latest entries" tab. If a flow shows zero entries in 24 hours while its trigger event is recording normally, a filter is blocking entries.

3.2. Welcome flow fires for new subscribers

Find a profile that subscribed in the last 24 hours. Check their activity timeline. They should be in the welcome flow. If not, the welcome flow trigger is broken — see Klaviyo welcome flow not triggering.

3.3. Abandoned cart flow fires for cart abandoners

Trigger a test checkout. Wait 5 minutes. Confirm the profile entered the abandoned cart flow. If not, see Klaviyo abandoned cart flow not firing.

3.4. Post-purchase flow fires for new customers

Place a test order. Confirm the profile entered any post-purchase flows configured.

3.5. Browse abandonment flow has Viewed Product events to act on

Analytics → Metrics → Viewed Product. Should show steady event volume. If flat, the JS tracking isn't firing.

3.6. Smart Sending is OFF on abandoned cart emails

Open each email in the abandoned cart flow. Check the Smart Sending setting. Should be OFF — abandoned cart timing is more important than dedupe.

3.7. No flow has a filter that blocks every profile

For each flow, read the filter conditions. The classic killer: "Started Checkout zero times since starting this flow" when the flow trigger is also Started Checkout.

3.8. Flow performance is within Klaviyo benchmark range

Each flow's report shows benchmarks. Flows in the "Good" or "Excellent" range are healthy. Flows dropping to "Fair" or "Poor" need investigation.

Section 4: Segments and lists (4 items)

4.1. Your engaged segment is stable or growing

Find your "engaged in last X days" segment. Check the members-over-time chart. If it's shrinking sharply, sender reputation is at risk — see Klaviyo engagement segment shrinking.

4.2. Relative-time segments are refreshing

Spot-check a segment using a "last X days" condition. Compare today's count to two days ago. Healthy segments show daily noise. A flat count over 48 hours is suspect.

4.3. Lists are tagged and clearly purposed

You should know what each list is for. Lists with ambiguous names ("test," "imported 2024") should be reviewed and either purposed or deleted.

4.4. Suppression count change is normal

Profiles → Suppressed → check trailing 7-day delta. Steady daily volume is expected. Spikes (10x trailing average) indicate bulk action — see Why is this Klaviyo profile suppressed.

Section 5: Signup forms (3 items)

5.1. Active forms are receiving impressions

Forms → list view → impressions column. Each Live form should show daily impressions. Zero impressions = the form isn't appearing on your storefront. See Klaviyo popup not showing.

5.2. Form submission rate is steady

Sample 2-3 active forms. Compare last week's submission rate to the previous week. Sharp drops suggest mobile breakpoint issues, third-party app conflicts, or targeting changes.

5.3. Forms hand off to flows correctly

Submit a test signup. Confirm the profile is added to the intended list and enters the welcome flow (or whichever flow should fire).

Section 6: SMS (3 items)

6.1. SMS registration is current

Settings → SMS → Registration status. 10DLC and toll-free numbers should show approved. Pending or rejected = throttled or blocked delivery.

6.2. SMS delivery rate is above 90%

For recent SMS sends, check the delivery rate. Anything below 90% indicates carrier filtering, consent issues, or formatting problems. See Klaviyo SMS not delivering.

6.3. SMS opt-in events are still landing

Analytics → Metrics → Consented to Receive SMS Marketing. Should show steady volume. Flat = your opt-in surface is broken.

Section 7: Attribution and reporting (3 items)

7.1. Flow attributed revenue is not zero

For each major flow, check the revenue line. Zero revenue from a flow that normally drives meaningful revenue = either the flow stopped sending or attribution is broken — see Klaviyo revenue attribution missing.

7.2. Attribution window matches your purchase cycle

Settings → Reporting. Default is 5 days for email. For long-consideration products, extend; for impulse products, leave default.

7.3. Currency is set correctly

Account Settings → Currency. Should match your primary Shopify store currency. Mismatches discard revenue data silently.

Section 8: Account hygiene (2 items)

8.1. Admin access list is current

Settings → Account → Users. Remove users no longer at the company. Audit permissions; not every user needs admin.

8.2. API keys in use are documented

Settings → Account → API Keys. Each active key should have a known purpose. Rotate keys that haven't been used in 6+ months.

What to do with the audit results

Once you've worked through the checklist:

1. Group findings by severity. Integrity issues (Section 1) are immediate fixes. Deliverability issues (Section 2) are weekly priorities. Optimization items (Section 7) are quarterly improvements.
2. Fix the integrity issues first. A broken integration cascades into every other section.
3. Document what you fixed and what you didn't. Next quarter's audit will go faster if you know which items were already verified.
4. Schedule the next audit. Quarterly minimum. Monthly if your account is high-volume or recently changed.

The audit's limitations

Every audit is a snapshot. The day after this audit, a Shopify theme update could remove your tracking snippet. Three weeks later, a flow filter could quietly break. By the time the next quarterly audit catches it, you've lost weeks of revenue from a problem that didn't exist at the last check.

If you're running quarterly audits and treating it as comprehensive coverage, you're catching maybe 60% of the problems that occur. The other 40% surface between audits and run their full damage cycle before the next snapshot.

The alternative is continuous monitoring — automated checks against the same signals this audit measures, running hourly, surfacing findings the day they happen rather than the quarter they happened. Quarterly audits stay valuable for the structural review (account hygiene, strategy questions, optimization targeting). The integrity layer underneath benefits from being watched continuously.

That's the pitch: do the quarterly audit. Then automate the integrity layer underneath it. Playbook does that — hourly scans against trigger metrics, integration health, deliverability rates, segment freshness, form impressions, attribution drift. The audit becomes about strategy and improvement; the integrity layer takes care of itself.