For Compliance, Risk, and Governance teams
Gain control and efficiency with our comprehensive dashboard
Effortlessly centralize document and file management securely
Organize and streamline activities with automated scheduling calendar
Empower compliance with timely notifications, alerts, & deadline tracking
Ensure timely response, accountability, and risk mitigation through escalations
Gain compliance control, mitigate risks, & save time with framework library
Streamline assessments. enhance collaboration, ensure compliance.
Strengthen accountability, compliance, and transparency with audit logs
See our platform in action for free. No credit card required!
Efficiently manage GRC using your everyday tools
The Ultimate Agile Solution for Compliance Teams
Goin 360-degree visibility with intuitive compliance dashboard
Stay informed and proactive w ith notifications & alerts
Simplify file and document management with ease
Automate compliance workflows for seamless efficiency
Streamline compliance with customizable framework library
Enable collaboration across locations, departments, and teams
Centralize compliance work for streamlined efficiency
Goin actionable insights with robust reporting feature
The Essential Solution for Empowered Risk Managers
Identify and track risks using the centralized risk register
Enable collaboration across stakeholders for better resolution
Streamline risk assessment with process automation
Enhance risk visibility with intuitive and centralized dashboard
Establish connection across teams, departments, and locations
Elevate risk awareness through proactive notifications
Manage files & evidence centrally for efficient control
Enhance decision-making with actionable risk insights
An Unparalleled Solution for Policy Management Teams
Efficient policy distribution through central repository
Streamline policy drafting and lifecycle management for simplicity
Simplify compliance with comprehensive policy templates
Simplify policy management with efficient version control
Accelerate policy approvals with automated processes
Collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams
Effortlessly measure policy training effectiveness with assessments
Manage policy life cycle with automated reminders and notifications
The Complete Solution for Empowered and Efficient Audit Teams
Maintain transparency and accountability with audit trails
Organize and streamline audit with automated scheduling and calendar
Centralize audit files for streamlined evidence collection and management
Stay informed with proactive audit activity notifications & alerts
Streamline audit assessments for comprehensive compliance
Bring audit plans, activities into the single space for complete control
Simplify audits with automated workflow efficiency
Gain 360-degree visibility with intuitive Audit dashboards
Empowering success through streamlined compliance, risk, and governance solutions
Empower your business with simplified regulatory compliance solutions
Empower your enterprise by elevating risk management practices
Transform GRC operations for optimized efficiency and effectiveness
Mitigate risks with seamless third-party risk management
Check out our comprehensive guides for seamless management!
Empower your business with pre-built customizable regulatory and control frameworks
Achieve quality success through ISO 9001 Framework
Deliver compliance excellence with the power of SOX framework
Simplify your security approach with ISO 27001 framework
Navigate cybersecurity excellence with NIST framework compliance
Promote data security through compliance with PCI DSS framework
Unlock trust and security with SOC 2 framework for compliance
Empower your industry with unmatched effectiveness and efficiency
VComply for the Financial Services Industry
VComply for the Manufacturing Industry
VComply for the Banking Industry
VComply for the Non-Profit Industry
VComply for the Higher Education Industry
VComply for the Food & Beverages Industry
VComply for the Healthcare Industry
VComply for the Construction Industry
Stay connected and grow alongside VComply
Stay informed on compliance, risk, audit, and policy management trends
Streamline work with comprehensive guides for seamless management
Navigate complex GRC challenges with valuable e-books
Discover user stories for valuable insights into user-experiences
Access comprehensive definitions and explanations for essential GRC terms
Gain a comprehensive understanding of the features, benefits, and capabilities
Discover insights from experts on the latest happenings in GRC
Learn tips, tricks, and insights to make compliance work for your organization through our expert webinars!
Utilize our go-to templates and checklists to help you stay compliant
Keep in sync with the latest changes by updated framework templates
Get compliance assistance through VComply compliance checklists
Download policy templates that you use to create guidelines and processes.
Discover the power of VComply through our detailed use case guides
Get to know what make VComply the best GRC platform on the market
Discover VComply's value, mission, and vision for better GRC future
Stay informed about VComply and GRC industrylatest updates
Join VComply, redefine compliance, unleash potential
Know about our partnership program
Get to know our board of advisors
Our legal terms of services and privacy policy
Stay up to date on the latest VComply news
VComply offers unparalleled Sales and Customer Support
Send us your sales queries and let us know your needs
Get 24/7 quick and dedicated support anytime
Lets get social
Follow us on LinkedIn for company updates
Join VComply on Twitter for live updates
In today’s complex and strictly regulated world, internal controls are a prerequisite as they protect your organization from unethical behavior, violations of regulatory requirements, and monetary losses. However, are just building internal controls enough for your organization to manage and reduce risks?
The answer is no. Internal controls are essential, but they are continually evaluated for the information they produce in terms of quality, speed, and accuracy. Knowing where to begin when creating a system of internal controls can occasionally be challenging. As a result of these challenges, organizations are changing the landscape of their internal control framework through automation.
In this blog, we will uncover the “why” of automating internal controls and discuss the benefits of automation in tackling the risk environment more proactively.
Organizations can reduce compliance violations and risks with automation, identify financial risks between systems and applications, enhance data analysis, and improve productivity. According to a Deloitte survey, organizations that automated 50% and 75% of their financial controls did not report any significant flaws or material vulnerabilities over the last two years.
Here are some benefits of carefully integrating automation and cutting-edge technologies into your internal control frameworks.
The current situation calls for organizations to optimize their control procedures due to increasing regulatory requirements, pressure from control and compliance authorities, and other factors.
For instance, adhering to regulatory compliance standards like Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance, Information Security, GDPR, CCPA, and so forth requires testing of critical internal controls through sampling approaches. Leveraging automation in your internal control framework can significantly minimize this approach and help companies meet regulatory norms.
Every internal control comes with a price for the organization. The control process needs to be developed, implemented, run, tested, and audited, which entails high expenses.
For example, imagine that a bank with four entries adopted a system to record each time a door sensor alert was triggered to reduce the risk of losses from theft or unlawful access. The financial institution manually logged these details, which took hours of labor and additional operating expenses.
The operational cost of internal control should not be more than the potential rewards of the control or the risk being managed for it to be considered effective. Hence, efficient use of automating internal controls can help organizations:
Internal controls work effectively for low-output processes that require human expertise or judgment to determine the process’s outcome. Manual controls have a chance of dysfunction.
Let’s take system access as an example. A manual control compares users to the current employee directory to determine the proper access levels before granting users access. An automated control would use job codes and provisioning profiles and compare the users to the employee directory, and any differences would be automatically resolved.
Automation reduces manual errors by:
Preventative controls enable organizations to reduce risks associated with fraud, loss, and obstruction of an organization’s operating goals. This includes supervisory or managerial approvals for both spending and buying transactions, specific control methods for recording cash receipts and disbursements, and password security for all financial data.
For example, employees may not cycle their passwords regularly. Automating this control will automatically require employees to create new passwords regularly. Other benefits of automating preventative controls include:
Organizations are seeing a rise in compliance expenditures. Without strong internal controls, they are vulnerable to long compliance processes, a range of risks,
and fines, including theft and embezzlement.
However, simply incorporating internal controls in your compliance process is not enough. When you automate the internal control framework, the long-lasting effects extend to:
For example, manpower costs may constitute a sizable portion of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance. It is challenging (and expensive) to find and keep qualified compliance specialists who are familiar with generally accepted accounting principles, best practices for financial reporting, and the significance of effective controls.
Without automation, compliance professionals could be forced to waste time on repetitive, manual procedures such as reconciling data from various sources or ensuring that journal entries are authorized, among others.
Traditionally, implementing control activities involved adding more people since the separation of duties is the core component of overall risk management.
However, with automation tools to correct internal controls and by automating policies and procedures, employees who had to review the corrective controls manually can now shift their focus to reviewing the accuracy of the output.
At the very core, business processes are improved by adding two layers of review, one within the automated internal controls and the other by human intervention.
Here are some benefits of internal control automation.
This internal control activity aims to reduce the risk of errors or inappropriate behavior by dividing responsibilities among several employees. Organizations decrease the possibility of fraud by separating duties so that no one person can carry out, approve, and record financial transactions.
For instance, businesses must separate duties and accountability for those receiving money or checks; making deposits and reconciling deposits; adding new vendors and, processing payments on invoices and, adding and approving expenses.
Separation of duties is prone to various human errors, including insufficient or unqualified staff in accounting departments, which results in rushed work and inadequate documentation of expenses or transactions.
How does automating internal controls help?
Using intricate role-based authorization models enables you to identify, analyze, and manage associated risks. Other advantages include:
Like the disaster recovery process, internal control automation increases control resilience, strengthening the company from the inside out. In a recent Deloitte survey, over 75% of respondents (or 78%) indicated that their organizations intended to improve internal control resilience in the coming years.
Organizations that automate internal controls can:
Compliance audits cost businesses millions of dollars. For example, one key requirement of SOX compliance is that organizations have an external audit perform SOX testing over key controls and report on the reliability of their financial statements. This can be an expensive process, particularly for smaller organizations.
According to a survey, organizations with fewer than 25 automated controls in their audit framework spent an average of $1,233,143, whereas those with 25 or more automated controls spent, on average $900,510.
Let’s explore how automating internal controls can lower audit costs.
When employees are used to enforcing internal controls, their exit raises the likelihood of errors and weak internal controls. In the past, the expertise of a valued employee could never be completely replaced.
However, this danger can be mitigated by adopting an automated process with built-in offboarding restrictions. Automating control activities will further help you reduce the risk associated with employee turnover.
Before developing an internal control plan, organizations must understand the different types of internal controls and how they work. Understanding when and where it makes sense to automate internal controls is the key to success.
Here is a 6-step process for automating internal controls.
#Step 1
Automate what’s necessary – Ensure automation supports your organization’s objectives.
#Step 2
Take small steps – Choose a particular use case related to a high-value activity and is ideally simple to implement.
#Step 3
Observe shortfalls in existing processes – as opportunities for implementing automation.
#Step 4
Determine which controls require automatic testing. For example, customers can be informed about their loan approval and proceedings through an automatic notification instead of sending trails of emails.
#Step 5
Consider the outcomes of automated tests and send reports for audit inspections.
#Step 6
Create a database of tests and findings for future use.
Automating internal controls is a great place to begin if you want to future-proof your organization’s compliance management system. Doing this can enhance productivity without incurring additional expenses or hiring more employees.
With VComply’s control management software, organizations can:
Automation is one of the most important tools for modern compliance and risk management teams. It plays a critical role in maintaining a lean team environment that is still compliant with all the rules and regulations of your industry.
VComply helps your organization implement automation to strengthen the internal control environment. Equip your employees with the tools they need to become as productive as possible.
Book a VComply free demo today and understand how internal control automation works.
Ready to set up a trial of VComply and automate your compliance process?