Did you know that regulations in the United States create such a need for compliance and other types of services that, if isolated, the ‘regulation industry’ would rank as the world’s eighth-largest economy? As such, more than a third of all businesses outsource their compliance needs. But new technology has given all industries a way to fulfill their compliance needs quicker and cheaper by replacing outsourcing with automation.
But a digital compliance system is another expense, so how do you know when it’s the right time for you to automate your compliance process? Here are five key elements that might let you know that it’s time to upgrade your compliance solution.
Sometimes businesses grow faster than they’re able to hire or train for the increased amount of administration. Changing laws and regulations may also increase the burden on people in the process of handling and capturing data or processing paperwork.
The easiest way to detect this process is to test how long it takes to get compliance reports. These delays can result in complaints from the people who need the reports. You can also see this problem if you lose out on contracts because compliance-related reports come too late.
What most businesses do in response to this phenomenon is revert to a manual process. However, this temporary fix is almost guaranteed to create its own problems in the future. A better option is to sign up for an automated compliance service to streamline this part of your administration as soon as possible. Automating compliance processes can help reduce the workload on compliance personnel and allow them to focus on higher-value tasks, such as risk assessment and management, rather than spending time on manual data entry and other routine tasks. Automation can also help improve the accuracy and efficiency of compliance processes, which can reduce the risk of errors and improve the overall effectiveness of the compliance function. This can help organizations better manage their compliance risks and ensure that they are meeting their regulatory obligations.
Human error is natural and was unavoidably woven into data handling in the past. When current incorrect entries were discovered, it was part of the admin, accounting, compliance officers, and auditing jobs to go back and correct them. Today, however, it’s possible to capture data into a journal or ledger without a person needing to enter it into a book or system.
Having automatic feeds of information between internal nodes in your compliance system as well as from the external environment, is one of the best ways to boost efficiency and cut down on erroneous entries. This applies to everything from accounting to HR, and it also applies to your compliance process.
With a compliance platform integrated with research data feeds, regulators, and more, your compliance needs will always be up to date and standard. In such cases, employees take on a monitoring role rather than manually researching, changing forms, and inputting data. Automating these processes can help reduce the amount of manual work involved and increase the accuracy and efficiency of the compliance process. This will streamline your compliance process. Overall, automation can help reduce the burden of compliance on organizations, freeing up time and resources that can be used to focus on other important business activities.
Manual compliance data handling as a “temporary fix” or as your default solution can slow down your projects. It can also lead to irrelevant, old, or unnecessary information ending up in your reporting. It’s also difficult for staff to manually access the right channels for legal updates and changing industry standards. One of the most common integrity risks is missing out on changes in laws or regulatory compliance. Many states and countries have dynamic regulatory environments, and it’s impossible to stay on top of every change in the law once you have operations in multiple jurisdictions.
Having an automated compliance system may eliminate this problem almost entirely. Compliance vendors have the expertise to keep their databases and news feeds completely current. Automating compliance processes can help organizations more easily adapt to changing regulations by allowing them to quickly update their processes and systems to reflect the new requirements. Automated compliance systems can also provide real-time monitoring and alerts to ensure that the organization follows the latest regulations. This can help organizations stay up to date with the latest regulatory requirements and avoid potential non-compliance issues.
If your organization operates in several countries or jurisdictions, compliance requirements can become overwhelming to manage manually. Each additional jurisdiction will create extra delays in your compliance process. In each area, you’ll face a different set of labor laws, reporting statements, and similar issues.
With integrated compliance software, you can cut down on the man-hours needed to adapt to changes. You can use technology to group workers, transactions, invoices, and more by region. Then apply each region’s laws to the designated groups.
This can go way beyond just having the correct paperwork ready for each region. You can customize workflows, rules, and even financial statement preparation according to local laws.
This also applies when your compliance team is spread around the world. If every compliance officer around the world has access to the same system, it saves them a lot of time on research and personal administration.
Some compliance issues are common in most industries and countries. Each risk exposes a business to unique penalties and problems. It’s important for every business to have protection against these issues.
For example, many companies need to submit compliance reports to win government contracts. They also need to handle their business according to strict rules. Failing to meet these standards can cost you a lot of business.
Start by conducting a compliance risk assessment for your company. A compliance service provider can use predictive analytics to get the most accurate results. From there, you can see where your organization’s compliance weak points are.
An automated compliance system will then be able to cover all the gaps. You’ll be able to keep your operations in step with safety and labor regulations. You’ll also be protected from internal and external financial abuse.
Running compliance processes manually can be detrimental to large organizations. Processing data by hand is slow and can result in many mistakes. By automating your compliance, your company will be more adaptable and protected. If you are considering automating your compliance processes, it is important to choose the right system to meet your needs. There are a variety of compliance automation systems available on the market, ranging from simple tools that automate specific tasks to comprehensive systems that manage all aspects of compliance.
Automated systems allow you to stay up to date with ever-changing laws. You’ll be able to group staff and projects by region to make your process less complex. You’ll also be able to set up your system to protect you from all common issues.
If you want the best partner to help you automate your compliance management processes, book a demo of our Compliance Builder today. We offer cutting-edge compliance solutions for regulated industries that is well-suited to your organization.
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