In a number of blog posts, we’ve highlighted the ways that policyIQ can be used throughout the entire SOX process – from risk assessments through issue remediation.  This past Thursday, July 28^th, we took an hour to walk through the entire process in a CPE webinar to highlight ways to create efficiency at each step.

Did you miss it?

Before we hit the highlights below, we want to point you to the session recording and the slides, both of which are available for download.

• Check out the recording
• Download the slides

The Big Picture

We highlighted a number of big picture advantages of using policyIQ not just for SOX, but for all of your compliance initiatives.  We talked about…

• Simplicity of rolling out and managing a cloud-based
• Advantages of being able to assign security and access
• And the efficiency of a single source of information through the entire compliance and audit environment.

A single source means that when you make a change in one place, that change feeds all of the different perspectives on the data.

Efficiency at Every Step

We also dug into the efficiency that can be gained at every step of the process.  Just some of those ideas are presented below.  We also mentioned additional training available for some steps, and have linked those training sessions.

1. Risk Assessments
   • Tie risk assessments at the 10K line item level to your risks and controls for ease of scoping.
2. Control Updates & Review
   • Allow your control owners to make updates directly in policyIQ as things change, or require regular reviews of control documentation.
3. Walkthroughs & Testing
   • Collaborate early (and often) with external auditors to ensure that your testing is capturing all of the detail expected.
4. Issue Tracking & Remediation
   • Assign remediation plans to owners and use automated reminders to ensure responses are provided.
5. Conclusions & Reporting
   • Utilize flexible reporting capabilities to trace issues back to the vulnerable risks and compensating controls to make a final determination about significant deficiencies or material weaknesses.

We also included the supporting functions that feed the process.

• Map to COSO 2013
  • Link Entity Level Controls to COSO Principles
• Evidence Collection
  • Assign evidence requests, utilize automated reminders, and track receipt of documentation
• Time & Expense Tracking
  • Report on budgeted versus actual hours and cost, and use the data for next year’s planning
• SOX 302 (Sub)Certification
  • Assign role-specific questionnaires, utilize automated reminders, and report on exceptions

We’re ready to help you build more efficiency into your SOX program.  Contact us today and ask to speak with our client service team to walk you through implementing some new ideas!  Not yet a policyIQ client?  Contact us and ask us for a personalized demonstration!