6 Must-Dos for Enterprise Risk Management
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Author Archives: Chris Burd
Community Credit Unions Need policyIQ
We’ve talked a lot about the breadth of industries that are served by policyIQ, and the diversity of our users. When it comes to who can benefit from policyIQ, we have yet to find an organization for which we have no value to add. We also recognize that some industries and niches need our product more than others, and community credit unions are a perfect fit.
Community Credit Unions Need policyIQ
While financial regulations can be intense and difficult to navigate, community credit unions need compliance technology that is simple and easy to use.
- Fast and easy setup
- Simple navigation, with little user training required
- Flexibility that allows a single technology to be used for many needs
- Incredibly low cost for small teams
- Dedicated user support team committed to exceptional service
Are you exploring compliance technology for your organization? Find out how policyIQ meets your needs by contacting us today!
Effective Corporate Governance
Did you miss our recent webinar on Effective Corporate Governance? Get caught up with the recording, or download the slides to review at your convenience.
Get caught up with the recording, or download the slides to review at your convenience.
5 Steps to Ensure that the Tone at the Top is Trickling Down
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Review, Revisit and Revise: Let us help. For Free. For Real.
If this blog post sounds familiar, it is because you have likely heard us say this before. However, we think it bears repeating.
We want to help you make the most of policyIQ.
As with any product that is continuously evolving, it can be difficult to keep up with all of the new possibilities that are available within the policyIQ application. Maybe you didn’t even know that every upgrade and every new feature developed is rolled out to all of our clients automatically at no additional cost.
If you implemented policyIQ last year, there are already new features that might save time or allow you to create a solution for your team that you haven’t thought about yet.
If you implemented policyIQ more than five years ago and have not revisited the way that the application is configured, we need to talk.
What does that expert review and guidance cost you? An hour of your time. That’s it. For real. We know your time is valuable, but an hour of your time with one of our policyIQ implementation specialists can save you far more time in the long run.
Contact us today – and ask to set up a meeting with a policyIQ implementation specialist to talk about the way that you are using policyIQ!
Policies Provide Foundation through Changing Regulatory Environment
Regulatory environments are constantly changing, influenced by economic, political and environmental factors beyond your company’s control. It might seem like a daily battle to deal with the push and pull of complying with changing regulations. So how do you stay focused, prepared and sane in the world of regulatory compliance?
One critical step is to ensure that you have well documented, well communicated and well understood corporate policies.
Policies provide the foundation, governing the way in which your employees will work and how they will meet new regulatory requirements. When the foundation is strong, with clear policies that are followed and enforced consistently, additional external expectations and requirements are much easier to incorporate.
Here are just a few best practices to consider:
- Ensure that policies are written clearly. Avoid company jargon or acronyms that may be unclear to new employees or external regulators.
- Make policies easily accessible to all employees. If you are already using policyIQ, ensure that a policyIQ link is posted or communicated regularly.
- Clarify whether any exceptions might be approved to the policy, and communicate the process for approval for exceptions. If it is not clear, employees may be more likely to decide it will be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
- Document how policy violations will be addressed or how policies will be enforced.
- Revisit, review and revised policies regularly. Do not allow policies to become outdated or appear to be outdated. Even if no changes are made, regularly note that content has been reviewed, so that employees
- Map policies to your regulatory requirements or other compliance programs. As regulations change, you can more easily identify any changes that must be made in your policies to address those changes.
What other best practices would you highlight for a clear corporate policy platform? Add yours in the comments and share ideas! Learn more about how to utilize policyIQ’s various read-only options by checking out a recent blog post by policyIQ Product Manager, Travis Whalen.
Faster, more effective audits with Data Analytics
Ready to get started? Contact us at info@policyIQ.com and we’ll connect you with our business intelligence experts in your local region! Or reach out to your local RGP office directly for more information.
ICYMI: Assessments and Scoping in policyIQ
Did you miss our recent training session on completing our SOX Risk Assessments and scoping exercises in policyIQ? Not to worry – we have you covered!
How Can I Catch Up?
If you want to get into the details, we have the training session and materials available for download!
- You can access the slides here.
- You can also view the recording from our policyIQ training page.
The training page is linked from your policyIQ login page – and available from within the online Help Guide. If you don’t have access to the training page, please reach out and we’ll send you the link!
Just the Highlights, Please!
This training session aimed to ensure that participants are able to…
We discussed common SOX risk assessments at the financial statement line item level, targeting risk factors like…
In addition to illustrating how to create the calculation directly in policyIQ, we also acknowledged that some folks love their MS Excel process. policyIQ can handle that, too, through the import option!
Then we took a close look at the relationships between the content that allows for the most effective scoping options.
And finally, we walked through the reports that provide the final step in the scoping process.
We would love to help YOU get started on your risk assessments in policyIQ, so that we can link into your SOX work for ease of annual scoping. Contact us today and we’ll meet with you at no cost to help you get on your way!
15 minutes might save you money on your car insurance, but just 2 minutes can save you time on audit testing!
Auditors and testing teams have been asking for an even easier way to view information about the associated Control or Procedure that they are testing. Rather than having two screens open side by side in policyIQ, auditors would prefer to see critical details about the control that they are testing right there on their test screen.
Now you can make that happen – with NO DUPLICATION OF DATA! And it literally takes less than 2 minutes, with no additional data entry required.
How? If you are a Site Administrator, you need just 2 minutes, I promise!
On your Test page template, simply add a new field and select “Linked Field” as the field type. Select the field that should be linked from another page template, save it and VOILA!
If you’ve added the Control Description field from the Control template, for example, you’ll automatically see the Control Description displayed on a Test page for any Control that is linked to it. If there are multiple controls linked to a single Test, you’ll see multiple Control Descriptions, identified by the page name.
This function does not apply to audit testing alone! Consider these other ideas:
- Pull vendor information into a Contract page.
- Bring risk descriptions to Control pages.
- Create Process pages that pull in linked Control Descriptions.
- Pull project task descriptions into Action Items.
- Bring issue details into a Remediation Plan.
Want more information? Contact us at support@policyIQ.com.
Account Reconciliations, Control Self-Assessments and More – Now Even Easier!
With our upcoming release of policyIQ version 7.7, we are rolling out an unexcitingly named feature we refer to as “Form Bundle Imports”. It might not have the flashiest name, but the feature can open new doors for your organization!
Form Bundles and Their Purpose
If you are familiar with forms in policyIQ, you know that you can pull forms together into bundles. Form bundles are really just collections of forms to be issued at the same time, and bundling them together can make it easier to push them out. Form bundles do serve another purpose, though. By creating a form bundle, you are able to add unique default data to each instance of the form that is being issued.
For example, if you issue Account Reconciliation Forms, you may add the account number and account name to the form, so that you ensure that each account is covered in the reconciliations. If you use a form bundle to collect Control Self-Assessments or Control Reviews, you will link each instance to a different Control page, so that each control is covered in the assessment.
Typically, the first set-up of the form bundle can be a bit cumbersome, as you likely either had to set up each individual instance by hand, or perhaps you engaged our support team to import the details for you. After the initial set-up, you probably just copied the form bundle for subsequent periods. Because of the cumbersome nature of the set-up, it is unlikely that you added new, customized data each time.
Now – Let’s Imagine Being Able to Import Detailed Default Data On Demand!
Account Reconciliations is the area where we expect that this import option offers the most dramatic change. Now, a simple import can pull in unique data on the first day of the month – including account name, account number, and current balance!
We also know that the controls that your organization manages do not always stay static. Being able to import based on your current list of in-scope key controls will allow you to more quickly create an accurate and complete Control Review or Control Self-Assessment process. And if you bring on a new entity or acquire a new company? No problem! A quick import will add their controls to the mix.
We’ve also recently talked to clients about automating Evidence Requests, and this import function will make it easy to create forms and push out requests when needed. Simply create your list of evidence required, who is required to provide it, and import. Boom.
Tell Us How You Will Use Form Bundle Imports!
We know that when we release a feature like Form Bundle Imports, we will have clients who will be thinking of new ways to use the feature that never occurred to use before. What do you think? How are you planning to use this new feature?
Contact us with your ideas (or post them below) – or reach out if you have any questions about how to use this feature. Version 7.7 will be coming soon!
