The benefits of a compliance software tool
Compliance operations management is all about getting the right information to the right people at the right time. Without up-to-date entity information, organizations not only run the risk of slipping into a state of non-compliance or losing their good standing, but they also risk inefficient operations. They can lose flexibility and resilience, and, more important, they may lose sight of the small details that could make or break business strategy and growth.
Working with a compliance software tool can help to mitigate these risks, and to bring multiple benefits to an organization's legal operations. In this article, we look at some of the benefits of using a compliance software tool ' and it's not all just about ticking the regulatory compliance box, either!
What can compliance software help your team to achieve?
Manage and reduce risk
By working with a compliance software tool to smooth out any kinks in workflows and processes, you're working to manage and reduce risk. But that's not the only way compliance software helps to manage and reduce risk; it can also be used to create organizational charts and entity diagrams to visualize the entire structure to highlight any potential issues, and can be used to file reports directly with regulatory bodies. Notifications and dashboards help to flag any concerns before they become issues, too, while creating a single source of truth mitigates the risk of duplicate or inaccurate entity data being used in decision-making.
Increase efficiency
Creating a single source of truth also helps to increase efficiency. It means that it's less likely that two people will create different versions of the same file; it means that the same data source is being used to drive business; and it means that there is better collaboration across teams, breaking down silos and increasing both efficiency and communication. Opting for a cloud-based compliance software can also increase efficiency by bringing third parties and stakeholders into the system ' with carefully managed user permissions, of course. In addition, eSignatures help to speed up signatory duties, sometimes saving days from the workflow, while automation can free up the corporate secretary to think more strategically about their role.
Reduce costs
All of these efficiencies help to bring down costs, with a more efficient and streamlined workforce making better use of the resources at hand. Cloud-based compliance software also helps to reduce costs by saving office space and storage costs; everything is digitally held, so there's no need to dedicate a room to filing cabinets, or to upgrade the on-premises server on a regular basis to ensure security remains intact.
More secure operations
Speaking of security, modern compliance software is built with the needs of modern cybersecurity teams in mind. Market leaders in the cloud-based legal tech field use the very best in security protocols, while enhanced user permissions can help to protect the corporate record from prying eyes.
Enhance flexibility
Having that central repository, that single source of truth, helps to enable nimble action and quick thinking. With everything in one place, compliance managers and the wider company can rest assured that they have the full picture of how things stand, and can use entity diagramming to run scenario planning to see what might happen if they were to make a change.
Improve performance
By enhancing collaboration, efficiency and flexibility, legal operations teams working with a compliance software tool can bring together those areas of the business that were once siloed ' such as treasury, accounting, finance, compliance, governance and risk management ' and ensure better communication and better data. This, in turn, brings better insights and analysis, which can drive the organization toward better performance and more growth (or rationalization, if that's the end game).
Track the small details and be more strategic
With the corporate secretary and legal operations teams among the busiest teams in an organization, especially a global one, it can be easy for the small details to be overlooked. As they focus on hitting regulatory deadlines and pulling together the immediate threads of compliance, they may miss a contract that needs to be renewed or an important board paper that needs to be signed before it can be filed. By using a compliance software tool to both enhance flexibility and improve efficiency through automation, organizations can free up those essential staff members to ensure that the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day is taken care of, as well as to think more strategically about what those details could lead to.
Be more compliant
And, at the end of the day, all of this means better compliance overall. Compliance software tools can not only help organizations to be more efficient, make better use of resources, improve performance, and enhance essential things such as flexibility, efficiency, security and performance, but in using these tools, it can also help the organization to be more compliant overall. Direct integrations with regulatory bodies help to ease the burden of regular filings, while up-to-date and complete entity data means those reports are being based on the best available information. This means a more streamlined approach to compliance and governance.
Find the right compliance software for your organization
All of this can only be achieved with the right compliance software tool to fit your organization's needs and goals. There are questions you should ask of any vendors, and features you should ensure your chosen compliance software tool has, to enable a robust assessment leading to the right decision. Compliance software vendors should exhibit the ability to:
- Centralize and automate workflows
- Be flexible and scalable
- Have a vision for the future
- Offer great customer service
- Support your own success goals
- Maintain security
As the compliance software from an expert in the field, Diligent Entities helps organizations to centralize, manage and effectively structure their corporate record. This, in turn, helps to improve entity governance to better ensure compliance, mitigate risk and improve decision-making.
By creating a central repository for all entity and compliance information, Diligent Entities helps legal operations and compliance teams to surface the right information to the right people at the right time in order to complete routine business processes. Get in touch and request a demo to see how Diligent Compliance can bring the benefits of a leading compliance software tool to your legal operations.
