In control: How a large fintech company improved oversight and compliance

Oversight is essential

The complexity of today’s business and IT environment isn’t lost on anyone, and proving to partners and customers that a company has mastered challenges related to reliability and risk is an always-on proposition.

Central to building trust around digital risk are System and Organization Controls (SOC) reports, which play a critical role in validating and providing transparency into how organizations are managing governance and compliance. Based on detailed attestation audits, including a high-level review of business and technology controls, they assess risks and controls surrounding a variety of topical areas including security, operations, finance and data management.

Today, obtaining SOC reports is critical. Without them, teams may end up filling out highly detailed questionnaires from customers and partners. In some cases, these reviews involve hundreds of questions that span across stakeholders in the organization and myriad processes and can also require an on-site inspection.

When dozens or hundreds of customers demand SOC reports, an organization can quickly find itself buried by customer accountability issues. It should come as no surprise that the overhead related to these tasks can burn through time, money and other critical resources. What’s more, without the right tools in place, an organization can find itself mired in poor data and subpar results.

A key to success? The ability to achieve efficient and independent validation through a SOC report. Organizations with this essential piece of the puzzle in place can efficiently and effectively respond to customer and prospect questions and build trust and confidence across a business ecosystem.

RSM tames complexity

Seeking a best practice framework, executives at the firm knew they had to work with an SOC report provider that could address the task holistically. This included a broad and deep understanding of the business, flexibility and scalability and a commitment to excellent customer service. The company wasn’t willing to compromise on its values.

A handful of factors guided the decision-making process. These included a recognition that business leaders at the firm had limited time and resources for managing the SOC process, IT and security teams have more strategic goals to manage and fast, affordable high-quality audits were vital.

The company selected RSM for its general consulting knowledge, but its leaders recognized that RSM could help it achieve critical goals—and reduce risk. This included the fact that RSM has considerable experience providing SOC reporting services to companies. Not only have these businesses improved their auditing and reporting processes, RSM has continually enhanced its product—and the controls built into the software.

RSM also stays current with SOC control best practices and ensures that its client—in this case the prominent fintech firm—applies them strategically and seamlessly and with zero latency. The cloud-based nature of RSM’s offering ensures that clients gain access to the latest and greatest features at all times.

Finally, there’s the issue of technical acumen. Today, a surface-level review framework helps the fintech firm fix problems before it generates an SOC report. This proactive approach leads to improved outcomes. RSM also helps the fintech company continually and steadily improve its SOC framework.

Making SOC add up

This strategic approach to SOC reporting delivers value beyond basic data and information. For the fintech firm and others across a wide spectrum of industries, a more strategic framework leads to process improvements that unlock greater efficiency and better controls—typically at a lower price point.

In the end, these companies gain a competitive advantage through a more robust outsourced framework for SOC reporting. In fact, there’s a growing recognition that a comprehensive and scalable SOC auditing and reporting framework when used effectively, is more than a valuable tool; it’s actually the foundation for a successful business.