

Get practical steps and expert tips on SOX compliance automation to streamline controls, reduce errors, and keep your financial reporting audit-ready.

Your finance team is one of your most valuable assets, filled with skilled professionals capable of strategic analysis and forward-thinking financial planning. So why are they spending countless hours on manual, repetitive SOX compliance tasks? Manually checking controls, gathering evidence, and updating spreadsheets is not only inefficient but also a waste of their talent. SOX compliance automation is the key to unlocking your team’s true potential. By taking over the tedious, rule-based work, automation frees your experts to focus on what really matters: interpreting data, identifying opportunities, and guiding the business forward. This isn’t about replacing people; it’s about empowering them.
If you’re running a public company or preparing to go public, you’ve likely heard the term “SOX compliance” thrown around. It sounds intimidating, but at its core, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is all about accountability and transparency in financial reporting. Think of it as a set of rules designed to protect investors, employees, and the public from corporate accounting errors and fraudulent practices. For finance leaders, it’s not just another box to check; it’s a framework for building trust and ensuring the integrity of your financial data. Understanding SOX is the first step toward creating robust internal controls that support sustainable growth and keep your company on the right side of the law.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act came into being back in 2002, following major accounting scandals at companies like Enron and WorldCom that shook investor confidence. In response, the U.S. Congress passed this law to prevent similar situations from happening again. Essentially, SOX establishes stricter standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. The main goal is simple: to make sure that the financial reports companies release are accurate and trustworthy. It holds executives personally responsible for the numbers, creating a powerful incentive to get things right and maintain transparent, honest records.
So, what does this mean for your day-to-day operations? A major piece of SOX is Section 404, which requires management and the external auditor to report on the adequacy of the company's internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). This means you need to have solid technical controls in place, check them constantly, and have them audited to prove your financial information is reliable. This involves everything from who can access your financial systems to how you record revenue. Having seamless integrations with HubiFi can help ensure data flows correctly between systems, which is a key part of maintaining strong internal controls and staying compliant.
Ignoring SOX requirements isn't an option, and the consequences can be severe. Failing to comply can lead to hefty fines, and in serious cases, even prison time for executives. But the damage goes beyond legal penalties. Non-compliance can destroy your company's reputation, sending investors running and making it difficult to secure future funding. Relying on manual, spreadsheet-based processes to manage compliance is slow, expensive, and full of opportunities for human error. These mistakes can put your company at risk of theft, inaccurate accounting, and a painful audit process. You can find more insights in the HubiFi blog on how to streamline your financial operations.
At its core, SOX compliance automation uses technology to streamline and strengthen the processes you use to follow the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Instead of relying on manual checklists, endless spreadsheets, and late-night review sessions, automation uses software to handle these tasks consistently and accurately. Think of it as giving your finance team a set of smart tools that work around the clock to monitor financial controls, manage documentation, and prepare for audits. This shift isn't just about getting work done faster; it's about building a more reliable and transparent financial reporting system from the ground up. By automating these critical functions, you can move from a reactive, "fire-drill" approach to a proactive state of continuous compliance.
The traditional, manual approach to SOX compliance is often a slow and stressful process. It involves team members manually pulling data, checking controls on a periodic basis, and compiling evidence in binders or scattered digital folders. This method is not only time-consuming but also wide open to human error—a misplaced decimal or an overlooked transaction can create significant problems down the line. This approach often means you only find issues long after they’ve occurred.
In contrast, an automated system provides continuous monitoring. It checks your controls in real-time, flagging exceptions as they happen. This means you can address potential issues immediately instead of discovering them during a quarterly review or, even worse, an audit. It transforms compliance from a periodic scramble into a smooth, ongoing business function.
The magic behind SOX automation lies in a combination of powerful technologies. Tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning can analyze vast amounts of financial data to detect anomalies and patterns that a human might miss. Data analytics platforms create a centralized hub for all your financial information, making it easier to monitor controls and generate reports. The key is having a system that offers seamless integrations with your existing accounting software, ERPs, and CRMs. This connectivity allows for the automatic flow of data, ensuring that your compliance checks are always based on the most current and accurate information available, without requiring manual data entry.
Moving your SOX compliance from manual spreadsheets to an automated system is more than just a tech upgrade. It’s a strategic shift that brings some serious advantages to your business. When you automate, you’re not just making compliance easier; you’re building a more efficient, accurate, and resilient financial operation. Let’s look at the four key benefits you can expect.
Think about all the hours your team spends manually collecting data, running tests, and preparing reports for SOX. It’s repetitive, time-consuming work that can pull them away from more critical tasks. SOX compliance automation changes that by taking over the heavy lifting. The system can run continuous monitoring and create automated audit trails without anyone needing to press a button. This frees up your finance and audit teams to focus on strategic analysis and addressing potential risks, rather than getting stuck in the weeds of manual data gathering. It transforms the entire process from a reactive chore into a proactive, streamlined function.
No matter how careful your team is, manual processes always come with the risk of human error. A simple typo in a spreadsheet or a missed control check can spiral into a significant compliance issue, leading to costly corrections and audit headaches. Automation makes these compliance tasks run smoother and more consistently by greatly reducing the need for manual intervention in key controls. When the system handles the data entry, calculations, and verification, you practically eliminate the chance of mistakes caused by human oversight. This not only strengthens your compliance posture but also saves the time and money you’d otherwise spend fixing preventable errors.
With manual SOX compliance, you often only get a snapshot of your control environment during periodic reviews. This means a problem could exist for weeks or even months before it’s discovered. Automation gives you a live, continuous view of your financial controls. Instead of waiting for a quarterly check, you can get instant alerts when an exception or potential issue arises. This allows you to address problems as they happen, not after the fact. This kind of real-time analytics provides leadership with an accurate, up-to-the-minute understanding of the company’s compliance health, enabling much smarter and faster decision-making.
When you combine faster processes, fewer errors, and real-time monitoring, the result is significant cost savings. Your internal audit teams will spend far less time on tedious manual checks, which means lower labor costs associated with compliance. But the benefits go beyond the bottom line. By freeing your team from the grind of manual SOX tasks, you empower them to focus on higher-value work, like risk analysis and process improvement. Implementing the right solution turns a regulatory challenge into a strategic opportunity. It’s an investment that improves efficiency and control, letting you build a stronger financial foundation for growth.
A strong SOX automation system is more than just a single piece of software; it’s a set of interconnected features designed to streamline your compliance efforts. Think of it as a digital toolkit where each tool has a specific job, but they all work together to keep your financial operations secure, transparent, and audit-ready. When these components are in place, you can move away from manual, error-prone tasks and build a more resilient compliance framework that supports your business as it grows.
At its core, SOX automation is about creating digital checks and balances that run on their own. This means setting up automated workflows for critical processes, like requiring manager approval for large invoices or ensuring the person who requests a payment can't also be the one to approve it. By automating these internal controls, you reduce the chance of human error or intentional misconduct. The system enforces your policies consistently, so you don't have to rely on manual oversight. This not only strengthens your compliance posture but also frees up your team to focus on more strategic work instead of policing transactions.
If you’ve ever scrambled to find documents during an audit, you know how stressful it can be. A key component of any SOX automation system is centralized evidence management. It acts as a single, organized repository for all your compliance-related documents, from policy updates to control test results. The system can automate document approvals, track version history, and link evidence directly to specific controls. When auditors ask for proof, you can pull up exactly what they need in moments, not days. This creates a clear, accessible record that demonstrates your commitment to compliance and makes audits a much smoother process.
Manually compiling financial reports from different spreadsheets and systems is a recipe for mistakes. Automation takes the guesswork out of reporting by pulling data directly from your integrated sources, like your ERP and CRM. This ensures your reports are not only accurate but also generated in real time. The system creates a clear, unchangeable record of all compliance activities, which is exactly what auditors want to see. With a solid audit trail, you can easily show how your numbers were calculated and that the proper controls were followed every step of the way. This level of transparency is critical for passing audits and building trust with stakeholders.
Instead of waiting for a quarterly review to find problems, a SOX automation system helps you spot risks as they happen. These platforms use real-time monitoring to analyze financial activities and flag anything that looks unusual, like duplicate payments or transactions that fall outside normal patterns. Some systems even use AI to identify potential risks you might not have thought to look for. This proactive approach allows you to investigate and resolve issues before they escalate into significant compliance violations. It shifts your team from putting out fires to preventing them in the first place, which you can see firsthand when you schedule a demo.
SOX compliance automation isn’t a single piece of software you just turn on. It’s a strategic combination of different technologies working together to streamline your processes, strengthen your controls, and give you a clearer view of your financial data. Think of it as a high-tech toolkit where each tool has a specific job, but they all contribute to the same goal: making compliance less of a manual chore and more of an integrated, ongoing part of your operations.
At its core, this technology is designed to take over the repetitive, rule-based tasks that consume your finance team's time while also providing sophisticated analysis that humans simply can't perform at scale. From simple process bots to intelligent learning algorithms, these tools create a robust framework that not only satisfies auditors but also provides valuable business insights. Understanding the key players in this tech stack—Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, and integration platforms—is the first step to seeing how automation can transform your approach to SOX. For more on how technology is changing finance, you can find great articles on the HubiFi blog.
Think of Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, as a team of digital assistants. These software "bots" are programmed to handle high-volume, repetitive tasks that follow a clear set of rules—the kind of work that’s essential but also prone to human error. For SOX compliance, this could mean automating user access reviews, performing routine data reconciliations, or managing evidence collection. RPA tools often include workflow features that automatically assign, track, and verify the completion of compliance tasks. This ensures that processes are followed consistently every single time, creating a reliable and easily auditable trail without anyone having to manually check boxes on a spreadsheet.
If RPA bots are the hands, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are the brains. Unlike RPA, which follows pre-set rules, AI and ML systems can learn from data to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and even make predictions. In the context of SOX, AI can perform continuous monitoring of transactions to flag anything that looks unusual, like duplicate payments or out-of-character journal entries. This moves your compliance efforts from being reactive to proactive. Instead of finding errors during a quarterly review, you can catch potential issues the moment they happen, significantly reducing risk and strengthening your internal controls.
Data analytics platforms are your single source of truth. These tools pull in massive amounts of data from all your different systems—your ERP, CRM, and accounting software—and consolidate it into one centralized place. This gives you the power to monitor controls effectiveness in near real-time. Instead of manually sampling transactions, you can analyze 100% of your data, automatically flagging exceptions and generating reports on your compliance status. This constant oversight provides a level of assurance that periodic testing just can't match, giving you and your auditors confidence that your controls are operating exactly as they should be.
None of these technologies can deliver their full potential in isolation. Integration platforms and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are the essential glue that connects all your systems. They create seamless pathways for data to flow between your different software applications, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors. A well-integrated system ensures that your RPA bots, AI algorithms, and analytics tools are all working with the same accurate, up-to-date information. Strong integrations are what make true, end-to-end automation possible, transforming your separate tools into a single, powerful compliance machine.
Picking the right SOX automation software is about more than just checking boxes; it’s about finding a partner for your financial operations. The market is full of options, but the best tool for your business is one that fits your specific needs, integrates with your existing setup, and can grow alongside you. A great solution won’t just automate tasks—it will give you clearer insight into your financial data and strengthen your internal controls from the ground up.
When you start evaluating different platforms, it’s easy to get lost in feature lists. To cut through the noise, focus on a few core capabilities that truly matter for long-term success and audit-readiness. Think about how the software will connect to your current systems, how it monitors activity, the quality of its audit trails, its security protocols, and whether it can scale with your business. These are the pillars of a strong SOX automation strategy that will save you time, reduce risk, and give you confidence in your financial reporting.
Your SOX automation software shouldn't operate on an island. The most effective tools are those that connect effortlessly with the systems you already use every day, like your ERP and CRM. A platform with strong, pre-built integrations prevents you from creating new data silos or getting stuck with manual data entry between systems. The goal is to create a single, unified source of truth for your financial data. When your systems communicate automatically, you reduce the risk of errors and ensure that your compliance controls are working with consistent, up-to-date information across the board.
The days of waiting for a quarterly review to find a problem are over. Modern SOX automation relies on real-time monitoring to help you stay ahead of potential issues. Look for software that actively flags unusual transactions or control failures as they happen. These automated alerts allow your team to address exceptions immediately, long before they can become significant deficiencies. This proactive approach to compliance not only strengthens your internal controls but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement within your finance department.
When auditors arrive, your ability to provide clear, comprehensive evidence is everything. The right automation software makes this process painless by creating detailed, unchangeable audit trails for every activity. Every control test, approval, and data modification is automatically logged with a timestamp and user information. This creates a clear record that shows auditors exactly what happened, who did it, and when. This level of automated documentation removes the frantic, last-minute scramble for evidence and demonstrates a mature and reliable control environment.
The data your SOX automation system manages is highly sensitive, so security is non-negotiable. A trustworthy platform must have robust security features, especially when it comes to managing who can do what. Look for tools that offer granular, role-based access controls. This ensures that employees can only view or modify the information that is relevant to their specific job functions. Strong IT general controls are essential for protecting the integrity of your financial data and proving to auditors that your automated processes are secure and reliable.
The solution you choose today should still be the right fit for your company in three, five, or even ten years. Scalability is key. As your business grows, your transaction volume will increase, your processes will become more complex, and your compliance needs may change. Your SOX automation software needs to be able to handle that growth without a hitch. Avoid solutions that are rigid or have low processing limits. Instead, partner with a provider that is built for high-volume businesses and can adapt to your evolving needs, ensuring your compliance framework remains solid as you scale.
Switching to an automated system for SOX compliance isn't about flipping a switch. It’s a strategic move that requires a clear plan to get right. By breaking the process down into manageable steps, you can ensure a smooth transition that sets your team up for success and delivers real results. Think of it as building a solid foundation before you put up the walls. A thoughtful implementation process helps you avoid common pitfalls, get your team on board, and start seeing the benefits of automation—like faster closes and fewer errors—much sooner.
Here’s a straightforward, four-step approach to guide you through implementing SOX automation effectively.
Before you can build a better system, you need to understand what’s not working with your current one. Take a close look at your manual SOX compliance tasks and ask yourself where the problems are. Where do delays happen most often? Which steps are prone to human error? Are there specific controls that are a nightmare to test and document? Identifying these pain points is the most important first step. This audit of your existing workflow will give you a clear map of what needs to be fixed, helping you prioritize what to automate first for the biggest impact.
With your pain points identified, you can start building your automation plan. Begin by deciding which tasks are the best candidates for automation. High-volume, repetitive tasks are usually the perfect place to start. Next, you’ll need to choose the right software. Look for a platform that can handle your specific needs, from checking financial data directly to providing real-time reports. It’s also critical to find a solution with seamless integrations that work with your existing accounting software, ERPs, and CRMs. This ensures your new system fits perfectly into your current tech stack without causing disruptions.
New technology is only as good as the people using it. A successful transition depends on getting your team comfortable with the new automated systems. Plan for comprehensive training sessions that show them not just how to use the tools, but also how automation will make their jobs easier by eliminating tedious manual work. Be open about the changes and listen to their feedback. When your team understands the "why" behind the shift and feels supported through the process, they’re more likely to embrace the new system, which is essential for getting the most out of your investment.
Once your new system is up and running, the work isn’t over. You need to make sure it’s performing as expected. Set up a schedule for testing and validating your automated controls to confirm they are effective and compliant. This isn’t a one-time check; it’s an ongoing process. Continuous monitoring helps you catch and fix any issues right away, long before they can become a problem during an audit. This proactive approach ensures your processes remain accurate and reliable, keeping you audit-ready at all times. For more on maintaining financial accuracy, check out the HubiFi blog.
Switching to an automated SOX compliance system is a game-changer, but let's be real—it’s a big project. Like any major upgrade, it can come with a few bumps in the road. The good news is that these challenges are well-known, and with a bit of foresight, you can handle them smoothly. Thinking through potential issues like system integrations, team adoption, costs, and ongoing maintenance ahead of time will set you up for a successful transition and a much simpler compliance process down the line.
One of the first hurdles you'll likely face is getting your new automation tool to communicate with all your existing systems—your ERP, CRM, and accounting software. If these systems don't talk to each other, you end up with fragmented data, which can lead to inaccuracies and undermine your compliance efforts. The goal is to create a single, reliable source of truth.
The key is to choose a solution built for connectivity. Look for platforms with robust integration capabilities that can pull data from disparate sources into one unified view. This allows you to automate monitoring and flag exceptions in real-time, ensuring your data is not only consolidated but also clean and trustworthy.
New technology can be intimidating, and it’s natural for your team to feel some resistance. They might be comfortable with the old way of doing things or worried that automation will make their roles redundant. Overcoming this requires clear communication and a focus on collaboration.
Frame the new system as a tool that empowers them, freeing them from repetitive manual tasks to focus on more strategic analysis. Provide comprehensive training and create a space where they can ask questions and share feedback. A platform that offers a centralized environment for finance and audit professionals to work together seamlessly can also improve transparency and make everyone feel like part of the process.
There’s no getting around it: implementing an automation solution requires an initial investment of both time and money. It’s easy to get sticker shock when looking at software costs and implementation fees. However, it's crucial to look beyond the upfront expense and consider the long-term return on investment.
Think about the hours your team currently spends on manual testing and documentation, the cost of external auditors, and the financial risk of a compliance error. Automation can dramatically reduce these costs over time by streamlining workflows and minimizing errors. Build a solid business case that highlights these long-term savings and efficiency gains to get the budget and resources you need.
Once your automation system is live, the work isn't completely over. You need a plan for ongoing governance and maintenance to ensure it remains effective and compliant. Business processes change, new regulations emerge, and your systems will need updates. Without proper oversight, your automated controls can become outdated and unreliable.
Establish clear policies for managing the system from day one. This includes defining who has access to make changes, how those changes are tested and approved, and how everything is documented. Maintaining strong IT general controls ensures that your automations are dependable and that auditors can rely on them year after year, keeping your compliance efforts on track.
Let’s be honest: the word “audit” can send a shiver down anyone’s spine. It often brings to mind late nights, frantic searches for documents, and a whole lot of stress. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Shifting to SOX compliance automation changes the entire dynamic. Instead of scrambling to prepare for an audit, you operate in a state of constant readiness. This proactive approach means audits become less of a disruptive event and more of a routine check-in.
When your systems are automated, the evidence, documentation, and trails that auditors need are generated and organized as part of your daily operations. You’re not building the case for compliance after the fact; you’re living it every day. This not only makes the audit process smoother and faster but also demonstrates a higher level of control and maturity to auditors. It shows them you have a robust, transparent, and reliable system in place, which builds confidence and can lead to a much more positive audit experience for everyone involved. You can find more insights on financial operations that support this modern approach.
Remember the last time you had to pull evidence for an audit? It probably involved digging through shared drives, chasing down email threads, and trying to piece together a coherent story from scattered files. Automation completely transforms this process. Instead of a manual scavenger hunt, an automated system acts as a central repository for all compliance-related evidence. Every control test, approval, and system change is automatically captured and stored in one organized, searchable location.
When an auditor requests proof that a specific control was performed, you can retrieve it in minutes, not days. This level of organization eliminates the last-minute panic and ensures that no piece of critical evidence gets lost. It provides a clear, accessible record that proves your controls are operating exactly as intended, making the entire audit evidence gathering phase simple and straightforward.
One of the most time-consuming parts of audit prep is creating the necessary documentation. With automation, your systems generate these records for you. As compliance activities occur, the software creates clear, consistent documentation in real time. This includes everything from reports on control performance and user access reviews to logs of system configurations and data changes. Because the process is automated, the documentation is standardized and complete.
This removes the risk of human error, like forgetting to log a change or documenting a control test incorrectly. Auditors receive consistent, high-quality documentation that’s easy to follow and verify. By connecting your core business tools, you can ensure that data flows seamlessly to create these records. HubiFi offers a range of integrations that make this kind of automatic data capture possible, simplifying your reporting process.
A strong audit trail is a non-negotiable for SOX compliance. It’s the chronological record that shows who did what, and when they did it. Manual trails can be messy and incomplete, but automated systems create detailed, unchangeable audit trails for every transaction and activity. This provides auditors with a transparent, end-to-end view of your processes, leaving no room for ambiguity.
Even better, automation gives you the power of real-time reporting. Instead of discovering a control failure weeks or months later, an automated system can flag exceptions the moment they happen. This allows your team to address issues immediately, long before they become a significant problem. This proactive monitoring demonstrates to auditors that you have a dynamic and effective control environment that actively manages risk.
Ultimately, automation shifts your compliance posture from a periodic event to a continuous state. Your systems are always on, always monitoring, and always collecting the necessary data to prove compliance. This continuous monitoring provides an advanced layer of security, using anomaly detection to spot unusual activity that might indicate a control weakness or even fraud. It’s like having a compliance officer watching over your systems 24/7.
This always-on approach is what truly makes you audit-ready. There’s no mad dash to get prepared because you’re already there. You can face any audit with confidence, knowing your systems are built on a foundation of continuous compliance and control. If you’re ready to achieve this level of readiness, you can schedule a demo to see how a tailored automation solution can work for your business.
Making the switch to automation can feel like a huge project, but breaking it down into clear steps makes it manageable. Think of it as creating a blueprint for a more efficient, accurate, and less stressful compliance process. By following a structured approach, you can ensure a smooth transition and start seeing the benefits much sooner. Here’s how you can get started on the right foot.
Before you jump into any new software, take a moment to look at your current SOX compliance process. Where are the bottlenecks? First, pinpoint the manual tasks that are slow, prone to errors, or create the most risk for your business. Are your accountants spending weeks on reconciliations? Are you constantly chasing down documentation for auditors? Identifying these specific pain points will give you a clear picture of what you need automation to solve. This initial assessment is your starting point for building a business case and ensures you choose a solution that addresses your most pressing challenges.
Once you know what needs fixing, you can map out your path forward. Start by prioritizing which tasks are the best candidates for automation; you don’t have to do everything at once. Focus on the high-impact areas you identified in your initial assessment. Next, look for a software platform that can manage compliance by checking your financial data directly, not just tracking manual steps. Look for features like automated matching and real-time reports. This roadmap will guide your implementation and keep your team focused on the most important goals.
Choosing the right software is about more than just features; it’s about finding a partner that can support your growth. Your ideal solution should fit SOX rules, work with your current systems, and have strong security. Make sure any new tool can connect with your existing ERPs and CRMs—strong integration capabilities are non-negotiable to avoid creating data silos. Look for a platform that can scale with your company so you won’t outgrow it in a year. A good partner offers a solution that feels like a natural extension of your team.
How will you know if your investment is paying off? Define your success metrics from the start. Automation makes your compliance tasks run smoother and more consistently, which saves both time and money. Track key performance indicators like the reduction in time spent on manual controls, the decrease in human errors, and faster financial closing periods. When your controls are housed in one automated system, auditors can also test them more easily, leading to smoother audits. If you’re ready to see how automation can transform your financial operations, you can schedule a demo to get a personalized look.
Is SOX compliance only for huge, publicly traded companies? While the Sarbanes-Oxley Act officially applies to all U.S. public companies, businesses preparing to go public should absolutely have it on their radar. Establishing strong internal controls and transparent financial processes before an IPO makes the transition much smoother. Think of it as building a solid foundation early on, which not only prepares you for future compliance but also builds investor confidence from day one.
We have a small finance team. Is SOX automation too complex or expensive for us? That's a common concern, but you should view automation as a powerful tool for a lean team. It handles the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that can overwhelm a small staff, freeing them up for more strategic work. While there is an initial investment, the long-term savings from reduced manual errors, faster closes, and smoother audits often provide a significant return. Modern solutions are more accessible than you might think and are designed to scale with your business.
Will automating our SOX processes mean we have to let go of people on our finance team? Not at all. The goal of automation isn't to replace your talented team, but to empower them. It takes over the tedious, manual work—like pulling data and checking spreadsheets—so your finance professionals can focus on what they do best: analyzing information, identifying risks, and making strategic decisions. It shifts their role from data entry to data analysis, which is far more valuable for the business.
How long does it typically take to get a SOX automation system up and running? The timeline can vary because it depends on the complexity of your current financial systems and the scope of your automation goals. A company with straightforward processes and clean data might get set up more quickly than one with many disconnected systems. A good implementation partner will work with you to create a clear roadmap, starting with your most critical needs to ensure you see value as soon as possible.
Can we start by automating just one part of our SOX process, or is it an all-or-nothing switch? You absolutely do not have to automate everything at once. In fact, a phased approach is often the smartest way to begin. You can start with a single, high-pain area, like revenue recognition or user access reviews. This allows you to secure a quick win, get your team comfortable with the new system, and demonstrate the value of automation before expanding to other areas of your compliance process.

Former Root, EVP of Finance/Data at multiple FinTech startups
Jason Kyle Berwanger: An accomplished two-time entrepreneur, polyglot in finance, data & tech with 15 years of expertise. Builder, practitioner, leader—pioneering multiple ERP implementations and data solutions. Catalyst behind a 6% gross margin improvement with a sub-90-day IPO at Root insurance, powered by his vision & platform. Having held virtually every role from accountant to finance systems to finance exec, he brings a rare and noteworthy perspective in rethinking the finance tooling landscape.