A corporate compliance officer is charged with applying policies and procedures to the company's financial practices. This means the officer must understand all of the business functions of the organization and how these functions will be held accountable to business ethics policies and procedures.
One of the professional standards used to judge an officer is the ability to apply management practices to the compliance function. Through automated technology, a compliance officer can increase the efficiency of the organization by facilitating better communication, reporting, monitoring, and auditing. To reduce a company's dependence on paperwork, a compliance officer can investigate the feasibility of adopting a new financial compliance software package.
Purchasing compliance products represents a sound investment because the organization saves money and time. Eliminating a lot of paperwork through automation, this software makes it easier for the chief compliance officer and other compliance workers to perform their day-to-day work. However, the software does not replace legally-required, written compliance documentation.
In the past, financial compliance professionals spent a lot of time handing out paper copies of policies and procedures to all departments. They also spent time disbursing forms and tracking them down when the time for the compliance audit arrived each year. In an automated system, the compliance department is ready throughout the year. Maybe that's because a company's financial compliance policies and procedures are programmed into the automated software and available for managers and employees to see 24 hours a day.
From a compliance officer's perspective, investing in a software solution makes sense. Any way that the company can demonstrate its accountability to the public, to shareholders, and to regulatory agencies is good for business. If the company already has a financial management system without the compliance functionality, it is easy to choose a software solution that interfaces with the existing system. The chief compliance officer just has to study the costs of available software solutions.
There are many types of transactions that the organization can track with compliance software. For example, organizations need to track the activities of their own employees to ensure they are adhering to business ethics standards. Compliance software can track when employees want to trade their shares in the company, including a routine procedure for approving proposed transactions before they occur. This type of oversight is necessary to ensure employees don't violate ethics requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as by engaging in insider trading.
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