If you hear the term âSOX,â and rather than baseball or comfy covers for your feet, you start thinking of meticulously planned processes that mitigate fraud, this article is for you.
Created as a reaction to the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals in 2001, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, commonly known as SOX, requires publicly traded companies in the United States to implement controls to address risks within the financial reporting process. Although these requirements can help companies streamline their processes and respond more quickly to a security breach, compliance can be costly and time-consuming.
If youâre an internal auditor, you knowâyouâve been the one writing lengthy word documents to explain company procedures.
However, SOX compliance doesnât have to be complicated when employees communicate visually with each other and with external auditors. See how flowcharts can help you understand and alter current processes and why you should choose Lucidchart as your visual communication platform.
Psst⊠did you know that we have an integration with AuditBoard, the leading SOX compliance software, that allows you to easily embed flowcharts within your narratives? Learn more about this feature.
Flowcharts vs. narratives
Do you already create flowcharts to demonstrate SOX compliance? Greatâweâll skip the lecture. Learn why you should use Lucidchart to build this important documentation.
SOX compliance requires detailed documentation to prove that your company mitigates risk and eliminates any opportunities for fraud or misconduct. You now have the option of creating flowcharts in place of narratives.
It takes time to transition your processes to another format, but even if youâre only willing to change based on pressure from external auditors, we want to show you the clear benefits youâll gain from developing flowcharts. You can:
- Make any process simple and accessible for people who need to review it
- Identify missing or redundant controls
- Reconfirm your understanding of the process
- Give stakeholders a chance to look at the process with fresh eyes
- Mitigate risk by quickly identifying gaps in the process
- Make control points stand out
- Save time when updating procedures
Convinced? Now see how Lucidchart can make the process of building flowcharts even easier.
Why add Lucidchart to your list of essential software
If you havenât thought to map out your financial processes before, we donât blame you. Computers come standard with word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software, but they donât often give you an option to quickly create visuals. Thatâs where Lucidchart steps in to fill the gap.
Pass diagramming off to those who know the process best
You may be the one whoâs expected to document processes for auditing purposesâbut you arenât the one who uses those processes on the daily. Lucidchart allows you to get feedback from other employees and nail down the exact process because it was created to support collaboration.
Create your flowcharts and send them to co-workersâyou can even limit their access so they can only view or comment on the document. Would you rather ask others to do the heavy lifting? Unlike Visio or similar tools, Lucidchart takes no time to learn. Even those who have never diagrammed before can easily drag, drop, and connect shapes to build a professional document, so you can ask leadership to map out the processes they follow.
Spend less
We can suggest other ways you can use visuals in your work, but letâs be honestâyou donât want to pay a ton of money for software that primarily serves one function. Visioâs steep price tag ($299.99 per user) doesnât make sense for non-technical companies. You would either need to limit licenses to a few people and leave them with the full burden of creating this documentation or face the facts that youâll pay a lot of money to use about 10% of the tool.
Lucidchart starts at $7 per user per month for Team accounts, and itâs free for users who simply need to view your diagrams.
Streamline your workflow
Our cloud-based software eliminates any problems with versioning. Instead of uploading a new document every time you make changesâor exporting documents every time because not all of your stakeholders own the programâyou only need to post one link to Lucidchart. Any changes you make are automatically available to everyone.
We strive to work wherever you do, so Lucidchart also integrates with leading applications, including G Suite, Microsoft Office, and Atlassian products, so you can include the visuals you create wherever you store your other SOX documentation.
If you use AuditBoard for SOX management, the process is even easier. Read our full announcement to learn how this integration works.
