EveryBooks / Industries / Manufacturing & distribution / SOX and audit readiness
Manufacturing & distribution
SOX and audit readiness
Control evidence is collected each period as the controls operate, with sign-off recorded as it happens. The audit becomes a request for a package that already exists.
Who this is for. Controller, SOX program lead, or internal audit manager.
The problem today
Evidence is gathered in a scramble before every audit. The controls operated, probably correctly, but the proof was not captured at the time, so someone reconstructs months of it from emails and screenshots.
Reconstruction is expensive and it is also weak. Evidence assembled after the fact proves that someone could find the data, which is a different claim from proving the control operated when it was supposed to.
What we deliver
Evidence captured as the control operates
Each period, pulled from the system that holds it, timestamped at the point of operation rather than at the point of request.
Reports that trace to source
Every figure in a control report traces to the transactions behind it, so a reviewer can follow it down without asking for a different extract.
Review and sign-off in the workflow
The reviewer signs inside the process, and the signature carries the date and the evidence version it applies to.
Exceptions logged with their resolution
When a control does not operate as designed, the exception and what was done about it are recorded together. That record is what a deficiency assessment needs.
Completeness visible during the period
Which controls have evidence and which do not, visible now rather than discovered at quarter end.
A package the auditor can be given
Assembled from what was already captured, in the structure your auditor asks for.
What agents do, and what your team approves
What the agents do
Agents collect the evidence each period, build the control reports, check which controls are missing evidence, and assemble the package.
What they never do
Control owners and reviewers sign personally, inside the workflow. Agents collect and prepare, and they never attest that a control operated.
Systems we work with
- SAP
- Excel
- Power BI
From past work
What we have built
We automated SOX report preparation from SAP for a manufacturer, moving control evidence collection from a quarterly reconstruction effort to a by-product of the period.
Questions we get
Which controls fit automation first?
The ones that are high volume, system-based and currently evidenced by screenshots. Reconciliation controls, completeness checks and access reviews are usually the first wave. Controls that rest on genuine human judgment stay manual and should.
Will our auditors accept it?
They generally prefer it, because evidence captured when the control operated is stronger than evidence assembled later. We recommend walking your audit team through the approach early rather than presenting it at year end.
How is evidence stored?
In your own systems, versioned, with the period it relates to and the person who signed it. Retention follows your own policy.
Does this replace our SOX tooling?
Not usually. If you have a governance platform, this feeds it with evidence that was previously collected by hand. We work with what you have rather than proposing a replacement.
Related
- Indirect tax complianceSales tax and VAT prepared from ERP data and ready for audit.
- Order to cash automationFaster billing, collections and receivables reporting.
- Document intake and validationDocuments are read, checked and routed without being re-keyed.
- All Manufacturing & distribution workTax, receivables and compliance reports are rebuilt from the ERP every period by people who deserve better work.
- How we workRead the books, design for agents, ship them, train your operators, then run and improve.