System and Organization Controls & ERP: Why Now?

Many companies are preparing to close their books for the fiscal year, making it an opportune time to review business processes and decision-making. Performing an organizational audit of this kind ensures that you’re not just equipped to handle current challenges, but also well-positioned for whatever the new year may bring.

Now’s the time to address how your ERP implementation is serving, or not serving, your business strategy. For companies servicing client data, it is also important to decide whether the time is right for you to assess your System Organization Controls (SOC) readiness.

WHAT IS ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software automates core business processes to streamline operations and help companies optimize their resources. These solutions don’t just make internal processes more streamlined; they also provide valuable metrics that can be used to shape strategy.

ERP gives visibility into your company’s processes so you can analyze workflows and identify any issues. It’s a helpful tool to see where there’s room to further automate certain areas, either to reduce the risk of human error or simply increase efficiency.

HOW ADRS CAN HELP YOU OPTIMIZE YOUR ERP

Not every ERP solution will be a great fit. Your organization needs software tailored to its specific needs, priorities, and goals so any out-of-the-box solution will require some degree of customization. Anchin Digital Risk Solutions (ADRS) thoroughly assesses a company’s processes and capabilities pre- and post-ERP implementation so they can find the right solution for their current needs and future objectives.

With an ERP, companies generate a lot of data, but they don’t always know how to compile or analyze that data so it can be used to drive better decision-making. There’s often even confusion about defining data – many businesses narrow this down to numbers, looking solely at their internal statistics and ignoring the wealth of information that may not fit neatly into their system categories, but nevertheless offers crucial insight into how they do business.

At ADRS, we help companies capture that human knowledge and expertise, and marry it with digital analytics solutions, so they obtain a clearer picture of their competitive advantage and areas where they can make crucial efficiency gains. This not only helps out clients make the most of their ERP architecture, it also assists in SOC readiness for service organizations that need it.

SOC READINESS

Service organizations – those that provide third-party services to other entities such as payroll processors, SaaS providers and data centers – will often be asked for a SOC report from clients. These reports, based on assessment by a third party CPA, are designed to build trust, verifying the integrity of the service organization’s controls and processes.

There are four types of SOC reports, SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, and SOC for Cybersecurity. Before these are issued, the service organization must undertake a SOC audit. Anchin Digital Risk Solutions (ADRS) helps companies prepare for SOC audits, by performing SOC readiness assessments that maximize their chances of a successful SOC engagement.

This process typically involves assessing a company’s existing controls to determine how they stack up against SOC requirements, then offering timely and actionable recommendations alongside support in implementing those recommendations. This kind of in-depth analysis gives businesses a comprehensive overview of their policies and procedures, resulting in documentation that can be used in the future to strengthen their regulatory compliance and risk management.

PREPARING FOR SOC AUDITS

While most companies use an ERP solution, not every company requires a SOC Readiness Assessment. For those that do, however, it’s helpful to assess both your SOC readiness and ERP framework in the same timeframe as there will likely be overlapping trouble spots that impact the outcome of both evaluations.

If you have any questions about performing a SOC Readiness Assessment or making the most of your ERP, please contact Russell Safirstein,
Paul Engelbert, or your Anchin Relationship Partner.