We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: audits aren’t exactly fun. Sure, there are some interesting aspects to it, but by and large, they tend to be tedious affairs punctuated by the occasional stressful deadline.

Various types of credit union automation software have hit the market in the last couple decades. Some automation solutions are surprisingly robust. And yet, audits still have too many moving parts and variables to be automated fully.

Someday…

What Audit Automation Software Can Do for Credit Unions

Until the day someone creates a fully-automation audit solution, there are still options for partially-automated workflows in credit union audits. Audit automation software for credit unions can take many monotonous, tedious, and manual processes out of human hands.

What kinds of tasks?

Building an audit trail. Tracking due dates and notifying participants. Storing and archiving documents. Collecting documents for review. Submitting documents. And so on!

It also features many simplified workflow solutions that reduce the clunkiness of cobbled-together audit tools like Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and SharePoint.

The Effect of Audit Automation Software for Credit Unions

It’s not always enough to know what audit automation software can in general. At some point, you have to ask:

Okay, but what does audit automation software do for my credit union?

When you ask this question, you should look for two different answers. The right software should be able to help your credit union with both factors.

1.    Is the software a good match?

When you implement a new software platform, you must be ready for some kind of change. To what extent are you willing to change your processes to accommodate new software?

There are two options that could work well for your credit union. First, you could find audit automation software that allows you to do things almost exactly as you do them already. Second, you could find audit automation software that offers a different, potentially better way of doing what you’re trying to do.

Either option is a good option, even though neither may be a perfect fit for your credit union. To determine whether new software is right for your credit union, you’ll need to decide:

Does it match your current procedures, or does it offer new ones? And which would you prefer?

2.    What are your goals?

Typically, when it comes to audits, credit unions are interested in one of two things:

Option one is they’re interested in efficiency, saving time, and reducing the resources required to perform audits so they can invest their energy on other priorities,

OR

Option two is looking for effectiveness. This means they want to make certain that their audit processes occur regularly, occur on time, and occur as expected.

In either case, your credit union may have other things you want to accomplish. You may have additional goals. However, you should decide up front which of those two goals your credit union values most.

FREE: Audit Checklist for Credit Unions

4 key principles and 9 questions to jumpstart your audit planning. From leading credit unions.

Choosing the Right Audit Automation Software for Your Credit Union

Ultimately, your credit union has a few questions to answer about what it wants from any new audit software. Your two biggest priorities should be determining what it is you need:

Which software will be a good fit for your credit union? And, will that software help you accomplish your primary goals?

Once you’ve answered those questions, then you’re ready to start demoing different solutions. If you’d like to see what Redboard can do for your credit union’s audit program, contact us for a demo.

Or, if you’d like to read more about automated solutions for credit union audits, follow the links below!

AUDIT AUTOMATION SOFTWARE FOR CREDIT UNIONS: THREE SIMPLE OPTIONS

HOW AUTOMATION IN AUDITING IMPROVES ACCOUNTABILITY