If you think about it, preparing for exams is kind of like preparingfor a round of golf. You’ve “played” an examination round before,so you have an idea of how the process will go. You’ll want toreview the previous examination “round” to determine what wentwell and what the examiner wanted you to work on, so review pastfindings and resolve any outstanding recommendations inadvance. You’ll also want to get a “feel for the speed of thegreens” by looking at pronouncements regarding this year’s focus(presently, it’s vendor management and cyber risk). Last, but notleast, tee it up for your examiner.
Here’s what I mean by that. Many of our clients utilize our productcalledERM 365tm– Findings Managerto manage examfindings. They’ll enter the finding provided by exam results and setup tasks to delegate resolution of the issue. Tasks areelectronically distributed, tracked and results are recorded accordingly. It significantly reduces the time and challengesassociated with numerous exam findings and recommendations. However, I suggest you consider taking this a step further bysetting up your report and associated findings in advance of the exam. Now you might say, “Why would I want to give myexaminer any ammunition?” One can look at it that way for sure. Or, you can make an honest assessment of your situation andprepare the report and associated findings in advance, set up the task for resolution and review it with the examiner. Forexample, why wait for the examiner to point out a missing signature on a critical vendor contract. Set up the finding in advanceand let them know you are tracking the progress towards resolution. In other words, tee up the finding for them! Ourprofessional services team utilizes Findings Manager significantly to tee up many of our due diligence findings for our clients.We’ll even go so far as to set up all the tasks that need to be addressed by the appropriate staff.
For our clients already using Findings Manager you can see this possibility. For those not using it yet, take a closer look at howFindings Manager will greatly improve your examiner game!
