SmartSuite for the Internal Controls Manager

Consistent control ownership gives each SOX control a named owner, a testing frequency and clear accountability in the library, so the Control Framework & Regulatory Libraries you maintain are a definition, not a spreadsheet of names.

Change and version control captures each control update, process change and retesting decision with full traceability, so when a process owner alters a control the retest it requires is raised rather than discovered at year end.

Standardized test procedures, templates and scoring put every result in front of you in the same format, so validating evidence and approving an outcome is a review step with a recorded sign-off, not a reconciliation of styles.

Quarterly and annual cycle visibility tracks interim testing and year-end readiness without manual status reporting, so you and the SOX Program Manager work from the same calendar and the same open-items list.

Evidence requests route to the Control Owner with reminders and deadlines, so the Controls Testing Lead starts a test with the evidence in hand and you are not chasing it on their behalf.

Cross-functional transparency gives Finance, IT, Internal Audit and Compliance shared visibility of SOX responsibilities, so the Internal Auditor and Compliance Manager read the same control definitions you approved rather than their own copies.

Significant deficiencies, material weaknesses and corrective actions are tracked to closure with severity recorded, so aggregation and evaluation follow the standard and the Head of Internal Controls sees the combined picture.

External auditors receive controlled access to testing results and supporting evidence, so walkthroughs and sample requests are served from the system and the audit fee is not spent on document hunting.

Use the AI Assistant in a SmartDoc field to generate testing summaries, deficiency narratives and auditor responses from the recorded tests, so the SOC and SOX cycles you support get consistent write-ups and your review time goes to the judgment calls.

Head of Internal Controls

The Internal Controls Manager owns control design, documentation, consistency and ongoing effectiveness. They maintain standardized control definitions, owners and frequencies, review control design for completeness and alignment to risks, review test results, validate evidence and approve outcomes, track control changes and the re-testing they require, evaluate deficiencies and coordinate remediation. They support SOX, SOC and other certification cycles and report control health to the Head of Internal Controls.

SOX Compliance maintains control libraries with standardized definitions and frequencies and tracks control updates and re-testing requirements with version control. Every control has one definition, one owner and one frequency, so the Control Owner, Controls Testing Lead and Internal Auditor are testing the same thing. When a control changes, the version history shows what changed and the re-test it triggers, and Control Framework & Regulatory Libraries supplies the framework the controls map to.

SmartSuite keeps testing history and evidence repositories traceable for auditors, so each control shows every test performed, the evidence accepted and the outcome approved, period after period. An external auditor evaluating controls under PCAOB AS 2201 can follow a control from definition to test to evidence without asking for a reconstruction. Compliance Assessments & Testing holds the same model for SOC and other certification cycles, so the evidence collected once serves each of them.

Deficiencies are logged in Issues Management with severity, owners and remediation tracked to re-test, so a failed control carries its rating, the owner responsible for fixing it, the remediation steps and the date the re-test is due. The Internal Controls Manager evaluates and aggregates deficiencies from one list rather than from emails, and closure means the re-test passed, with that evidence attached, not that someone said it was fixed.

SmartSuite reports control health, testing completion and open deficiencies from the control library, test records and issues as they stand. The Internal Controls Manager can show the Head of Internal Controls which controls are tested and passed this period, which tests are outstanding and which deficiencies remain open by severity. The SOX Program Manager and Compliance Manager work from the same records, so the status reported upward is the status in the system.

A controls team needs its current control matrix, with definitions, owners and frequencies, and the test plan for the coming period. New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows; for a controls team the first workflow is the control library and its testing cycle. Prior test results and open deficiencies can be loaded so the history and the remediation queue start complete. SOC 1 and SOC 2, FDICIA and Green Book controls follow the same model.