For many finance departments, the month-end close represents a recurring challenge driven by long hours and high stress. Time-consuming manual processes dominate the landscape as teams spend hours entering data, verifying balances, juggling email threads to coordinate tasks, preparing journal entries, and compiling reports in disconnected systems.

This heavy reliance on manual intervention creates inefficiency, and it can increase the risk of errors. A mistyped figure or a missed reconciliation can cascade through financial statements, causing rework that delays completion and threatens compliance deadlines.

BlackLine is a leading provider of cloud-based financial close solutions. The platform offers a comprehensive platform that streamlines and automates key processes, allowing finance teams to break free from the limitations of traditional approaches. BlackLine transforms processes to reduce risk, improve accuracy, and free your team to focus on higher-value work.

Account reconciliation traditionally consumes a disproportionate amount of time during the month-end close. BlackLine transforms this process through intelligent automation that matches transactions according to customizable rules, dramatically reducing manual effort.

For instance, BlackLine allows finance teams to auto-match transactions and flag exceptions for review while monitoring reconciliation status in real time across all accounts.

To understand the full scope of BlackLine’s transaction matching capabilities, see our article: Beyond Reconciliation: The Power of BlackLine Transaction Matching

BlackLine automates the preparation, review, and approval of journal entries, replacing processes that traditionally rely on email and spreadsheets.

The platform enforces standardization across journal entries, ensuring consistency and compliance with accounting standards. Built-in validation rules catch potential errors before posting, eliminating the need for correcting entries.

The structured workflow enforces appropriate approvals and maintains comprehensive documentation, creating a clear audit trail that simplifies compliance efforts.

Financial reporting quality directly impacts business decisions and stakeholder confidence. BlackLine enhances reporting capabilities by ensuring underlying data is accurate, reconciled, and controlled properly. BlackLine’s Financial Reporting and Analytics (FRA) tool provides pre-consolidated financial statements for executives, including balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. The financial statements can represent specific needs in an organization such as an industry-specific calculation for EBITDA.

FRA also provides automated fluctuation analysis on the financial statements that can generate variance reconciliations to be explained by end users according to predetermined tolerance thresholds. These variance explanations can be rolled up to the financial statement line level automatically via artificial intelligence, saving time and effort in creating footnote disclosures on the financial statements.

By automating data collection and validation, BlackLine eliminates the manual compilation process that can delay reporting and introduce errors. The result is faster, more reliable financial information that drives better business decisions.

Control weaknesses in the financial close process create significant risk exposure. BlackLine addresses this concern through robust controls, role-based access and approval workflows, and enforced segregation of duties within the platform.

Every activity is documented automatically in a comprehensive audit trail. This detailed record provides evidence of compliance with policies and regulations, simplifying audit preparation and reducing compliance costs.

Companies implementing BlackLine typically report dramatic reductions in close time—often cutting days from the process. This efficiency gain comes from eliminating manual tasks and standardizing workflows across the organization.

As routine tasks become automated, finance professionals can redirect their attention to higher-value activities such as analysis and strategic planning. This shift transforms the finance function from a transaction-processing center to a strategic business partner.

BlackLine provides visibility into the close process through real-time dashboards and reports. Finance leaders gain immediate insight into status, bottlenecks, and potential issues, allowing for proactive close process management.

This transparency extends to supporting documentation and reconciliation details, ensuring questions can be addressed quickly.

The centralized nature of BlackLine fosters better collaboration among finance team members. Rather than swapping spreadsheets and emails, team members work in a unified platform that maintains version control and provides clear visibility into assignments and status updates.

The structured workflow automates notifications and reminders, reducing the communication overhead typically associated with complex close processes. This streamlined communication accelerates approvals and reduces delays caused by miscommunication.

For companies seeking to transform their month-end close process, BlackLine offers a compelling solution that addresses the fundamental challenges of manual, spreadsheet-driven approaches. By automating key processes, enhancing controls, and improving visibility, BlackLine enables finance teams to achieve a faster, more accurate close while reducing risk and freeing resources for strategic activities.

To learn more about enhancing your close process with BlackLine, contact us.

In today’s risk-aware business environment, building trust isn’t a solo effort—it’s a coordinated pursuit. For organizations seeking to meet compliance requirements and expand their market presence, success often depends on the strength of a three-way relationship: the business, its compliance advisors, and independent auditors. Known as the “trust triangle,” this dynamic is the foundation for effective compliance and lasting stakeholder confidence.

However, while the three sides of the trust triangle share a common goal—verifiable compliance—their motivations, methods, and languages often differ. Understanding these differences is key to navigating the path forward.

Businesses: seeking to gain trust and enter the next stage of growth

For most organizations, compliance is not just about ticking boxes—it’s about unlocking growth. Whether the goal is to win larger contracts, attract investors, or strengthen a brand’s reputation, demonstrating compliance reassures stakeholders that operations are secure, ethical, and reliable.

That said, many businesses approach compliance pragmatically. With limited time and resources, they may focus on meeting minimum requirements quickly—sometimes without fully grasping the nuances of each framework. This mindset, while common, can create friction when deeper, long-term value from compliance is the goal.

Advisors: guiding the path to compliance

Compliance advisors are a guide, offering deep expertise across industries, standards, and jurisdictions. Whether internal specialists or external consultants, advisors help organizations implement practical strategies that align business operations with regulatory demands.

They speak the language of risk, assessing where organizations are vulnerable, what frameworks apply, and how to prioritize improvements. By bridging business goals and regulatory requirements, advisors provide the roadmap for scalable, sustainable compliance.

Auditors: verifying trust and compliance

Auditors are the objective third party in this triad. Their job is to independently assess whether a business has met the requirements of a given framework—whether SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, HIPAA, or others.

Auditors communicate through the language of precision and evidence. Their focus is on technical accuracy, documentation, and clearly defined tests. Ultimately, they provide the attestation or certification that validates an organization’s efforts and delivers trust to external stakeholders.

The three-sided relationship has the common objective of ensuring the business achieves compliance, although this shared goal often has differing motivations to get there.  

Businesses: growth and reputation

For businesses, compliance translates into growth. It enables them to attract partners, win contracts, and reassure customers their operations are secure and ethical. While pursuing compliance may involve time and monetary investments, it provides returns in revenue, growth, and enhanced brand reputation.

Advisors: knowledge and partnership

Advisors derive their purpose from guiding businesses toward compliance and trust. Their expertise and vast understanding of regulatory nuances mean they are critical in the compliance process. By partnering with businesses, advisors forge a collaborative journey toward a future founded on integrity and responsible conduct.

Auditors: accountability and assurance

Auditors uphold the critical role of reviewing and signing off on evidence related to the framework. At the end of the day, the auditor will deem a business compliant or not. Their objective evaluations provide the stamp of authenticity, assuring stakeholders that businesses stand by their commitments. The certification that auditors provide not only shows compliance but also provides trust and validates a business’s efforts in their commitment to responsible conduct. 

To bridge these gaps, organizations can leverage compliance metadata—the structured representation of what matters in a compliance program. This includes:

Compliance metadata creates a shared understanding that cuts through professional jargon. It acts as a common language that aligns the interests of businesses, advisors, and auditors.

By grounding collaboration in clearly defined metadata:

This approach reduces friction, supports transparency, and helps ensure the audit process runs smoothly without compromising accuracy or integrity.

As supply chains grow and stakeholder expectations expand, the trust triangle doesn’t stop at the initial audit team. Suppliers, partners, and third-party vendors also become part of the broader compliance network. The trust triangle replicates at scale, fostering a trust web that must be managed with the same rigor and collaboration.

The trust triangle is not just a theoretical framework—it’s a real-world system that underpins every successful compliance journey. When businesses, advisors, and auditors align through a shared understanding of roles and expectations, they create more than just reports—they build the foundation for sustainable growth, accountability, and innovation.

Compliance metadata is the key to this alignment. It enables faster, clearer communication, and unlocks a new era of collaboration where trust and transparency thrive.

Want to strengthen your compliance program through better collaboration and clarity? Contact us to learn how we can help you build a smarter, more unified compliance strategy grounded in trust.

As publicly traded companies work to optimize their Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of those efforts requires management to better understand organizational risks, align management and the audit committee, train process owners, increase automation, and centralize the monitoring of risk exposures and control performance.

The optimization process starts with an effective risk assessment that helps the company understand its exposures and map the various controls that help it mitigate those risks. The types and number of needed controls will depend on a specific company and its risks.

It’s also important to avoid imposing more controls than the company needs to mitigate risks effectively because each control bears costs for design, documentation, testing, evaluation, and reporting. Understanding the company’s risks, and ensuring you have the correct number of controls, is key to effectiveness and efficiency. This can be further enhanced through a control rationalization, with a deeper review of key risks and the alignment of mitigating control activities.

Management and the audit commitment play important roles in SOX compliance by setting the appropriate “tone at the top” by actively asking about and understanding the company’s key risks, and allocating resources to the implementation and evaluation of the appropriate controls. By demonstrating that they believe in and understand risk management and compliance, they set a tone that the rest of the company will generally follow.

A valuable way to increase efficiency and potentially reduce the cost of a SOX review is making it as easy as possible for external auditors to rely on the company’s testing and documentation. Under SOX, external auditors are required to sign off on the company’s internal controls, give an opinion about the effectiveness of those controls, and identify any deficiencies.

To make these determinations, the auditors will either rely on the company’s control testing and documentation, or will have to perform that testing themselves. While a company won’t be able to reach a point where the auditors rely exclusively on the company’s testing, expanding the percentage of company-tested controls increases efficiency. It does this by reducing the volume (and cost) of auditor testing, as well as avoiding controls being tested twice by the company as well as by the auditors.

Another important step in optimizing SOX compliance is providing training for financial reporting process owners—the managers with oversight responsibilities for specific processes. In addition to setting the tone at the top with messaging from a SOX sponsor (e.g., the CFO), managers need to understand the nature of transactional flows and data involved with significant processes—and be enabled to identify gaps in the performance or documentation of those steps. They should also understand the risks that could affect material accounts.

As part of this training, process owners need to understand the value of testing and documentation outside of preparing for an audit. These steps need to be part of ongoing, year-round risk management activities.

While the role of automation in financial reporting is early and evolving in many organizations, the advantages of streamlining the financial processes that underlie the controls being evaluated will pay dividends in SOX compliance. A large portion of the SOX effort and control performance are steps that are repeated through the fiscal year and across fiscal years.  Where tasks are repeated and involve systems or applications, there are opportunities to automate.

For instance, the vast majority of the information needed for SOX compliance is produced during the accounting period close. Critical activities that occur during closes include journal entries, analyses, reconciliations, approvals, and more—all of which need to be documented and are subject to auditor review.

Tools such as BlackLine increase process accuracy and SOX compliance by importing data from feeds and matching transactions to reconcile accounts automatically, posting journal entries, and coordinating task completion and approval using real-time dashboards. This reduces reliance on manual tools and the risk of data existing in disparate spreadsheets.

To the extent various activities can be automated, the company and its auditor benefit. Manual processes, documentation, and testing are more expensive and typically have higher rates of deficiencies. Where companies have more automation, auditors see fewer deficiencies and smoother, more efficient testing that is conducted with less work and a lower resulting cost.

Companies can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their SOX compliance efforts by creating a project management office to coordinate their compliance efforts. Depending on the size and scope of the company, that oversight could come from one person, a team, or someone using a combination of internal and outsourced resources.

Without regard to how the role is structured, it’s important for the team member to have an appropriate level of knowledge and experience to coordinate its SOX compliance efforts year-round to ensure controls are performing as designed, and that emerging issues are addressed as quickly as possible.

If your company needs assistance with implementing effective SOX internal controls, reach out to our team of audit professionals who can support you throughout the process.

Whether it’s a headline-grabbing ransomware attack or a quiet data breach that leaks sensitive customer information, cyberattacks can jeopardize trust in an organization, disrupt its operations, and cause lasting damage.

Information security (InfoSec) is the practice of safeguarding your organization’s most valuable data. Whether it’s customer data, intellectual property, or internal communications, InfoSec ensures your information stays protected from unauthorized access, disclosure, or destruction.

At its core, information security is about protecting information assets using a holistic discipline that combines people, processes, and technology to safeguard data from threats.

One of the foundational concepts in InfoSec is the CIA Triad:

It’s also important to understand how cybersecurity fits into this picture. While InfoSec covers all forms of information, including paper records and verbal communications, cybersecurity focuses specifically on protecting digital assets such as networks, systems, and data.

On an organizational level, safeguarding sensitive information (such as customer data and intellectual property) is critical. A single data breach can erode customer confidence while, in contrast, demonstrating robust InfoSec practices helps your organization earn and retain stakeholder trust.

Effective InfoSec also plays valuable roles in ensuring business continuity. Downtime from a security incident can halt operations, but strong InfoSec policies and procedures can help an organization promote resilience and minimize disruptions.

Similarly, InfoSec helps organizations meet regulatory compliance obligations. Laws like the European Union’s GDPR and HIPAA in the United States impose strict data protection requirements. Compliance isn’t optional—it’s a necessity to avoid fines and regulatory inquiries.

On a broader societal level, strong InfoSec practices also protect critical infrastructure, combat cybercrime and terrorism, and foster a secure environment for innovation and economic growth.

InfoSec isn’t a single action—it’s a collection of practices across different domains that work together to protect your organization’s data, systems, and reputation. Effective security requires a continuous process that spans policies, technology, people, and procedures.

From identifying risks and implementing controls to monitoring systems and responding to incidents, each step builds on the other to create a resilient defense. This layered approach is designed to ensure that if one safeguard fails, others remain in place to protect your critical assets—reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing your organization’s ability to adapt to evolving threats.

Key aspects of InfoSec include:

Frameworks give structure to your InfoSec efforts, helping you meet industry standards and build trust with customers and partners. By aligning with established frameworks like ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or SOC 2, organizations gain a clear roadmap for identifying risks, implementing controls, and continuously improving their security posture.

These frameworks can help ensure your security measures are comprehensive, consistent, and aligned with regulatory and contractual obligations.

Some of the leading frameworks include:

Adopting a recognized framework demonstrates your commitment to safeguarding sensitive information, enhances credibility with stakeholders, and helps you create a competitive advantage in today’s security-conscious marketplace.

By understanding the fundamentals of InfoSec and adopting recognized frameworks, your company can stand out in the marketplace by demonstrating a strong security posture that protects your organization’s reputation as well as your data.

To learn more about the most effective ways to protect your organization and your critical data, contact us.

For construction company leaders to better understand profit margin, it’s necessary to allocate the costs of each job correctly to help identify trends and efficiencies that may cause jobs to perform better or worse than expected. Understanding these cost components—direct and overhead—is essential for calculating profit margins accurately and making informed business decisions.

Profit is comprised of revenue, including the total contract cost (plus any change orders approved by the customer), less the sum of costs incurred to fulfill that contract. These costs include the following:

Incurred expenses that are directly allocable to the job, including:

Expensed incurred related to jobs worked on during the period but not directly allocable:

Generally, these overhead costs do not include general costs of doing business, such as:

Regularly reassessing overhead cost allocation ensures that jobs absorb an appropriate share of expenses. This allocation is known as the overhead rate.

The overhead rate is a sum of the overhead costs incurred for the period as a factor of an input or metric that represents the portion of total activity for the business attributable for a specific job. This may be, for instance, contract value as a percentage of total revenue for the company, or total labor hours spent working on a job as a percentage of total labor hours incurred.

Realistic estimation of overhead costs will aid management in being able to better understand job performance and allow for more accurate information to be available when discussing change orders with customers, and in being able to bid jobs more accurately going forward.

Additionally, better overhead estimates will allow for more accurate revenue recognition for ongoing jobs. The total estimated costs expected to be incurred (which should include an element of the expected overhead burden remaining) will more accurately reflect the total amount of progress that has been made on the job as of period-end and, therefore, how much revenue and profit should be recognized as revenue during the period.

As a best practice, overhead rates should be assessed at least annually, or more frequently if changes in costs or circumstances warrant further consideration. These may include, for instance, a material change in insurance premiums or amending the lease agreement for the facility in which the company stores materials and any pre-build job components

To learn more about potential solutions to being able to more accurately track and estimate overhead costs, contact us.

Trust is fundamental to modern business. Yet in today’s complex regulatory environment, managing trust and compliance at scale remains a persistent challenge—especially across the three stakeholders that form the “Trust Triangle”: companies, third-party suppliers, and advisors.

This is the environment in which Pillar was developed—a solution designed to use compliance metadata to connect these stakeholders, reduce inefficiencies, and bring clarity to fragmented compliance processes.

Companies are held accountable by regulators, customers, and the public to comply with various obligations. These include cybersecurity, privacy, financial risk, and ESG concerns, often extending deep into the supply chain. Choosing the right third parties is both critical and complex.

Third-party suppliers—such as software vendors, service providers, and portfolio companies—must respond to long, detailed questionnaires, often undergoing multiple audits and assessments to satisfy their customers’ requirements. For new or smaller companies, simply doing business with a large enterprise can be a barrier in itself.

Advisors, including audit and consulting firms, help companies and suppliers navigate their compliance needs. Yet these parties frequently operate in silos, using disconnected tools and terminology. The result? Redundancy, inefficiency, and a prolonged path to trust.

Many organizations rely on static tools like spreadsheets, manual assessments, and long-form reports to gauge risk and compliance readiness. However, these methods are time-consuming, costly, and often duplicative.

The explosion of compliance frameworks—SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27701, NIST, and others—has made things more complex. Reports may stretch to hundreds of pages, yet procurement timelines continue to lag and trust remains elusive.

Due diligence is essential, but it shouldn’t be a burdensome experience that delays opportunity or discourages collaboration.

Despite increased automation and accessibility for certain standards, broader trust management efforts remain fragmented.

These components are interrelated, but without a common language or system, stakeholders often talk past each other. This disconnect leads to wasted effort, inconsistent results, and unclear expectations across the compliance ecosystem.

Pillar addresses this gap by leveraging compliance metadata—a structured way to align requirements, risks, and responsibilities across all three members of the Trust Triangle.

Pillar organizes compliance metadata into six key elements:

Pillar is a connective layer, enabling transparency and collaboration across enterprises, suppliers, and advisors. Structuring compliance data in a consistent, contextual way eliminates duplication, streamlines procurement, and lowers the cost of trust.

Companies can manage supply chain risk more effectively. Advisors can deliver more efficient, higher-quality services. Suppliers gain clarity and agility in meeting requirements.

Pillar integrates seamlessly with existing compliance tools, supporting everything from monitoring and assessments to implementation and workflow management.

Pillar offers a smarter, more connected approach to trust management that respects each stakeholder’s unique context while fostering alignment and accountability.

To learn how compliance metadata can improve your organization’s approach to risk and compliance, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.

In today’s threat landscape, cybersecurity is no longer just about firewalls, encryption, and antivirus software. While those technical controls are still crucial, the real battlefield has shifted to something far more unpredictable and challenging to control: human behavior.

Social engineering, the art of manipulating people to give up confidential information or perform actions that compromise security, is rising. And it’s working. In fact, social engineering is now one of the most effective tools in a threat actor’s playbook.

Whether targeting the C-suite, IT personnel, or front-line staff, attackers are finding success not by breaking in, but by tricking someone into opening the door.

Recent publicly revealed examples include:

At its core, social engineering relies on deception rather than technical skill. The method involves exploiting psychological triggers—such as trust, urgency, or fear—to influence someone’s decision-making. Some of the most common social engineering techniques include:

With remote and hybrid work models, traditional security perimeters have dissolved, creating more opportunities for threat actors. Employees face constant information overload, making them more likely to click on fraudulent messages.

Meanwhile, AI-powered tools let attackers create hyper-personalized phishing campaigns that look legitimate. Add in social media oversharing, and it’s easy for hackers to gather intel and impersonate trusted contacts.

Social engineering attacks succeed because attackers leverage urgency to short-circuit critical thinking and exploit common psychological triggers. Messages framed with urgency (“Act now”), authority (“From your manager”), or fear (“You’re out of compliance”) can push people to act without thinking.

Fear-based approaches about compliance violations or security breaches can trigger immediate responses. Other messages, like fake password requests or suspicious incentive offers, appeal to our curiosity.

Social engineering remains the path of least resistance for threat actors targeting businesses. Effective defense requires a multi-layered approach that combines human awareness with technological controls:

Security awareness training must be ongoing and scenario-based, not just annual checkbox exercises. Employees need practical examples of current phishing tactics and manipulation methods relevant to their roles.

Establish clear reporting procedures that are simple and accessible. When employees suspect an attack, they should know precisely how to report it without fear of punishment, even if they’ve already clicked a suspicious link.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides critical protection when credentials are compromised. Implement phishing-resistant options like hardware keys or push notifications with number-matching where possible.

Implement procedural controls for sensitive activities. Require verbal confirmation for wire transfers, establish separation of duties for financial transactions, and create approval workflows for data access requests.

Leverage threat intelligence and monitoring to stay ahead of evolving tactics. Deploy tools to identify suspicious behaviors and alert security teams to potential compromises before damage occurs.

The most successful social engineering defense programs balance technology and human factors—recognizing that both are essential to your security posture.

Cybercriminals are no longer just hackers in hoodies—they’re skilled manipulators. The best defense is not just smarter tools but smarter teams. Whether you’re an executive, IT leader, or business stakeholder, building a culture of awareness is essential.

Cybersecurity is not just an IT issue—it’s a people issue. And it’s time we treat it that way. To learn more about protecting your organization’s infrastructure and data, contact us.

As a company grows beyond the startup phase, its financial complexity increases and professional accounting and finance expertise becomes a strategic necessity.

When management struggles to manage the books, or when cash flow, tax planning, and compliance become too intricate for spreadsheets and entry-level accounting software, investing in professional accounting support is essential for sustainable growth, informed decision-making, and meeting the financial reporting expectations of investors or lenders.

Companies reaching this threshold often consider obtaining support from outsourced accounting, CFO services, or both. Outsourced accounting offers essential financial management—handling day-to-day transactions, accounts payable and receivables, financial reporting, and compliance—while an outsourced or fractional CFO can provide high-level financial strategy, fundraising support, budgeting, and forecasting tailored to the company’s long-term goals.

Choosing which route to take depends on your current needs. If managing the day-to-day activities is the priority, outsourced accounting may be the right fit. If you’re preparing for expansion, investment, or a strategic transaction, an outsourced CFO can be a valuable addition to your leadership team.

Outsourced accounting services provide businesses with immediate access to expertise without the cost and complexity of hiring full-time staff. By partnering with a trusted accounting provider, management can redirect time and resources toward core business activities while ensuring the company’s financial records remain accurate and operations are aligned with organizational goals.

An accounting service might support your company with the following:

Beyond cost savings, outsourced accounting brings value by supporting management with real-time insights and data-driven decision-making. Professional accounting firms bring specialized knowledge of industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and emerging financial technologies. the things your company must do to keep the books in order and the bottom line in the black. 

Outsourced CFO services deliver enterprise-level financial leadership to growing businesses without the cost of a full-time executive. By engaging fractional CFO expertise, companies gain a financial partner who can provide strategic insights and help management understand their current performance, forecast future results, improve profitability, and mitigate risk.

A CFO’s support might include:

Along with financial oversight, an outsourced CFO brings valuable perspective shaped by experience across multiple business environments. This can include identifying growth opportunities, optimizing cash flow, and creating sophisticated financial models that drive informed decision-making. The CFO’s specialized guidance enables leadership teams to make critical financial decisions while maintaining their focus on their business objectives.

For businesses that aren’t ready to hire a full-time CFO, outsourcing provides flexible, on-demand access to high-caliber financial leadership that’s tailored to the company’s growth stage, industry, and future plans.

When exploring your options, consider your organization’s immediate financial needs and your long-term strategic objectives. Outsourced accounting delivers essential operational support for handling transactions, maintaining compliance, and producing financial statements. This approach is ideal for businesses seeking to strengthen their financial foundation through accurate recordkeeping and reliable reporting without the overhead of an in-house team.

An outsourced CFO provides strategic financial leadership that’s focused on driving insights from financial data to guide critical business decisions.

The distinction ultimately centers on your organization’s current needs and priorities. Many growing businesses find optimal value in a hybrid approach, engaging accounting services for foundational stability while periodically consulting with a fractional CFO during pivotal growth phases or complex financial initiatives.

Our team is happy to customize an outsourcing solution to meet your current and future needs. To discuss your options, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Account reconciliation remains a cornerstone of effective financial management in today’s complex financial landscape. At its core, account reconciliation is the process of comparing financial records from different sources—such as a company’s general ledger and bank statements—to ensure accuracy and identify discrepancies. It’s a fundamental control mechanism that supports the integrity of financial reporting.

Standardizing reconciliation processes away from manual processes and spreadsheet dependencies creates consistency that improves accuracy, efficiency, and auditability—three critical factors for finance teams facing growing demands and shrinking close windows.

BlackLine Account Reconciliation Templates provide powerful support for standardization, helping finance teams transform their close process from a spreadsheet-heavy burden into a streamlined, controlled operation.

BlackLine’s reconciliation templates have several features designed to guide teams toward best practices while reducing manual effort and standardizing the reconciliation process. Some of the key features include:

BlackLine’s account reconciliation templates help finance teams increase efficiency and productivity, enhance accuracy, and improve the internal controls environment.

Streamlining the reconciliation process, for instance, accelerates the month-end close and gives finance and operational leaders earlier access to performance results and more time for analysis.

By minimizing manual data entry and rule configuration, templates significantly reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks and the potential for error. Templates reduce the risks associated with manual processing by ensuring consistent application of rules and procedures across account types.

This, in turn, helps the organization maintain high quality standards to support its financial reporting and analysis.

Standardized templates make demonstrating compliance with internal controls and regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), easier from a control and compliance standpoint. Templates maintain a consistent, detailed audit trail for all reconciliations, documenting who did what and when. This provides transparency that can reduce audit time and document reviews.

Successful implementation of BlackLine’s reconciliation templates can be enhanced by following these best practices:

By embracing BlackLine’s Account Reconciliation Templates, finance teams can transform their reconciliation processes from manual exercises into standardized operations that support accuracy and productivity.

To learn how BlackLine’s Account Reconciliation Templates can help your finance team provide strategic insights that drive business growth, contact us.

In a data-driven world, protecting personal information is no longer optional. At the center of today’s global privacy movement is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a sweeping European Union (EU) law that has redefined data protection standards worldwide. Whether your company operates in the EU, the United States, Australia, or elsewhere, understanding the GDPR is key to staying compliant and earning customer trust.

The General Data Protection Regulation took effect on May 25, 2018. It was designed to harmonize data privacy laws across EU member states, strengthen individual rights, and promote transparency in how organizations handle personal information.

The GDPR applies to any business that processes the personal data of EU residents—regardless of where the business is located. In short, if your company collects or uses data from EU citizens, you must comply with GDPR requirements.

Creating a clear, thorough privacy policy is one of the foundational steps toward GDPR compliance. Tools like PolicyTree can help generate policies aligned with up to 15 global privacy frameworks, including GDPR. A GDPR-compliant privacy policy must address users’ rights and outline how personal data is collected, processed, and shared.

Each EU country has a Data Protection Authority (DPA), an independent agency that enforces GDPR regulations. DPAs investigate complaints, conduct audits, and issue penalties for noncompliance. They also offer guidance and clarity on how to interpret and apply GDPR rules. Understanding their role is crucial, especially when navigating cross-border enforcement.

Yes. One of the GDPR’s defining features is its extraterritorial scope. If your business—regardless of where it’s based—processes personal data from individuals in the EU, the GDPR applies to you.

Operating outside the EU but need to prove GDPR compliance? Our Privacy Attestation Services provide the independent validation you need for global trust.

The United States does not currently have a federal privacy law equivalent to the GDPR. However, several states have implemented their own regulations. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is the most prominent and shares some principles with GDPR, such as consumer rights and data transparency.

That said, GDPR takes a more comprehensive approach, focusing heavily on lawful data processing, consent, and minimizing the amount of personal data collected. Businesses operating in the U.S. that handle international data should monitor state-specific requirements and consider aligning with GDPR principles as a best practice.

Becoming GDPR-compliant involves more than updating a privacy policy. Businesses should:

Yes, but software is only part of the equation. To support compliance, software tools should offer features like encryption, access control, and anonymization. However, GDPR compliance ultimately depends on how people, processes, and policies interact with that software. Your organization must align its overall practices with GDPR standards.

GDPR requires that individuals be informed about how their data is used. This is typically done through privacy notices—clear, accessible statements explaining what data is collected, why it’s needed, who it’s shared with, and the rights individuals have.

An effective privacy notice enhances transparency and supports your efforts to build long-term trust with your customers and partners.

As the global benchmark for data privacy, GDPR is influencing how businesses approach security and compliance far beyond the EU. Meeting its requirements not only reduces legal risk—it signals your organization’s commitment to responsible data stewardship.

If you’re unsure about your organization’s GDPR readiness or need help developing a compliant program, contact us. We’re here to help you navigate compliance, improve data governance, and build trust through better privacy practices.

When most people think of fraud, schemes like email viruses, phone scams, and stolen credit card information come to mind. While most businesses have safeguards to prevent and detect these external threats, many business owners overlook the potential for occupational fraud—that is, fraud committed internally.

According to a 2024 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the construction industry is the seventh most affected industry for occupational fraud by the number of cases. Construction’s median losses of $250,000 ranked fifth among industries, slightly lower than the $267,000 in median losses reported by manufacturers.

Among all industries, companies lose the equivalent of about 5% of revenue to occupational fraud. The most common form of fraud is asset misappropriation such as billing schemes or theft of non-cash assets. The least common, but most costly, was financial statement fraud.

Occupational fraud involves the deliberate misuse of an organization’s resources or assets by employees, management, and even owners with the goal of personal gain. Regardless of the perpetrator, the activity is almost always secretive, policies are usually violated, and the activity is committed for financial gain.

According to the ACFE, employees are more likely to commit fraud than executives. However, the dollar value associated with fraud significantly increases with the perpetrator’s seniority. Criminal motives are typically the result of stressors, including illness, excessive debt, or a spouse losing their job.

This financial or emotional pressure, mixed with the opportunity to commit the crime, often leads to the rationalization that the company can “afford” the loss. This “fraud triangle” model illustrates the possible factors that drive someone to justify and commit a crime.

According to the ACFE, the most common fraud schemes within construction include corruption (52%), followed by billing (38%), expense reimbursement (25%), payroll and skimming (tied at 23%), and check and payment tampering (19%).

Corruption is a general term covering kickbacks, straw vendors, fictitious suppliers, bribery, bid-rigging, and conflicts of interest. Billing schemes include inflated costs on invoices, invoices for non-existent projects, or invoices for labor performed on personal projects. Accounts payable manipulation, check and payment tampering, fake or manipulated PDF documents, and cybersecurity are also frequent contenders.

Expense reimbursement fraud occurs when employees manipulate the expense reporting process to receive payments they’re not entitled to. Common schemes may include submitting fictitious expenses with fabricated receipts, mischaracterizing personal expenses as business-related, inflating legitimate business expenses (such as adding extra miles to travel), or submitting the same expense multiple times. 

Payroll skimming fraud occurs when someone uses a company’s payroll system to divert company funds. Examples include creating “ghost employees” who don’t exist, inflating hours worked or commission amounts, failing to remove terminated employees from payroll, and similar schemes.

Certain behavioral trends typically accompany occupational fraud. Unexplained purchases of luxury items such as cars and extravagant vacations could indicate someone living beyond their means. Employees who foster unusually close relationships with vendors or customers can also be cause for concern, especially if the employee safeguards information or becomes secretive about the account.

Employees exhibiting a “wheeler-dealer” attitude that allows them to work outside of routine procedures can often abuse power and trust. Employees who do not take a vacation or relinquish duties can also indicate suspicious activity. Being aware of these red flags and behavior changes can help identify potential misconduct and stop perpetrators early on.

Creating a robust code of conduct and proactively enforcing internal controls can help strengthen security and mitigate major risks of loss. This doesn’t have to mean hiring more personnel, which can often be cost-prohibitive. There are plenty of effective checks and balances that contractors can implement to minimize the risk and impact of fraud:

Even when fraud is caught, fear of bad publicity and costly legal fees often keep the crime out of court. Many business owners prefer private settlements and internal discipline to minimize costs and time away from the business. However, since many repeat offenders go unprosecuted, it’s critical to take legal action to create a strong deterrent and to alert future employers of an employee’s criminal record.

With these tips for understanding, identifying, and preventing occupational fraud, owners and stakeholders can be confident they are proactively mitigating the risk for their business.

To learn more about deterring and uncovering occupational fraud, contact us.

As compliance requirements grow more complex, one of the most common questions we hear is: What’s the best software for managing compliance?

While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, understanding the categories of compliance-related software—and how they work together—can help you make informed decisions that fit your business and audit strategy.

Let’s break down the two main types of software involved in compliance programs:

General business software includes the tools and platforms you use to run your operations and manage your tech stack. Examples include:

These systems weren’t designed specifically for compliance, but they often support key elements of your compliance program by default, such as access controls, audit trails, encryption, or policy workflows.

Regardless of your chosen GRC platform, this operational software will always be part of your compliance story.

GRC platforms are built to manage governance, risk, and compliance centrally. They generally serve three primary functions:

There are also three broad types of GRC platforms, each with different strengths:

When deciding on software, we recommend completing a readiness assessment within your team or with a consultant first. That way, you can see what else is required to achieve compliance and where other software may provide return on investment.

Traditional GRC software is time-intensive to set up. Security and compliance software is expensive and limits your auditor choices. And integrated audit software ties you to that auditor, so it’s best to ensure it fits your goals upfront.

Part of that is reviewing how your existing software supports compliance independently. In many areas, these enable compliance by default, with minor adjustments, or at least provide the tools and functionality you need without procuring additional software.

Here’s an example with a common set of software, each with many alternatives playing a similar role.

AWS (Cloud Infrastructure). Out of the box, AWS offers firewalls, encryption, access controls, logging, and system hardening. Add-ons like GuardDuty, Key Management Service, AWS Shield, and Security Hub enhance monitoring and response capabilities.

GitHub (Version Control).  GitHub tracks code changes and version control by default. With added features like peer review enforcement, static code analysis, and code quality checks, it helps address secure development requirements.

Azure Active Directory (Single Sign-On).  Provides centralized access management, RBAC, segregation of duties, and provisioning controls—all essential for identity and access management.

BambooHR (HRIS).  Supports compliance with employee lifecycle documentation, including contracts, onboarding steps, policy acknowledgments, and performance reviews.

Google Workspace (Mobile Device Management).  Enables you to monitor, secure, and manage mobile devices through approval workflows, policy enforcement, email security, and remote wipe capabilities.

While these tools cover much of the technical foundation, some areas—like policies, procedures, and oversight—still require tailored, manual work to reflect your unique business environment.

Getting started with compliance software doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Our team can walk you through a readiness assessment, identify opportunities to streamline your efforts, and recommend practical, right-sized solutions for your organization.

To learn more or request a practice guide tailored to your needs, contact us.

The HITRUST framework and HIPAA regulations both play important roles in helping organizations meet their data security, customer privacy, and compliance goals. However, they have notable differences in their nature, scope, and application.

Let’s start with HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), a U.S. law enacted in 1996 that established guidelines for protecting patient health information (PHI) and ensuring the privacy and security of electronic health records.

HIPAA consists of five rules that organizations must interpret in the context of their environment, but the legislation does not offer specific implementation guidance. 

HITRUST is a certifiable security and privacy framework designed by industry experts to help organizations manage information risk with confidence. It offers a comprehensive, structured approach by integrating multiple standards and authoritative sources, including HIPAA. With clearly defined security controls and requirements, HITRUST simplifies compliance and strengthens data protection across industries.

HIPAA is mandatory for covered entities (healthcare providers and insurance companies) and their business associates that handle PHI in the United States. HIPAA compliance is self-assessed, and there is no designated HIPAA certification process nor certification body. Instead, organizations must regularly review their compliance with HIPAA’s Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule in a process that may include engaging third-party auditors.

These assessments generally focus on protecting PHI through administrative, physical, and technical safeguards outlined in the Security Rule. HIPAA also mandates regular risk assessments as part of ongoing compliance efforts but does not prescribe a specific timeline or format for those assessments.

This approach may be best suited for small medical practices or solo practitioners with limited resources. If a covered entity or partner doesn’t need to demonstrate compliance with multiple regulatory frameworks, they may find HIPAA compliance adequate for their needs.

For its part, HITRUST has a broader scope that can be applied to organizations across various industries beyond healthcare. The framework can be used by any organization looking to implement strong security controls based upon real-time threats and demonstrate compliance with multiple standards simultaneously.

HITRUST is more comprehensive, covering over 1,200 requirement statements that can be mapped to over 40 compliance and regulatory frameworks (authoritative sources) across various industries, including HIPAA, CCPA, ISO, NIST, and GDPR.

The HITRUST CSF (Common Security Framework), for instance, comprises of 14 control categories, 49 control objectives and 156 control references that detail specific tasks teams need to perform to achieve those objectives. The requirement statements are spread across the 19 domains that make up the HITRUST CSF.

HITRUST implementation is also more structured, involving a software solution (myCSF) that streamlines audits and assessments. Organizations can become HITRUST-certified by HITRUST, providing a standardized way to demonstrate their compliance and maturity.

HITRUST certification involves a multi-phase process that includes readiness assessments, gap remediation, validation by an external assessor, and a final review and QA by HITRUST itself. Depending on their risk level and assurance needs, organizations can choose from different assessment types.

While every healthcare organization has specific requirements, HITRUST certification can offer additional benefits for providers and their business partners than HIPAA compliance alone; given how robust and the coverage organizations implementing the HITRUST framework.

HITRUST, for instance, provides a more comprehensive and prescriptive approach to security and compliance while also offering greater flexibility. Because the framework’s requirements are tailored to each company’s risk profile and use of PHI, adoption can be scaled up or down to meet individual organizational needs.

With controls are mapped to different security, privacy, and governance standards and frameworks, HITRUST provides a comprehensive approach to meeting multiple compliance requirements simultaneously.

HITRUST certification also demonstrates a stronger commitment to data protection. For companies that provide services to covered entities, obtaining HITRUST certification can create competitive advantages over non-certified competitors as more healthcare organizations require HITRUST certification from their vendors.

Overall, HITRUST offers a structured approach with formal certification that demonstrates adherence to multiple regulatory frameworks beyond HIPAA. Organizations seeking higher assurance and broader compliance often opt for HITRUST certification.

While HIPAA is mandatory for healthcare providers and their business partners, HITRUST provides a stronger, more comprehensive security approach. It potentially provides greater value and benefits to organizations in the healthcare industry and beyond.

To learn more about HITRUST and HIPAA compliance, contact us.

Accurate revenue tracking is paramount in understanding the performance and growth prospects of companies, such as SaaS providers, that rely on subscriptions. Investors, management, and finance teams evaluate metrics such as annual recurring revenue (ARR) and GAAP revenue recognition, which, while both related to revenue, serve different purposes and are often confused.

Annual recurring revenue is a key financial metric for many subscription-based businesses, serving as a benchmark for tracking growth and providing a high-level view of predictable revenue.

ARR measures the revenue that a business expects to receive from recurring customers in the next 12 months. It is defined as the value of all recurring contracts (subject to renewal on at least an annual basis) normalized to an annual basis.

If average customer terms are less than a year, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) may be a more useful metric.

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) define revenue recognition from contracts with customers under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 (“ASC 606”).

ASC 606 requires companies to recognize revenue based on a five-step model designed to align revenue recognition with the customer receiving the good or service. This requires a company to evaluate the amounts that are expected to be collected and the nature of the transfer of goods or services to determine the proper amount and timing of revenue recognition.

Step five of the ASC 606 model requires companies to determine whether revenue should be recognized ‘over time’ or at a ‘point in time’. For subscription-based businesses, this consideration often means revenue is recognized over the subscription term, however there are factors that could lead to point-in-time recognition.

There are several key differences between ARR and GAAP revenue recognition. While both metrics are related to revenue, they are not equivalent. Stakeholders need to understand these differences and when the use of each metric is most valuable.

ARR is a forward-looking metric, while GAAP revenue recognition measures historical information. ARR includes only revenues that are recurring in nature, while GAAP revenue recognition will also include any non-recurring items such as implementation fees.

ARR typically includes any closed bookings for which executed documents may not be completed or services may not have commenced. Under GAAP, this type of contract would not be recognized as revenue until services commence.

GAAP revenue recognition appears on the company’s GAAP financial statements. ARR typically accompanies management reporting and is often included in the Management Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) portion of financial reporting. Finance and accounting teams are more likely to use GAAP revenue to analyze the company’s performance while investors and company leadership teams use ARR.

Investors often review ARR as a metric to imply the value of a company by applying industry-based ARR multiples, among other valuation techniques. Because ARR is a non-GAAP metric, it is not subject to audit.  A CPA firm cannot opine on ARR or related metrics, as there are no published rules regarding the classification of recurring versus nonrecurring revenue.

For companies in which ARR is a relevant metric, it is imperative that management and the stakeholders understand the differences between ARR and revenue recognition under GAAP. Also, they must understand that ARR is not defined under specific rules and regulations.

Based on our experience, the following are best practices as they relate to tracking and measuring ARR and GAAP revenue recognition:

We hope this article has helped clarify the difference between annual recurring revenue and GAAP revenue recognition and has provided useful information on best practices for each. If you’re a technology company looking for an audit partner, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our team has experience with a wide range of clients in the technology industry, and we would be happy to chat with you.py to chat with you.

Collaborating with an organization’s leadership team, fractional chief sustainability officers (CSOs) embed environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices across operations, such as supply chains and product development, to ensure sustainability initiatives go beyond a compliance focus to become a core part of the organization’s business model and value creation.

Fractional CSOs provide an objective perspective to help a company understand its most important sustainability-related risks and opportunities, and work with management to identify internal resources who can address those considerations by integrating them into their day-to-day responsibilities.

This includes the creation of sustainable impact goals based on the company’s current needs, industry benchmarks, and stakeholder expectations, as well as key performance indicators to help the company measure and optimize the impact of its sustainability initiatives.

Even organizations with dedicated sustainability team members can benefit from specialized expertise, project leadership, and benchmarking insights from a fractional CSO.

A fractional CSO can enhance operational efficiency by streamlining the sustainability function within organization. This can include direct efforts like generating cost savings through initiatives that reduce energy consumption or waste generation in operations, or streamlining processes to identify bottlenecks, improve production timelines, and reduce errors.

Similarly, fractional CSOs can enhance supply chains by engaging with partners to foster sustainable practices, share goals, and encourage the adoption of more efficient processes.

For example, they can establish metrics related to carbon emissions, water usage, and waste generation, and implement systems that increase efficiency and reduce miles traveled. In another example, improving warehouse and inventory management can reduce costs and waste by providing insights into product shelf life and rotation.

Fractional CSOs assess sustainability risks that could affect the organization, such as regulatory non-compliance or reputational damage. For instance, they can help management identify and mitigate exposures such as dependence on non-renewable resources or the potential for climate-related disruptions to operations or suppliers.

They can also ensure the organization adheres to evolving regulations by monitoring compliance with sustainability laws and anticipating likely regulatory developments.

With sustainability disclosure mandates increasing, a fractional CSO can work with company leaders to help them understand reporting requirements, such as those issued in California and the European Union. This may include developing impact reports that align with recognized frameworks such as the:

Fractional CSOs can also facilitate dialogue with internal and external stakeholders, including investors and regulators, regarding sustainability initiatives. They develop communication frameworks that establish transparency, gather valuable feedback, and build the organization’s understanding of its sustainability priorities.

Over time, the fractional CSO can transfer their knowledge to management and internal personnel who are taking on sustainability functions so the company can better integrate sustainability expertise across the organization after the CSO engagement ends.

Many people want to work for employers that align with their personal values, and this often includes companies’ sustainability efforts. By leveraging these mission-aligned team members to carry out sustainability efforts, a company can gain direct benefits while enhancing employee retention and recruiting.

Retaining a fractional CSO can provide operational and economic benefits:

Enlisting a fractional CSO provides a pragmatic approach to sustainability leadership that allows organizations to develop and enhance their business strategy and sustainable impact programs while maintaining resource flexibility.

This approach is particularly relevant for mid-sized companies seeking to advance their performance through professional leadership without the investment and resource commitment of a full-time executive position.

To learn more about the benefits of retaining a fractional CSO for your organization, contact us.

Running a startup is exciting, and your focus should be on the future of your company and the technology you’re developing. However, investors and your board of directors expect their investment to be managed prudently and professionally. You’re expected to do as much as possible with as little as possible, particularly in back-office functions such as accounting and HR.

This article outlines key financial and operational controls that can help streamline your startup’s back-office functions.

Even with a lean team, never compromise on separating duties. This is essential for investor confidence. Ensure the individual authorizing spending is not also processing payments or reconciling accounts. As you scale, consider role-based access controls within your financial systems to enforce this digitally. This protects against fraud and demonstrates a commitment to professional operations.

Other areas where segregating duties makes sense include:

Maintaining a clean cap table is crucial for attracting investors and managing equity accurately. Software like Carta or Pulley can help track ownership, manage stock options, and ensure compliance. Errors in cap table management can create significant legal and financial problems. Equity management tools also can help track stock options and calculate accounting charges required for audited financial statements.

Creating a clear and efficient record system for proper documentation is essential in two important ways:

Investors expect sophisticated financial reporting beyond basic profit and loss statements. Implement systems providing granular insights into key metrics such as:

Proactive tax compliance for startup stability and growth tax compliance is a significant factor in due diligence, even for startups with minimal tax liabilities. Key considerations include:

By implementing these controls, your startup can build a solid financial foundation while maintaining investor confidence. Effective financial and operational controls ensure stability, transparency, and efficiency as your company scales. Contact us if you have any questions.