Compliance Management Services vs Compliance Software: Which Do You Need?

It all depends on one thing when deciding between compliance management services and compliance software goes, if you need an expert opinion, automatic reporting, or both. The latter is mostly what is needed in most Indian companies, though the first step may differ according to the number of people and regulation exposure in the company.

Companies that use spreadsheet solutions and email-based solutions would greatly benefit from compliance management services in India, where legal professionals are responsible for identifying and managing obligations. Lexplosion has been assisting Indian companies in overcoming such a challenge for nearly two decades through a combination of legal expertise and specially designed technology.

Key Takeaways

• Compliance services provide human skills and interpretation, while software provides automation and tracking.
• A firm without an in-house legal department would require services initially.
• Firms that have substantial compliance work find it more useful to track via technology.
• It is the combination approach that suits most expanding firms.
• What matters is the right choice based on organizational size and complexity, not the trends.

Difference Between Compliance Services and Compliance Software

Compliance services are provided by lawyers who conduct research on relevant laws, analyze regulatory changes, and identify all the filing obligations of a company. This way of doing things can work well for companies that have to make some judgment calls on obscure regulations or do not have a legal department. Corporate compliance services providers usually merge legal research with actual compliance identification assistance, which is very useful for companies dealing with many different regulators simultaneously.

Compliance software is an IT product that stores all compliance obligations of the company, sends reminders about them, and helps to track their progress. A quality compliance management software would consolidate all relevant laws in one dashboard and send you automatic notifications about the deadlines.

When Should a Business Engage Compliance Management Services in India?

Firms that are looking to venture into new states, sectors, or industries are likely to find the differences in regulations quite significant between one location/sector/industry and another. In such cases, compliance management services in India would help firms, since the lawyers are able to identify what the rules are and where gaps exist before problems happen. This could be even more helpful for firms that do not have a legal/compliance team within their firm.

Gap analysis is an activity that is frequently done when introducing new processes or prior to the engagement of regulatory compliance audit services in India.

When Is Compliance Management Software a Better Choice?

After an organization is clear on what rules and regulations it needs to follow, the next issue is maintaining consistency and transparency among departments, geographic locations, and entities. Here’s when compliance management software shines, as it brings all processes, deadlines, and notifications into one place and does not depend on people’s memory or email communication.

Companies working in several states or different business units especially need dashboards highlighting incomplete, overdue, and completed processes. Additionally, automated reminders lower the chance of missing the deadline, and this issue becomes more and more important with growing staff and number of entities.

Can Compliance Consulting Services and Technology Work Together?

For mid-sized and big companies, it is wiser to opt for integration of the two rather than selection of either one. The use of a legal compliance management company that also has a digital platform implies that the obligations will be analyzed by professionals and then monitored through automation without any further follow-ups.

This system also helps compliance services to stay updated as the legal department updates the rule database whenever there are changes in regulations, while the computer software monitors and checks. At the same time, legal compliance services help solve grey issues like new circulars.

What are the Factors to Consider When Deciding on Which Option?

• Team capability: Do you have the capacity to handle interpretation in-house, or will you require outside help?
• Number of regulations: Are you conducting business in one state or multiple states with different regulations?
• Compliance volume: Is the number of compliances that need to be followed in the double digits or the hundreds?
• Readiness for audit: Is it likely that you will require audit compliance services soon, such as regulatory compliance audit services in India?
• Finance and time commitment: Are you able to allocate the resources to hire ongoing compliance consulting services and/or a software product subscription?

Which Option Best Suits Your Company Type?

• Start-ups: Generally stand to gain from minimal advisory services in order to be able to determine their core responsibilities without having to incur software costs.
• Growing mid-size firms: Usually require the services of a compliance management company that will provide consulting alongside a software tracker.
• Publicly listed firms: Normally require monitoring software coupled with legal review for all disclosures and audits.
• Foreign companies doing business in India: Require both software and services for compliance purposes.

Between Services, Software, or Both: Choosing Compliance Wisdom

When it comes to finding the solution to this issue, you should not choose between services or software, but instead identify your current position and determine which gap you should bridge first.Those companies that face problems of uncertainty and confusion in the regulatory field are better off choosing compliance management services in India, whereas organizations that struggle with issues of volume and visibility need digital tools to address them.

Through the combination of both methods in one, at Lexplosion we provide our clients with legal consultations as well as Komrisk, which is a compliance management system, assisting companies in moving to the next level regarding a compliance system.

Stuck choosing a method for your company? We offer you a consultation session for free!

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