Compliance Reporting
Compliance refers to the reports created by companies in order to comply to rules, standards, laws and regulations set by regulatory bodies and government agencies. Failure to comply means businesses are subject to regulatory penalties, including fines and imprisonment. Compliance reports are often completed by compliance officers. Those officers are tasked with looking at the regulations a company is subject to and determining whether or not they’re achieving compliance through the processes and controls they’ve put in place. Compliance officers are responsible for ensuring that a business is complying with national and international regulations and assessing internal controls and processes that ensure the rules are being followed. The purpose of the compliance reports is to 1. hold processes accountable 2. not let them fall to the wayside and 3. alert and provoke change when there is a risk to compliance. Compliance reports are often submitted to senior management, board and audit committee members.