Everything You Need To Know About Disclosure Management Software (FAQs)
What Is Disclosure Management Software?
Disclosure Management Software is used for tracking and reporting variable data that may impact an organization’s ability to comply with a law or framework. There may be instances where complete compliance is not possible, as long as this is properly reported and accounted for, it may be deemed acceptable (depending on what it is).
One of the key uses of Disclosure Management Software is tracking potential conflicts of interest. This type of solution adds transparency and ensures that everything is above board. It gives you an easy way to properly declare gifts, donations, and other potential conflicts of interest, ensuring that nothing untoward is happening. Should you run into any conflicts of interest down the line, you can demonstrate how decisions were made and any personal-business relationships.
As well as logging and storing key documents to evidence compliance, a disclosure management solution will have capabilities to publish reports and insights into your compliance and disclosure. This will ensure that key stakeholders can understand events in-detail.
How Does Disclosure Management Software Work?
Disclosure management software begins with gathering and storing data. Some of this will be automatically ingested through integrations with tools across your IT infrastructure, some data will be ingested through manual input. This tends to be a web-based portal that allows users to create and manage listings, with the ability to upload supporting content and documentation.
A disclosure management solution can then cross check your disclosure and compliance documents, ensuring that they align with compliance frameworks. Many platforms have inbuilt capabilities to align with multiple frameworks, ensuring that they are a good fit for your organization.
There software will enable you to publish reports and findings in demand. This allows you to evidence your compliance and improve visibility. This is a crucial aspect to ensure that relevant stake holders are aware of your status. These reports are also important in the auditing process.
What Features Should You Look For In Disclosure Management Software?
Selecting the right disclosure management solution for your organization can be a complex process. There are multiple effective solutions currently on the market, each with their own benefits and strengths. In this section we will highlight some of the key features that you should look for when selecting a platform.
Regulatory Frameworks – your chosen platform should have the most common compliance frameworks in-built, ensuring that all uploaded data and information complies with established frameworks. As these regulations evolve and change overtime, having an automatic update feature ensures that you are always acting in the most appropriate way.
Data Ingestion – If your platform can automatically ingest data from third-party tools within your data stack (as well as manual input) you can reduce that amount of data that is missed. This ensures that that platform gives you comprehensive coverage, preventing any areas from being overlooked.
Reporting – the platform should be able to publish clear and comprehensive reports summarising (and detailing) key metrics and statistics. These reports should be readable and digestible, with customization options for when you need to tailor a report for a specific user or stakeholder.
Smart Searching – As your disclosure management solution will ingest and manage large amounts of data, it is important that there is an effective search tool in place. By including accurate tags to help quickly sort and identify data.
Checklists – Some platforms will present you with checklists detail the steps you need to take to ensure compliance. These adaptive checklists make it easy to take actionable steps and meet compliance expectations.