Regulatory compliance is like flossing. Or like eating your vegetables when you’re a kid. Or it’s like remembering to stretch before a workout (or it’s like the workout itself).
Basically, you know you’re supposed to do it. It’s there to keep you healthy and performing at your peak. It ensures that you’re not in danger of long-term consequences.
Regulatory compliance also helps members. Until, sometimes, it doesn’t.
Everyone loves a good origin story. Most superhero franchises start with a good origin story of some kind. Origin stories let people know the people and the reason behind the icons and the brands they come to love.
In that light, we want to share our own origin story. This is a little about how we got started, why we got started, and how we chose the name “Redboard.”
So, sit tight and get out your 3D glasses. This is about to get real.
We’ve been talking a bit about audit best practices lately. Actually, you could say we’ve been talking about audit worst practices, but the two almost go hand in hand. It’s all about how you can better approach your audits and exams so you can stay out of trouble.
So, in that vein, we’d like to offer one more. We’d like to suggest one thing to make your audit life a little easier. It’s one thing that you should never forget:
And it’s about your auditor.
The world is full of best practices tips. You probably know the best way to brush your teeth. You definitely know the best way to tie your shoes. And, if you’ve been reading this blog, there’s a good chance you know best practices for credit union exams and audits.
But best practices are just that: best practices. They tell you what you should do, which is all well and good…
Yet they don’t tell you what you should avoid.
Here are a couple of “worst practices” to avoid during credit union exams.
To date, we still haven’t found a way to avoid audits altogether. Not that we’d want to, of course. They’re not exactly fun, but they certainly help keep things in line. Still, it would be great if they could get easier somehow…
Fortunately, that’s the exact topic of this blog. We’re going to introduce a few things you can do to streamline your credit union’s regulatory exam process.
Our main tip is something that works best for credit union exams. It may work for other audits as well, but this one in particular is best suited for NCUA exams. If that’s not what you’re after, read on anyway! Some of the other material may still be of help.
The internet is full of various audit and regulatory examination tips. Heck, we’ve written more than a few blogs about them ourselves. The thing is, so many of the exam tips floating around out there are truly commonsense items. Once you’ve been through an audit or two, you kind of know the deal.
However, we live in a vibrant, exciting, ever-changing universe. And we want to keep our content fresh and our tips even fresher. So, with that in mind, we’d like to present two uncommon regulatory exam tips for your credit union’s next audit.
These two credit union exam tips are guaranteed to make your auditor or examiner smile. (Or maybe they’ll just give you a solid nod of approval.)
As a company that works to reduce risk, every aspect of cannabusiness puts us on edge. It’s not that we’re against it, but it is fraught territory for financial institutions.
But the fact is that many credit unions have considered cannabusiness and hemp banking. And for understandable reasons, too. It’s a growing industry with a lot of promise. Getting in at the ground floor would no doubt be very profitable.
But there are all sorts of federal issues surrounding hemp banking. Frankly, there are enough issues around it that we’re not ready to even weigh in yet. But here’s what we can do: we can let you know about newer developments in NCUA hemp banking guidance.
Thrilling stuff.
Credit unions generally don’t have massive spending budgets. They can’t just toss money at products and hope they work out! No, they must be sure that the money they spend is worth it. So, if a credit union is considering audit management software, they’ll want to know that they’re getting their money’s worth.
Essentially, credit unions need to calculate the ROI of their audit management software. Let’s take a look at how they can do that.
Credit unions deal with several audits per year. Some might even say “too many.” And each audit is a little like a math test in school:
- You must prepare for it
- You have only a limited time to complete it
- There are lots of numbers and equations involved
- You must show your work
- You can’t cheat
But just imagine if you could cheat. Just a little. Just enough to make it a little easier.
That’s what today’s blog is about. Actually, it’s more about the fourth option—showing your work—but we’re going to make it feel like cheating. How are we going to do that, you ask?
Automated audit working papers for credit unions.
There’s a common fear among workers in many industries. They worry that automation is going to come in, take their jobs, and replace them. While there’s a basis for that fear in some industries, we’re nowhere close to that in the realm of credit union audits.
So, what are the benefits of automating credit union audit processes? We’ll explore some of the more tangible benefits in this blog.
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