Welcome to the Research Assistant Weekly Newsletter - a subscriber-only resource for insight into emerging compliance challenges, details on peer calls, and links to new Research Assistant reports, documents, tools, and more.
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All RA members can participate in the conversation by joining the call on Mondays at 4 pm EST/1 pm PST; just look for the invite from Sara.
In last week’s Research Assistant Peer Group meeting, we discussed the challenges of establishing an internal audit and monitoring process that works. Compliance is a critical aspect of the debt collection industry, and it’s essential to have a system in place that ensures adherence to regulatory requirements. But where do you start? What should be documented? How do you find your areas of risk? And how can you proactively approach compliance instead of simply reacting to issues as they arise?
The questions are many, but the best advice was “Eat the elephant one bite at a time”.
Understanding the Difference Between Auditing and Monitoring
A common misconception in compliance is the difference between auditing and monitoring. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct purposes.
Auditing will focus on what to do to be compliant, while monitoring measures compliance.
Auditing is about verifying compliance and assessing the effectiveness of policies and procedures. Audits are typically done periodically and provide a comprehensive review of whether your practices are meeting regulatory standards.
Monitoring, on the other hand, is an ongoing process used to track and measure compliance in real-time. It’s an “always-on” practice that helps identify potential issues before they escalate.
Who Should Conduct Audits and Monitoring?
A key question is: who is responsible for auditing, and who handles monitoring? It’s important to differentiate the two roles and allocate responsibilities accordingly. Do you have the staff? Do you need to outsource audits?
Auditing should be conducted by individuals or teams separate from day-to-day operations to maintain objectivity. This could be an internal compliance department or an external auditor. You don’t want operational staff auditing their own work, as this could lead to biased results. Be sure the right people, with the correct knowledge are doing audits.
Monitoring, however, is typically managed in-house by supervisors, team leads, or managers. These individuals are more familiar with day-to-day activities and can spot issues as they arise. However, they must be trained in monitoring processes to ensure their findings are accurate and consistent.
When compliance concerns, or red flags are found by auditors, they can ask operations to investigate since they may better explain. Those on the floor, in the weeds staff may have facts needed to see the full picture for decisions to be made on change.
We’ll discuss how to get started on the next call.
Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:
Top Reads:
Upcoming Webinars / Other Announcements:
- Upcoming Webinar- RA Compliance Corner: Managing the Mental Strain of Compliance December 4, 2024, at 2:00 E.T. Register here.
- Important Announcement: All AI Notetaking Bots will be removed from Research Assistant Peer Group Meetings. This is to maintain the confidentiality of our peer members.
- Have topics you want to discuss during the peer call? Please send them to Sara_Consultant@roundtables.us by Thursday to ensure it makes it on our agenda!
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