A compliance calendar is a valuable tool for managing deadlines associated with regulatory requirements, reporting obligations, permit renewals, and internal practices. This article reviews the benefits of a compliance calendar, compares available tools, and provides a reliable method for developing your organization's compliance calendar.
Benefits of Compliance Calendar Software
Compliance calendar software is a must-have for companies and organizations that must comply with regulations and laws. The benefits include:
Institutionalized Information
An organization's compliance status should not depend on what is in someone's memory or a single individual's knowledge. Compliance calendar software puts your regulatory obligations and associated deadlines in a centralized location that is available to anyone in the organization.
"Our Compliance Calendar helps me sleep better. Now I know that if my compliance guy wins the lottery, I can hop into the compliance calendar and see what compliance obligations apply, what has been completed, and what is coming due."Larry, Small Company Owner
Improved Compliance
Compliance calendar software helps ensure you will remember and recognize a task, especially when the software sends out automated reminders of upcoming due dates. Additionally, a centralized compliance calendar allows anyone in your organization to see what is coming due and verify that required tasks are completed.
Improved Efficiency
Compliance calendar software can store information on how to complete specific tasks, insights and tips from the last task completed, links to documents that need to be completed, and more. These functions make it much more efficient when it comes time to complete the compliance task. It also makes it easier for someone else to pick up and complete tasks.
Proactive Compliance
As regulations shift and change, many organizations find themselves putting out one fire only to discover a new one. Compliance calendar software offers a way to plan for your organization's compliance needs, gather data, and allocate the resources needed to meet the obligation.
Improved Transparency
Compliance calendar software increases visibility across your organization and allows you to monitor the completion status of internal and external tasks. As such, management stays informed and can help ensure that needed resources are available for upcoming compliance tasks.
Improved Accountability
Compliance calendar software can help ensure that all relevant parties are aware of compliance requirements and deadlines, enhancing accountability across the organization.
Compare Compliance Calendar Software to Other Options
- Manage an infinite number of compliance tasks
- Distribute responsibility for compliance tasks throughout your organization
- Send automated email notifications and reminders when compliance tasks are assigned and coming due
- Escalate notifications when compliance tasks become overdue
- Easily communicate your organization's compliance status via dashboards and reports
How to Build and Use a Compliance Calendar
1. Select a Compliance Calendar Tool
Whether it be a spreadsheet, email calendar, or compliance calendar software solution, something is better than nothing. That being said, populating the tool that you choose is going to take some time, so it will be in your best interest to select a tool that best fits your current and future needs.
2. Develop a List of Compliance Requirements
The goal here is to try to capture all of the compliance tasks that you and your team need to do on a recurring basis. To compile your list, it can be helpful to:
- Review permits
- Review written policies and procedures
- Ask employees what they do and why they do it (if it is critical to your success or your company's compliance, it should be included on the compliance calendar)
3. Populate Your Compliance Calendar
Once you know what has to happen for your organization to stay in compliance, that information needs to be added to your compliance calendar, so that it becomes part of your institutional knowledge.
4. Implement Your Compliance Calendar
After your compliance calendar has been completed, it is time to roll it out to your organization. To ensure success, you'll need to:
- Provide training on how to access the compliance calendar, how to complete a task, etc.
- Implement recurring reminders. If the system you selected is able to send out automatic emails, turn this functionality on. If not, set up a schedule for when employees should check the compliance calendar to review upcoming tasks and deadlines.
5. Maintain Your Compliance Calendar
For continued effectiveness, compliance calendars need to be reviewed and updated:
- At least annually
- When personnel or job responsibilities change
- When regulatory or compliance requirements change
- When new permits are issued
- When new processes or equipment are added
At Ecesis, we have Compliance Calendar Software that is easy to implement, learn, and use. For more information or to schedule a free trial of our software, please call (720) 547-5102 or click the button below.
