302? 404? Everything You Need to Know About Sarbanes-Oxley

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, commonly referred to as SOX, was designed with the goal of implementing accounting and disclosure requirements that increase transparency in corporate governance and financial reporting with a formalized system of internal checks and balances.

Effective in 2006, all publicly-traded companies in the United States, including all wholly-owned subsidiaries and all publicly-traded non-US companies doing in business in the US, are required to implement and report internal accounting controls to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for compliance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In addition, certain provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley also apply to privately-held companies that are preparing for their initial public offering (IPO).

Formal penalties for non-compliance with SOX can include:
  • Fines
  • Removal from listings on public stock exchanges
  • Invalidation of Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance policies

CEOs and CFOs who willfully submit an incorrect certification to a SOX compliance audit can face fines of up to $5 million and up to 20 years in jail.

Each system that contributes to financial reports and disclosures must be monitored and tracked with audit trails in order to comply with SOX regulations. Under the SOX law, organizations must exercise tight control over financial reports and transactions, including document controls, disclosure methods and executives’ approval.

An effective Content Services Platform/Digital Document Management solution contains powerful organizational tools that elevate any organization’s compliance program with the ability to manage data with workflow automation, a complete audit trail, and security features.

There are two sections of the SOX Act which have clear implications for data management, audit trail reporting and security:

Section 302 Corporate Responsibility for Financial Reports:

This section relates to a company’s financial reporting. The act requires a company’s CEO and CFO to personally certify that all records are complete and accurate. Specifically, they must confirm that they accept personal responsibility for all internal controls and have reviewed these controls in the past 90 days.

Section 404 Management Assessment of Internal Controls:

This section states that annual disclosures and quarterly updates must be provided to shareholders and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It stipulates further requirements for the monitoring and maintenance of internal controls related to the company’s accounting and financials. It requires businesses to have an annual audit of these controls performed by an outside firm. This audit assesses the effectiveness of all internal controls and reports its findings back directly to the SEC.

Automating AP Processes Enables Compliance with SOX

Organizations are faced with regulations that require them to control information, retain it and make it accessible to external auditors. Three key areas that can help support standardized, secure, internal controls for business processes include; Digital document management, automated workflows and record retention solutions implemented to ensure compliance procedures are consistently followed and can be easily tracked and audited.

An effective Content Services Platform/Digital Document Management solution provides internal controls with clear visibility into the network with complete oversight and control of secure access to the network, applications, databases, and sensitive data. Automation of internal [AP] processes enforces standardized operating procedures that ensure data authenticity, integrity, compliance and retention. With a verifiable audit trail, staff can document every step to auditors and provide them with detailed reports that demonstrate changes made to information systems can be detected, corrections verified, and variances explained.

A centralized solution allows organizations to organize, and maintain records on these automated processes in a secure, dynamic environment. In addition, it eases the cost and burden of manually monitoring systems and provides enhanced reports to evaluate procedures and ensure consistent and repeatable activities and processes.

In addition to ensuring that your organization passes external compliance audits for Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and other industry-specific regulations, you can save time and resources by implementing document management best practices. An optimized digital document management solution can help your organization comply with SOX with monitored, logged and audited activities including; information access, login, network, user, account and database activity.

Data Management with Workflow Automation
  • Replace manual processes and provide a documented audit trail for the flow of information and documents.
  • Track all activity with automated workflow functionality that enables you to electronically match and route invoices for approval, review and exceptions resolution and post to ERP system.
  • Capture, index and analyze all electronic data, including report data from print streams and items within workflows.
  • Enable robust search and retrieval of documents and transactions with multiple indexing capabilities.
  • Automate document capture, classification and coding to reduce input errors.
  • Ensure processes and procedures are followed and reports are available to perform self-auditing checks for internal compliance.
  • Support version control for documents which allows visibility into when and who accessed which files, and the actions taken.
  • Granular content-type and class-level access control with feature and function permissions.

Compliance and Record Retention
  • Automate life cycle management to process records and record folders according to a life cycle, through creation, retrieval, storage, hold status and final disposition with automatic email notification to an approver before deletion.
  • Create custom file and folder structure and configure retention rules specific to the organization and in full compliance with government or industry regulations to prevent inappropriate or premature file deletion.
  • Gives you instant, comprehensive visibility into your repository, workflows and record retention activity to quickly generate reports of records currently eligible for cutoff, transfer, and destruction dispositions, and vital record review or records on hold.
  • Simplify the audit process, centralize your documents, images, photos, emails, voice files, faxes, and other documents in a fully searchable repository, or point to their location in other applications for fast, easy retrieval.
  • Demonstrate controls that reflect standards set by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
  • Robust search and retrieval functionality — information is instantly available in search results.

Security and Audit Trail 
  • Role based access controls — defined access rights and permissions for individual users, groups and roles to information assets within the system and assignment of privileges, such as viewing, editing, printing and downloading, which restrict unauthorized activity.
  • Tracks information access, login, users, network, applications, database activity and access to sensitive data with reporting to perform self-auditing checks for internal compliance.
  • Security classification hierarchy with segregation of duties and reports showing who handled, routed, approved and processed transactions.
  • Unchangeable audit log — all key usage is recorded and unchangeable including logging and auditing of permission and security changes.
  • Preserve data in its purest form — access to historical data for audit and forensic requirements and evidentiary presentation.
  • Tracks unauthorized modifications of data and configurations — automatically flags altered database files so that internal and external auditors can be confident they are viewing accurate and complete information

Key Benefits of AP Automation
  • Mitigate Risk and Avoid Noncompliance Fines
  • Prevent Fraud
  • Improve Visibility, Efficiency and Profitability
  • Develop Accurate Financial Reporting
  • Comply with Applicable Federal, State, Local Laws and Business Rules
  • Access to Historical Data for Audit and Forensic Activities
  • Improved Decision Making
  • Leverage AP Staff Resources on Higher–value Activities
  • Reduce Cost of AP Processes and Compliance
  • Capture Available Early Pay Discounts
  • Automating Document Retention and Destruction
  • Reducing the Costs of Long-term Data Preservation
  • Eliminating the Costs of Offsite Storage
  • Lowering the Costs of In-house Storage

A holistic Content Services Platform with digital document management, automated workflows, record retention and security controls along with the alignment of people, processes, and policy controls, helps enable organizations to satisfy the requirements for sections 302 and 404 and meet SOX requirements.

By leveraging existing technology and tools, organizations can identify, assess, and report on the status and security of financial-related processes and information, and can provide auditors with tangible evidence of their information security initiatives.

With a verifiable audit trail, staff can then document every step to auditors or assessors and provide them with detailed reports that demonstrate changes made to information systems can be detected, corrections verified, and anomalies explained.

By implementing effective, comprehensive policies and procedures for establishing accountability and consistent data collection, retention, and reporting practices, your organization can mitigate risk and enhance compliance for SOX Sections 302 and 404 requirements and keep costs under control.

Explore More

Get work done faster and gain new insights into finances with powerful document management and business process automation. Explore Laserfiche’s solutions for Accounting and Finance.

Click here to view the complete H.R. 3763 Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 / text.

MSIG Puts Customers First in Claims Processing

The focus on customer experience was one of the core drivers in the process automation strategy for MSIG Hong Kong (MSIG), embracing customer needs in light of a shifting technological landscape and major disruptions. The company sought to phase out legacy systems and increase efficiency for its claims submission service, requiring a highly adaptable content services tool to do so.

Since implementing Laserfiche for claims in 10 different product lines, the MSIG claims team can now manage all claims in a centralized platform, allowing staff to focus on more important claim assessment tasks. By investing in digital transformation for the organization’s EASY Claims System, MSIG has been able to differentiate itself in Hong Kong’s highly competitive insurance industry. The organization’s EASY Claims system has received wide recognition in Asia’s insurance landscape, as well as won MSIG a number of industry awards. In 2019, the company won a Laserfiche Run Smarter Award; in 2024, MSIG earned the Laserfiche Run Smarter Award for Best Program ROI.

“Laserfiche is the catalyst for our users and customers to improve their day-to-day work experiences,” said Alan Yue, Senior Vice President of Information Technology at MSIG.

Seeking a means to respond to customer needs and enable staff to transition to remote working arrangements, Laserfiche has also helped MSIG successfully achieve business continuity, maintaining a high level of operational efficiency and customer service through dedicated portals.

A Claims Processing System Made EASY

Providing general insurance solutions for more than 100 years, MSIG Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd. has a history of combining global and local best practices in the organization’s customer-focused approach, believing that the relationship between insurance companies and customers should be based on trust. This commitment to customers led the organization to reassess its reliance on manual legacy systems for process management. MSIG recognized that customers are embracing more digital solutions, presenting an opportunity to make correspondence with clients more seamless and efficient, as well as reengineer the IT infrastructure.

“As a core part of our business, the claims system is one of the most important parts of the MSIG customer journey,” Yue said. “We realized that the entire process was actually quite paper-driven, making it the perfect candidate to digitalize and automate.”

MSIG initiated a business transformation program known internally as “Transformer” in 2017. Laserfiche was chosen as MSIG’s core digital transformation solution with the goal of automating manual and paper-based core business processes, targeting the customer claims submission platform as a starting point. Eventually named EASY Claims, the system improved both operational efficiency and service with a focus on the customer experience. The platform supports self-service submissions, as well as provides transparency of claims status to MSIG customers.

Within the first three months of launch, EASY Claims significantly improved efficiency at MSIG, automating over 100,000 tasks that previously required manual user input. Additionally, the number of clients submitting claims via the new system has increased by up to 80%. This has streamlined and simplified the claims submission process for customers, aligning with shifting technological expectations and improving response times.

The EASY Claims system also improved the experience for staff processing customer submissions. Originally, acknowledging a newly submitted claim could take two days. Today, it takes fewer than 15 minutes. This translates to a savings of more than 200 work days a year for the claims processing staff organization-wide. The property claims management team specifically was able to save 57 days a year through the EASY Claims system.

The initiative has created the opportunity for ongoing optimization. In 2022, MSIG introduced Zero Touch for Helper insurance plan claims. Zero Touch is MSIG’s digital solution for claims assessment, enabling customers to submit their claims form, supporting documents and contact details online. The system then checks the customer’s claims history, policy validity and claim payment amount. For eligible clinical or dental expenses claims, payments are settled in just two working days. MSIG is planning to add Zero Touch to more products, creating a more seamless customer experience across product lines.

Along with facilitating claims submission for customers and acknowledgement in the backend, the automated process has helped save 12 days a year during the claims finalization stage. In terms of improved staff efficiency, MSIG has increased overall productivity by 1.4 times per hiring cycle within the Claims department alone. As a team with a significant amount of customer facetime and interaction, the Claims department’s increased productivity has improved both employee and customer experience.

In 2022, MSIG Hong Kong honored over HK$356 million, with a claims ratio of 92.9%, seeing a consistent increase for three consecutive years. The organization also reduced the number of complaints received by 50% in two years.

As the platform that powers the EASY Claims system, Laserfiche has helped to ensure a high level of customer service and a user-friendly, customer-oriented interface. The platform removes friction from the process of filing a claim, with intuitive features such as a “save-as-draft” function that enables customers to retrieve incomplete forms at any time using an email link, and smart suggestions that provide basic information and documents that customers will need to make a claim before they fill out the form. Customers can also receive SMS messages, email confirmations and tracking numbers to stay informed of the status of their claims.

“Claims is only the beginning of our digital transformation. Since implementing Laserfiche, we are looking at expanding to multiple channels, underwriting teams and core business processes to digitize and automate as well,” said Yue.

Investing in the Future

Recognizing that the insurance industry has historically relied on legacy processes, MSIG looked to digitize its claim service, rebuilding it to address both staff and client needs. With core business processes established between 10 to 20 years prior, the firm had an intimate knowledge of its users’ needs, refreshing a part of its business that focused heavily on customer and employee input. Working with Laserfiche to develop a nimble IT strategy, MSIG has been able to improve the customer and back-end experience within the claims process without disrupting day-to-day operations.
“Both business and technology landscapes have experienced so much rapid change and development,” said Yue. “These are the primary driver for MSIG’s digital transformation program, equipping us to anticipate our future needs as well as our customer expectations.”

Experiencing unprecedented and unanticipated changes in 2020, the EASY Claims System has proven itself to be highly adaptable, highlighting the need for digital transformation at MSIG. With claims as an obvious starting point, MSIG is looking to expand Laserfiche to other departments and processes. The organization is preparing to introduce claims process tracking for customers, allowing customers to track their claims in real time through the MSIG app or website — further enhancing visibility and continuing to build trust with customers.

“We now have a way to differentiate ourselves within Hong Kong’s insurance marketplace,” said Yue. “Laserfiche has helped users throughout the company to identify opportunities to improve day-to-day work. The sky is the limit.”

To learn more about how Laserfiche drives digital transformation, schedule a consultation today.

Bank of China Eliminated 90% of Paper Usage and Simplified Compliance Processes

The Bank of China uses Laserfiche to automate workflows, meet compliance requirements and take a modern approach to banking operations.

Transcript

The Bank of China as a group was founded in 1912 and is the second oldest bank that is still in existence. The bank is the fifth largest bank by capital in the world as of this year. And we are proud to be the most globally oriented. We have over 500 employees and our assets is over $50 billion. The bank started using Laserfiche over 10 years ago and at first, Laserfiche was used as solely a storage for old bank document files as a sort of a hard drive — it’s been over 10 years.

And when I first joined the bank about four years ago, I started looking more into the other services offered by Laserfiche and stumbled into Laserfiche’s offerings that were a lot more than just a repository for documentation management — more process management, workflow management. So that’s where I submitted the idea of paperless to the bank. We got rid of 90% of paper and also helped improve 30% of the manual work and more importantly, Laserfiche also help us meet a lot of regulatory compliance requirements.

My favorite part of Laserfiche I think is the people. Laserfiche helped the bank catch up about 15 years that we were lagging behind, especially when we are talking about paperless, you know, automating manual work. I’m Frank Chen and I’m using Laserfiche to empower Bank of China.

Explore additional insights on the Laserfiche banking solutions page: https://www.laserfiche.com/solutions/financial-services/banks-and-credit-unions/

Glasgow Credit Union Digitally Transforms the Member Experience and Supports Business Resilience

Glasgow Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in Europe, serving the greater Glasgow area with a service scope focusing on savings and loans. Experiencing steady growth, the organization used Laserfiche to power a number of digital transformation initiatives aimed at reducing reliance on manual processes and ensuring that the organization could scale while maintaining the high-quality customer experience for which the credit union is known.

The organization initially implemented Laserfiche in 2016 as a document management platform, integrating it with Glasgow’s CRM system to improve access to information for customers and employees. Since then, Laserfiche has helped achieve business process automation to digitize and streamline loan processing. With a completely automated lending platform, clients are offered more competitive lending services, enabling customers to complete loan approvals in under an hour.

“Laserfiche is quite central to all we do,” said Paul McFarlane, chief technology officer at Glasgow Credit Union.

Additionally, Glasgow Credit Union’s digital initiatives have supported business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling the organization to rapidly pivot to more digitally focused services. This aligns with expansion and scalability needs: Since implementing Laserfiche, membership has expanded to around 55,000 customers, representing nearly GBP 200 million (US$277 million*) in assets.

A Customer-Focused, Streamlined Lending Process

Founded in 1989, Glasgow Credit Union has grown substantially over the past four decades but its aim has remained the same: helping members and ensuring they have access to friendly, professional financial services that meet their needs. As member expectations have evolved, the credit union has prioritized digital transformation to provide the best possible member experience.

“It’s not just us, but in our sector, we didn’t have a lot of scalability in a lot of our processes,” McFarlane said. “So our application journey, specifically to onboard a member and apply for a loan, was quite a cumbersome process because it was paper-heavy and there was a lot of manual tasks. … There was no automation. Initially there were no web services as well.”

Using Laserfiche, the organization created an automated lending platform which digitized and centralized loan applications, increasing accessibility of information for staff; and ultimately accelerated loan processing for clients. With the understanding that an easy and fast new member onboarding is fundamental to a member’s experience, the credit union also digitized and streamlined the member onboarding process by integrating Laserfiche with its existing financial management application, Curtains, along with DocuSign. New members can now join the credit union and apply for funds within 15 minutes — a process that used to take up to three days.

With an eye toward enhancing the full client experience, Glasgow Credit Union also launched an initiative to streamline the borrowing process. This required as fast a turnaround as possible for customer loans to be issued once their loan applications were accepted. Previously handling around 24,000 loan agreements each year, the company manually processed and archived 120,000 sheets of paper. Customers were manually notified by staff at each stage of the loan journey, resulting in 10,000 resource hours each year.

“The feedback from members was phenomenal — the speed, the efficiency, the fact that we didn’t have to wait for the post to deliver the paper, and how easy it was to do business with us after we had improved those processes,” said McFarlane.

The Glasgow Credit Union team re-engineered and automated the loan agreement process so that loans could be completed in under an hour rather than several days. Approximately 80% of applications were completed digitally prior to the pandemic. COVID-19 increased reliance on digital processes, however, and today, nearly all loan applications are now submitted and processed in a digital manner, benefiting both clients and staff in terms of efficiency and turnaround.

“Our work with Laserfiche wasn’t about preparing for something like COVID — I don’t think anybody was preparing for something like COVID,” McFarlane explained. “Our decision to digitalize was all about efficiency; it was about speed and providing a better, slicker service to our members. But if we hadn’t done that, it would have been a different conversation that we’re having today.”

Improving the Customer Journey

Digitization has also benefited Glasgow Credit Union members by providing the ability to initiate joining and borrowing processes even after office business hours. An automated self-serve channel allows the processes to be kicked off without staff supervision. After initiating an application process, Laserfiche integrations with third party applications — DocuSign, Curtains, and a bespoke front-end platform — seamlessly drive the loan application process through a workflow from the initial application stage to final pay out.

Documents are delivered back to customers for signing, bringing them to the next application stage. The automated process saves more than 150 employee hours each week. Employees have reclaimed this time to focus on other parts of the business, expanding operational capacity.

“We’ve got Laserfiche integrated with our core technologies, so users can view documents through our front-end that are pulled from the Laserfiche platform, without having to open up separate applications,” said McFarlane. “Employees find it quite easy that they’re not having to work across multiple platforms.”

Underlying Glasgow Credit Union’s integration and process automation initiatives, the organization has robust records management practices — a critical element to success in the financial services industry. Laserfiche has supported the organization’s information governance, enabling the credit union to manage the full life cycle of documents and supporting compliance with European data protection regulations.

During the first year after deploying Laserfiche, Glasgow Credit Union experienced an income growth exceeding GBP 1 million (US$1.31 million*), as well as a GBP 40 million (US$52.44 million*) increase in loan volumes from 2017 to 2018. Followed by this business growth, the credit union’s team now feels they have an infinite operational capacity for loan processing. After four years, Glasgow Credit Union has achieved ROI equating to their original investment in the Laserfiche platform. Factoring in resource savings and improved customer journey times, the credit union has a scalable model that has resulted in significant growth in business.

As a central, business-critical software solution, Laserfiche has helped Glasgow Credit Union with existing scalability and project prioritization goals, as well as helped to respond to customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond member onboarding and loan applications, the organization is looking to implement Laserfiche in a similar capacity in mortgage applications and other business units.

“I’m amazed at the simplicity of integrating Laserfiche with our existing processes and other pieces of business-critical technology,” said McFarlane. “Our vision is to be the lender of choice within our marketplace in Glasgow – Laserfiche has helped us achieve that.”

*USD conversion subject to current exchange rate.

Find out more about how Laserfiche helps to transform credit unions here.

Discover the benefits of Laserfiche with a Laserfiche demo today.

Hitachi Capital FSI Improves Risk Management and Automates Key Processes

Winner of the Laserfiche Run Smarter® Award for its outstanding demonstration of enterprise-wide change management.

“In the modern business landscape, keeping pace with workplace trends and rapidly evolving technology gives organizations a competitive edge,” said Chris Wacker, CEO of Laserfiche. “With its Laserfiche initiative, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions gives its employees the tools and knowledge they need to play larger role in their company’s success.”

As a division of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions has been funding cars and commercial vehicles in the UK for more than 30 years. The organization used Laserfiche to automate many internal functions, including lease/proposal processing and records management. The cross-departmental initiative improved risk management while eliminating many manual tasks for staff, reducing the time to complete key processes, such as purchasing, from over a week to just minutes.

“Clear goals, strategic vision and the right technology enabled our organization to increase efficiency by an estimated 2,600 percent,” said Eamon O’Brien, Information Systems Configuration Manager at Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC. “We’re honored to be recognized for the initiative that’s had a huge impact on our business’s success and positions us to meet our growth targets.”

Royal London FSI (Insurance)

In its efforts to move to a digital-first environment, find out how Royal London automated, optimized and transformed their organization

Digital Transformation is the Key to Banking Beyond Borders!

Dakotaland Federal Credit Union Drives Innovation and Efficiency by Automating Nearly 250 Workflows and 100 Forms

The fast-changing economic landscape of the credit union industry has highlighted the importance for firms to leverage technology to meet customer needs.

Many credit unions that rely on legacy systems built around proprietary technology and manual processes have found it challenging to maintain and attract new members and stay ahead of the competition. Committed to putting its members first and continuously improving its service offerings, Dakotaland Federal Credit Union (“Dakotaland”) — a full-service, not-for-profit financial cooperative — has challenged the status quo, transforming traditional paper-based workflows to digitally transform its business. In 2004, the firm implemented a Laserfiche electronic document management system and has since expanded its use across its departments, while continuing to explore new ways to drive efficiency throughout the organization.

Dakotaland started with just 10 members in Huron, South Dakota, in 1935. In 2020, celebrating its 85th anniversary, the firm spans across 11 branches and serves nearly 40,000 members in 46 states. This growth further underscored the need to build more automated business processes in order to streamline information sharing and accelerate collaboration. “With Laserfiche, we can develop and assign tasks regardless of location, share that information easily across branches and automate notifications, and know exactly where we are in the process,” said Gina Hansen, vice president of product development at Dakotaland.

Additionally, increased regulatory burden, and a growing expectation of incorporating advanced technology solutions, have all presented opportunities for Dakotaland to acquire other small institutions to help these firms align their services with the evolving industry landscape. With the help of Laserfiche’s customizable technology solutions, Dakotaland has been able to continue providing the best possible service to its current member base while also growing its business.

Boosting Operational Efficiency Firm-wide With Electronic Document Management

Before implementing Laserfiche, Dakotaland’s information storage took the form of five rooms stacked with filing cabinets. The team realized it needed to store documents electronically to save space and avert document loss, while addressing recordkeeping requirements enforced by different regulatory bodies. These needs led Dakotaland to select Laserfiche for its robust electronic records management and automated workflow capabilities.

“Regulators and examiners expect us to document everything, requiring us to show proof of the firm’s work,” Hansen said. “Laserfiche helped us present all our data — including all mandatory details — in a format that leaves no room for error.”

The Laserfiche implementation enabled Dakotaland to digitize its records, while preserving record integrity and simplifying compliance processes. The efficiency driven by the Laserfiche initiative spurred the expansion of Laserfiche’s use in other projects aimed at improving the end-user experience and creating a stronger operational infrastructure across departments, including human resources, IT, insurance, mortgage, and more.

“Today, we heavily rely on Laserfiche for almost all our day-to-day operations, automating nearly 250 running workflows and almost 100 active forms processes,” Hansen said. “I do not believe there is any part of our organization that is not using Laserfiche in some capacity. While some forms and workflows are simple routing to logically file documents, others are utilizing the report feature to provide tracking ability, and some automate more complex processes such as our new hire or vendor management tracking process.”

Business Advancements Driven by Human Resource Innovation

While all departments within Dakotaland use Laserfiche in some shape or form, one department that has harnessed the great values of digital transformation is human resources.

Multiple teams across different departments are impacted whenever an employee is hired or terminated, or moves to a new department. To keep employees and teams informed, Dakotaland used Laserfiche to create an end-to-end solution to process employee and candidate records, and combat information loss. The platform streamlines the workflow through a new-hire checklist, comprising of analyzing applications, processing forms, sharing the database with the supervisors, helping them classify the applications, and developing a comprehensive pool of interview candidates. By automating the HR processes, the firm is able to save countless hours — allowing teams across a multitude of departments to focus on more client-facing services that require a human touch.

Most recently, the firm also used Laserfiche to automate a key process for its now-virtual Employee Enrichment Day — a team-building program, where the firm engages in activities that enhance staff connection and give employees an opportunity to learn about each other. During this day, the team works on a spotlight commemoration developed and assigned to the staff in Laserfiche Forms with questions directed to the respective personalities of the employees. The answers then develop a quiz that goes back to all employees, and within that process, the team uses Forms to analyze and file the answers. Automating the process with Laserfiche saves the firm around 10 to 15 hours, analyzing the scores of more than 160 employees in one day.

Technology Guiding the “New Normal”

COVID-19 has compelled firms across different industries to challenge their technological capacities and reevaluate their resources. When the pandemic first hit, more than 30 team members at Dakotaland were deployed to work remotely within a week — enabling the firm to fully rely on its digital repository of data and its automated workflows. The seamless transition enforced business continuity at Dakotaland, allowing for uninterrupted services to its members, even in an unpredictable environment.

One of the biggest hurdles to adopting a new system can be identifying areas that need improvement and processes that can be streamlined. The management at Dakotaland takes pride in driving a thorough observation across the firm to determine loopholes and encourage innovation that can help avoid system failures and boost operational competency. With support from the executive team, the firm leverages its Laserfiche champions, who lead the technology shift across different teams and help them adopt new solutions. These champions play a critical role in training employees about the new processes and identifying unique ways in which Laserfiche can be customized to further enhance productivity and maximize the firm’s investment in Laserfiche technology.

“There are always new challenges and concerns that the credit union industry has to address,” Hansen said. “However, our confidence in Laserfiche’s capacity has encouraged us to identify and resolve any technology challenges upfront and continue to enhance our competitive edge in the industry. I am excited to see what innovation is in store for our collaboration and how we can collectively revolutionize the credit union space.”

Learn more about how banks and credit unions use Laserfiche to transform back office operations, reduce the cost and complexity of compliance, and improve the employee and customer experience.

New Account Opening in 30 Minutes

SITUATION

• New account opening process depended on paper forms and direct mail
• Legacy new account opening process could take from three to seven days
• Difficulty tracking activities taken on documents resulted in challenges with audit preparation

SOLUTION

• Accelerated new account opening process from one week down to 30 minutes
• Simplified audit preparation
• 40,000 hours of annual time savings

An independent investment advisory firm that provides financial consulting services to more than 4,000 households with approximately $2 billion in assets under management needed a way to expedite client services.

The firm sought out document management technology to automate its new account opening process. The legacy process was paper-based, requiring the firm to prepare stacks of paper forms and individually mail them between advisors, a client service representative, the firm’s cashiering department, the client and the custodian. This typically took three to seven days and often delayed important client transactions.

“New account documents are extremely time sensitive. At times, we would have to interrupt advisors during meetings to get a signature,” said the firm’s IT director. “We were looking for a paperless system with efficient workflow, SEC and FINRA compliance and a strong integration capability.”

Accelerating New Account Opening from a Week to 30 Minutes

After a demonstration of Laserfiche software, the firm’s IT team felt that Laserfiche’s configurable workflow tools could easily address their operational needs.

To automate account opening, the firm integrated Laserfiche with DocuSign, its Tamarac customer relationship management (CRM) system and Laser App. By integrating these systems, client paperwork can be reviewed, signed and finalized in under half an hour:
  • Laserfiche pulls the new client contact record from Tamarac CRM and routes it to Laser App.
  • Laser App automatically populates an electronic form with the client’s account information.
  • The system automatically identifies who should receive the form next and routes it to the client service representative for review.
  • The applicable advisors electronically sign the form using DocuSign.
  • The custodian and client each receive a copy of the form for final sign-off.
New Account Opening in 30 Minutes

Compared to the legacy system, this new process has generated a week in time savings. The process is not only quick, but enhances personnel accountability from start to finish.”

“If a document that requires review sits for more than 24 hours, the system emails a reminder to the responsible person,” said the IT director. “If the same document sits for more than 72 hours, the system emails that person’s boss.”

Creating Comprehensive SEC and FINRA Compliance

Improving operations was only part of the firm’s information management overhaul. The firm also needed comprehensive compliance functionality to meet the strict standards of its industry.

“The SEC and FINRA require that firms use a certain type of document management technology, such as unalterable database software,” said the IT director. “Our research showed that Laserfiche’s technology is not only the most flexible, but also offers the option to use numerous add-on features.”

 New Account Opening in 30 Minutes

One feature that simplifies audit preparation is Laserfiche’s event log capability, which tracks the creation, deletion and modification of documents.”

“Our system logs every possible interaction with a document,” said the IT director. “Even if a document is deleted, it is still available in the Laserfiche repository and we can see who modified it.”

The firm’s DocuSign integration also verifies the identity of a document’s signer. Detailed security questions, social security verification and access code protection maintain the integrity of client transactions and prevent fraud.

 New Account Opening in 30 Minutes

“It’s pretty astounding when you consider the time savings,” said the IT director. “We estimate that Laserfiche saves us up to one hour per document. “Given the firm’s estimated average of 165 documents processed per day, Laserfiche produces an annual time savings of roughly 41,415 hours.”

First Choice Bank Leverages Technology to Be First in Speed, Service, and Solutions

While the community banking industry faces competitive pressures from larger institutions, First Choice Bank has found success in remaining true to its mission — to be “First in Speed, Service, and Solutions” for the communities it serves.

First Choice prides itself on its responsiveness, deep understanding of client needs and exceptional customer experience. These priorities have driven digital transformation across the organization, including the implementation of a Laserfiche electronic records management solution. Having used Laserfiche for almost six years, the bank has centralized and standardized records, preserved record integrity, and automated routine tasks such as classifying records so that employees can reclaim time for customer service. As a result, First Choice has seen greater efficiencies, a more modern, responsive customer and employee experience, and a stronger IT infrastructure upon which to build more automated business processes in order to support the bank’s strategic imperatives.

“In this ever-changing world, we’re given the opportunity to really open up people’s minds to the possibilities of leveraging technology — and what you can miss out on and what you lose without it,” said First Choice Bank EVP, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Commercial Banking Lorraine Lee. “Change and technology are at the forefront of business progress, particularly in the increasingly competitive market in which community banks, like ours, operate — an industry that has not historically embraced technological change. We need to find the right solutions that work for our organization – solutions that will allow us to flexibly pivot as the world changes so that we can continue to effectively service our clients.”

Electronic Records Management: Accelerating Service Delivery and Simplifying Compliance

First Choice Bank, headquartered in Cerritos, California, has served its community since its founding in 2005. With a diverse client base of individuals and commercial clients, First Choice is a leading provider of commercial and industrial loans, loans to small businesses and other financial services that enable customers to grow, maintain strength and reach their financial goals.

As the bank grew, the First Choice team recognized the need for technology that would support staff to easily search and retrieve documents and information, while enabling the organization to set up safeguards and controls to protect client data and show compliance with regulatory requirements. First Choice worked with the Laserfiche team to implement a Laserfiche electronic records management system and build out robust processes that are scalable as needs change.

“Community banking runs on human interactions and communication, which require time and commitment,” Lee said. “We believe that technology can support us in what we need to do to serve our clients efficiently. It allows our talent to focus on more of the important things that require communication with our customers, rather than spending a lot of time performing tasks that technology can take care of.”

In addition to making client information easier to find and use, Laserfiche electronic records management system has enhanced information governance and facilitated seamless audits. In 2018, First Choice acquired another organization adding six branches with expanded geographic footprint and further realized the value of electronic records management in bringing new employees and departments into First Choice’s operations and processes.

“We get a lot of compliments from auditors and examiners about how well our files are organized — which is a huge testament to how the platform adds value to our business proposition. With the help of Laserfiche automated workflows, we are able to protect the integrity of the files — taking out any element of human error or inconsistency, so our staff can stay focused on our clients.”

—First Choice Bank EVP, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Commercial Banking Lorraine Lee.

Keeping Business Moving

Most recently, First Choice saw the benefits of the Laserfiche initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which about 70% of bank employees shifted to work from home. Using Laserfiche to access loan files and other documents has enabled the bank to continue operating with minimal disruption.

At the same time, the bank saw an influx of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications from business owners looking to keep employees on payroll despite revenue losses due to the pandemic. Having immediate access to client information in their time of need has been an invaluable benefit, according to Lee.

“You see on the news that people call larger banks and they can’t get a response,” Lee said. “At community banks, we gain business by leveraging our strong asset — relationship banking — by striving for a high level of responsiveness and personal attention. When a client asks for information, we can quickly retrieve it from Laserfiche and tell them what this may mean for them, what the terms are, and give them copies of documents they need. All our clients can talk to someone individually at the bank and have their concerns addressed. In a time of uncertainty, that is really important.”

Supporting a People-First Approach with Tech

First Choice is always exploring new ways to digitally transform the organization with the goal of creating the best possible experience for clients and employees. Driven by that commitment, the team attends the annual Laserfiche Empower Conference to learn about Laserfiche’s ever-evolving capabilities and how to best implement new features and solutions.

In the coming years, First Choice plans to expand its use of Laserfiche into areas such as compliance, loan processing and loan servicing — where Laserfiche electronic forms and business process automation will assist the bank in streamlining legacy processes that are currently driven by paper forms and manual tasks.

“We want to leverage technology as much as possible, and be as efficient as possible in service of our community,” Lee said. “As a community bank, we’re very much a people business. Laserfiche is empowering us to stay true to our values while delivering top-notch service to our clients.”

Simplify audits and reclaim time to for customer service: Learn more about digitizing, standardizing and automating your records management with our free eBook, “The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Records Management.”