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from MinuteBox
Many industries have wrestled with the question of how to manage their corporate data. Do they opt for on-premises or cloud-based servers to host their data?
The legal industry has rapidly incorporated modern technology into its operations and procedures. Legal entity management systems are one example of modern technology that helps law firms centralize client data and minute book records in one convenient platform.
When entity management platforms were first developed, they were built using on-premises servers. In recent years, entity management systems have been developed on cloud-based servers. What’s the difference between the two server types, and how are cloud-based solutions more beneficial to the firms that use them?
What’s the difference between cloud-based and on-premises servers?
The most notable difference between on-premises and cloud-based servers is where they’re located. This is one of the biggest factors for any firm to consider when deciding how best to incorporate legal entity management technology into their workflows.
On-prem servers are operated on hardware infrastructure, and they’re located in a dedicated server room within the office. Cloud-based servers are managed by the internet provider and stored within the provider’s own offices. The servers are accessed through the cloud using web browsers or a third-party interface.
Top benefits of cloud-based entity management solutions
Now that the distinctions between the two servers are broken down, let’s break down the benefits of cloud-based servers and outline why they’re the best option to help law firms modernize legal entity management.
Cloud-based servers enhance accessibility to corporate data
During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work was how most organizations kept their businesses running in response to health-induced lockdowns. Though the health crisis has passed and the lockdowns have been lifted, the demand for flexibility and remote work remains as strong as ever. It’s not just employees who want more flexibility and autonomy; business leaders themselves want the ability to review corporate documents from remote locations.
Cloud-based servers give anyone with access to entity management platforms the flexibility to access corporate data from any location. Enhanced accessibility to minute book records makes it easier for firms to secure client sign-offs and approvals on legal documentation. It speeds up the process so that firms can be more proactive while supporting their clients.
Operating in the cloud creates efficiencies and boosts productivity
Using cloud-based entity management systems, all clerical and administrative tasks become more streamlined. Since the average law firm has fewer than three full-time employees, bandwidth is always a pressing challenge for firms.
Cloud-based entity management platforms have built-in templates to help firms streamline the creation, organization, and finalization of all minute book records and corporate documentation. Inputting minute book data takes only a few seconds, and the platform’s intuitiveness automatically transcribes that data into structured PDF-style documents.
These records are stored securely in the cloud, enabling anyone with administrative access to the platform to view the documents at their own convenience. Edits or revisions can be quickly completed, and the platform functions as a single source of truth for all members of the team. This makes entity management more efficient, more productive, and more scalable.
Law firms are not required to technically maintain cloud servers
Remember how we mentioned that on-premise servers are stored and managed within the office space itself? Someone on your team with technical expertise is required to manage those servers to avoid any malfunctions that risk crashing your operating systems. Since the average firm only has three people on staff, it’s highly unlikely that one or more of them will have the technical capabilities to manage those servers.
In contrast, cloud-based servers are managed by internet providers, who have entire departments of technical gurus on-hand to manage those servers. Your legal team can focus solely on entity management to support clients instead of worrying about the technical challenges that come with server maintenance.
Cloud-based servers add no additional costs to your office budget
Picking up on the previous thread, on-premise servers that are stored in your office space take up valuable office real estate. You need a dedicated server room for storage, requiring a larger office space that increases monthly office rental costs.
Cloud-based servers are not your firm’s to manage, which means you don’t need to account for that additional real estate when selecting an office for your firm. This is one of the main reasons a growing number of firms are choosing cloud-based server storage.
In a cloud data security report, which includes surveyed responses from 720 participants, 80% of respondents said they use cloud-based servers for data storage. Even more telling is that 61% of respondents said reducing office operating costs was one of the driving factors that led them to adopt cloud-based technology.
Legal teams operate faster and can devote more time to servicing clients
Since cloud-based servers create faster and more streamlined workflows, legal teams can spend less time on routine clerical or administrative tasks. Cloud-based entity management systems centralize any previous disparate operating systems and allow all members of the team to make faster decisions from one centralized platform.
As a result of this modern workflow, teams can devote more time to the work that ultimately matters: servicing clients and boosting Legal Recurring Revenue. Client satisfaction rates are one of the key metrics to earning repeat business from clients, as well as generating more referral business through word of mouth advertising from satisfied clients.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how global entities operate. Repetitive work tasks are being automated with AI solutions, creating more efficient ways for businesses to complete work in pursuit of growth. At the same time, there’s growing concern about how AI may push hard-working people out of their jobs due to a misguided sense of redundancy.
In the legal industry, these growing fears are not unwarranted. As outlined in an economic research report, co-authored by four leading analysts at Goldman Sachs, the legal industry will be heavily impacted by AI advancements. Tasks that are completed by paralegal professionals will become more automated as solutions like ChatGPT become more mainstream, placing paralegal job security at tremendous risk.
How will AI impact paralegal productivity?
According to the Goldman Sachs report, 44% of current work tasks in the US legal industry could be automated and supplemented by AI technology. Only office and administrative support jobs, at 46%, have greater exposure to AI automation. However, at many law firms, paralegals also serve as office managers, significantly increasing their potential exposure to the AI effect.
Data analysis of the European market suggests a similar pattern. According to the numbers, 45% of clerical support workers will be exposed to AI automation across Europe.
What common legal tasks will AI help automate?
The report provides a synopsis of how AI will be used to automate tasks in various industries. In regards to the legal community, the paralegal task at most risk of AI automation is the evaluation of minute book data to maintain compliance with regulatory standards.
Paralegals are often tasked with filing, sorting, reviewing, and administering minute book records for legal clients. The purpose behind the review and administration of those records is to ensure any actions undertaken by corporate clients are in compliance with legal, regulatory, and corporate standards.
The working theory put forward by Goldman Sachs is that AI will automate much of the work to maintain compliance. AI solutions will accelerate:
- The review of minute book data for accuracy
- Evaluate complex legal claims to maintain compliance
- Assist with the creation of legal motions to submit to officers of the court
What are the limitations of AI automation?
As much as there are proponents for AI automation, there are just as many people who challenge its effectiveness. The biggest criticism towards AI is the fact that the technology is incapable of being creative.
Anu Madgavkar, a partner with McKinsey Global Institute, says AI should never be considered as a full replacement for human intelligence. She encourages business entities, in the legal community or otherwise, to treat AI as a tool to improve human productivity. AI can automate data entry and summarization, but a human mind is still necessary to correctly interpret what the data is articulating.
“[Minute book] data is actually quite structured, very language-oriented, and therefore quite amenable to generative AI,” says Madgavkar. “It’s almost like a bit of a productivity boost that some of these occupations might get, because you can use tools that actually do this better.”
How entity management software rivals AI automation
The data suggests that the AI revolution is happening, and there are understandable concerns about the impact of this technology on job security. So what can paralegals do to ease their own concerns and stabilize their employment prospects?
One effective solution is to join a firm that embraces a different form of legal automation technology. Entity management software is designed to automate clerical and administrative tasks to help firms and their clients maintain compliance with the laws.
Similar to Madgavkar’s assessment of AI as a productivity tool, entity management software helps paralegals reduce the time they spend on clerical or administrative work. At most law firms, legal professionals spend only 2.5 hours in an 8 hour workday servicing clients. This is primarily because the amount of clerical work to accurately process client case files takes up such an abundance of valuable time.
Using entity management software, inputting and organizing minute book data can be completed in only a few minutes of time. Suddenly, several hours in each workday are open to billable time that’s used to serve clients and help grow the interests of the firm.
Entity management software helps paralegals grow revenue
By minimizing time spent on clerical and administrative tasks, paralegals can directly contribute to increasing billable hours invoiced by the firm. Their hourly rates will be less than trained legal professionals, but it’s still contributing a new stream of revenue to grow the firm.
As paralegals navigate through the AI impact on the legal industry, they would be wise to hitch their professional wagons to firms that embrace different forms of legal automation technology. By using those solutions to the best of their abilities, paralegals can prove their employment is an asset to the firm by directly contributing to Legal Recurring Revenue.
Subsidiaries are types of organizations that fall under the umbrella of another larger business entity, which is known as the parent company. Subsidiaries enable large organizations to expand their reach and influence into markets beyond the reach of their main corporate entity.
However, there are different types of subsidiary structures, primarily defined by the parent company’s ownership of the subsidiary business. Let’s break down those differences and the best practices to implement effective subsidiary management policies for various types of subsidiary-owned business structures.
What is a subsidiary company?
A subsidiary company is a business whose parent company owns more than half of the subsidiary voting shares. The parent company’s controlling interest can be as little as 50%, plus one, of the issued shares. Despite the controlling interest, the subsidiary is classified as a separate legal entity to the parent company. This distinction is important for liability, tax, and regulatory purposes.
While the parent company does have a controlling interest in the subsidiary’s issued shares, the degree of control over the subsidiary’s day to day operations varies by organization. Some parent companies choose to exercise significant control over the subsidiary, while others maintain a hands-off approach to overseeing subsidiary activities.
What is a wholly owned subsidiary company?
A wholly owned subsidiary company is, as the name implies, a business whose common shares are solely controlled by the parent company. There are no minority shareholders in a wholly owned subsidiary, and these organizations remain privately vested interests rather than publicly traded companies on stock exchanges.
Since the parent company has 100% ownership over the subsidiary, the degree of control and influence over a wholly owned subsidiary’s day to day operations is far more significant than subsidiaries where parent entities maintain a less controlling interest. However, under the law, the subsidiary is still classified as a separate legal entity with its own organizational structure that’s independent of the parent company.
Advantages of subsidiaries and wholly owned subsidiaries
Among the main reasons large organizations establish subsidiaries are for tax purposes and the ability to enter new markets. One is about reducing costs, while the other empowers businesses to expand revenue with fresh customers. In either case, the fundamental purpose is to look out for the best interests of the parent company.
Tax benefits from subsidiary profits/losses
There are tax benefits to holding subsidiary companies under your parent company’s corporate umbrella, particularly wholly owned subsidiaries. Any losses incurred by the subsidiary can be used against the profits generated by your parent firm. This helps reduce your annual tax liability and helps your business entity retain more profit.
If your entity takes full ownership of a wholly owned subsidiary through an acquisition, it can also help improve your corporate finances. The acquisition qualifies as a stock purchase that your tax and finance departments can record for tax purposes at the end of the fiscal year.
Automatic brand recognition in new markets
Sometimes, parent entities create subsidiaries to diversify their business holdings and create new brands that, on the surface, appear to be independent from the parent company. In other cases, large organizations will merge with or acquire other independent entities and fold them into their organizational structure as subsidiaries of their parent brand.
The advantage of the acquisition approach is that the subsidiary brand already has recognition and awareness in certain markets. There’s also a loyal customer base that creates effective word of mouth marketing to support greater expansion.
If your intent, as the parent company, is to acquire more market share in this new region, you don’t have to spend the time and money to build your brand identity in that market. The subsidiary already has that name recognition. Instead, you can reallocate the money you would spend on promotions of your parent entity to support further revenue expansion of the subsidiary. Over time, you can create a more established strategic relationship between the parent entity and the subsidiary, enabling scalable revenue growth for both businesses.
Greater synergy and increased efficiencies
Aligning the parent company and the subsidiary around processes and workflows regarding things like information technology, finance, taxation, reporting structures, etc. can streamline operational workflows between the two organizations. Efficient workflows reduce costs incurred by the business, which helps make your entity more profitable.
Use subsidiary management software for reporting and organizational structure
Whether it’s a subsidiary with majority ownership or a wholly owned subsidiary, every business requires detailed minute book records. Those records structure parent companies and their subsidiaries, aligning all branches of the corporation around concrete data that protects the interests of the institution.
Effective organizations, at the parent entity or subsidiary level, promote good governance, improve risk management, and compliance with regulatory laws. Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) policies form the backbone of any organization’s entity management procedures.
An intuitive subsidiary management system helps subsidiaries and wholly owned subsidiaries streamline their GRC policies. The benefit of tracking all governance and compliance policies and procedures on one centralized platform is that strategic decisions that impact the parent and subsidiary companies can be made in an efficient manner. All leaders can view the records on the platform as a single source of truth to help shape the future direction of the organization.
The platform has built-in templates for organizational charts, cap tables, and compliance modules to insert structured governance and reporting modules into key business decisions. If anyone has questions, the records show exactly who to contact for the answers. This is helpful for internal discussions, as well as with external auditors or regulators with questions about the parent company’s or subsidiary’s efforts to remain in compliance.
Key differences between subsidiaries and wholly owned subsidiaries
Understanding the structural differences helps determine which model best serves your organization’s goals:
| Factor | Subsidiary | Wholly Owned Subsidiary |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Parent owns more than 50% but less than 100% | Parent owns 100% of shares |
| Minority shareholders | Yes — other shareholders hold a stake | None — parent has sole ownership |
| Control | Majority control, but must consider minority interests | Full control over operations and decisions |
| Financial reporting | Consolidated, but minority interests reported separately | Fully consolidated with the parent entity |
| Decision-making speed | May require shareholder votes or consultations | Parent can make decisions unilaterally |
| Liability | Separate legal entity — parent generally not liable for subsidiary debts | Same protection — separate legal entity despite full ownership |
| Formation | Can be formed or acquired through partial stake purchase | Requires 100% acquisition or incorporation from scratch |
Disadvantages of wholly owned subsidiaries
While wholly owned subsidiaries provide maximum control, they also come with challenges:
- Higher acquisition cost — purchasing 100% of an entity costs significantly more than acquiring a majority stake, tying up more capital.
- Full risk exposure — without minority shareholders to share the burden, the parent entity absorbs all financial risk from the subsidiary’s operations.
- Regulatory complexity — operating wholly owned subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions means complying with each jurisdiction’s corporate governance, tax, and compliance requirements independently.
- Management overhead — full ownership means full responsibility for staffing, operations, and governance of the subsidiary, even when local management might be better suited.
- Transfer pricing scrutiny — transactions between a parent and its wholly owned subsidiary face heightened regulatory attention to ensure they occur at fair market value.
How a subsidiary becomes wholly owned
A subsidiary can become wholly owned through several paths:
- Direct incorporation — the parent creates a new entity from scratch and retains 100% ownership from formation.
- Full acquisition — the parent purchases all outstanding shares from existing shareholders, converting a partial subsidiary or independent company into a wholly owned subsidiary.
- Squeeze-out or buyback — the parent gradually acquires remaining minority shares through buyback programs or statutory squeeze-out provisions until it holds 100%.
Each approach has different legal, tax, and due diligence implications depending on the jurisdiction.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of a wholly owned subsidiary?
A well-known example is YouTube, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company). Google acquired YouTube in 2006, and Alphabet now holds 100% of its shares. YouTube operates as a separate legal entity with its own management team, but Alphabet has full control over major strategic and financial decisions.
Is an LLC a wholly owned subsidiary?
An LLC can function as a wholly owned subsidiary if a single parent entity holds 100% of the membership interests. This is known as a single-member LLC. The structure provides limited liability protection while allowing the parent to maintain full control. Many corporations use single-member LLCs as subsidiaries for specific business activities or to operate in particular jurisdictions.
What are the risks of wholly owned subsidiaries?
The primary risks include full financial exposure (no minority shareholders to share losses), higher capital requirements, regulatory complexity across jurisdictions, and the potential for “piercing the corporate veil” if the parent and subsidiary do not maintain proper separation in their governance and financial records.
Can a wholly owned subsidiary go public?
Yes. A parent company can take a wholly owned subsidiary public through an initial public offering (IPO) or a spinoff. In doing so, the parent sells a portion or all of its shares to the public, and the subsidiary becomes an independent publicly traded company or a majority-owned subsidiary with public shareholders.
Related Resources
Entity governance refers to the internal policies, procedures, and ethical principles that guide how a corporation conducts its business and serves its stakeholders. Compliance, on the other hand, is how a business entity aligns its operations with external laws and regulations. While both are essential to running a responsible organization, they serve different purposes and require different approaches.
Governance and compliance are two umbrella terms that are part of the global corporate lexicon. Many legal professionals use these terms interchangeably, but should they?
While there are many similarities between corporate governance and compliance, there are profound differences that distinguish the two. When discussing strategies to enforce governance and compliance, it’s important to understand the distinctions between these two frameworks.
Entity Governance vs. Compliance: Key Differences
Before diving deeper, here’s a quick comparison of the key differences:
- Source of rules: Governance comes from internal stakeholders (board, executives); Compliance comes from external authorities (governments, regulators)
- Nature: Governance is ethical and voluntary; Compliance is legal and mandatory
- Focus: Governance focuses on “how we choose to operate”; Compliance focuses on “what the law requires”
- Consequences: Governance failures damage reputation and stakeholder trust; Compliance failures result in fines, penalties, or criminal charges
- Timeframe: Governance supports long-term strategic planning; Compliance often requires immediate remediation when laws change
What is corporate governance?
Let’s begin by defining corporate governance. As a practice, corporate governance refers to a set of internal policies and procedures that ensure a legal entity conducts itself in appropriate fashions. The entity’s Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for setting the corporate governance framework.
Corporate governance frameworks compile a series of ethical principles that guide how an entity’s leaders conduct their business. The purpose of a corporate governance framework is to ensure business leaders act in the best interests of their stakeholders. An entity’s key stakeholders include the employees, the shareholders, the customers, the suppliers, and any creditors to whom the corporation owes outstanding debts.
Examples of how to implement a corporate governance framework can include things like:
- Protocols to enforce accountability across the organization
- Transparent communication policies throughout the entity
- Reporting controls to enforce governance protocols
What is corporate compliance?
Corporate compliance is how a business entity aligns its own operating procedures with the laws and regulations that apply to the corporation. Corporate compliance frameworks are formalized policies to:
- Prevent violations of those laws
- Train employees on regulatory processes
- Implement compliance procedures
- Monitor and report on any violations of compliance protocols
The purpose of a corporate compliance framework is to minimize risk and prevent legal liability that threatens the integrity of the corporation. Failure to abide by these protocols leaves your entity at risk of financial calamity, similar to the collapse and bankruptcy of FTX that led to numerous criminal charges against senior leaders of that business.
Governance Failure vs. Compliance Failure: A Real-World Example
To understand the practical difference between governance and compliance failures, consider this scenario:
Governance Failure Example: A corporation’s board of directors approves executive bonuses without proper disclosure to shareholders. The company followed all legal requirements for compensation disclosure, but the board failed to communicate transparently with investors about the bonus structure. While technically legal, this erodes shareholder trust and damages the company’s reputation. The stock price drops as investors lose confidence in leadership.
Compliance Failure Example: The same corporation fails to file its annual return with the corporate registry by the deadline. This is a clear violation of corporate law. The company faces late filing penalties, potential administrative dissolution, and the directors may be held personally liable for the oversight.
In both cases, the corporation suffers—but the nature and consequences differ significantly. Governance failures are about broken trust; compliance failures are about broken laws.
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How are governance and compliance similar?
Governance and compliance frameworks both refer to rules of conduct and controls on operational behaviours. The purpose of both frameworks is to establish guidelines to conduct business and hold everyone in the organization to a high set of standards.
Governance and compliance are also essential pieces of any entity’s Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) agenda. As a concept, GRC was first established by the Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG) in 2002. GRC is an integrated system that enables organizations to operate at principled performance.
How are governance and compliance different?
Now we get into the key distinctions between the two frameworks. Here’s what you need to know about the disparity between governance and compliance. These insights will help inform how GRC protocols are implemented throughout your organization.
Ethics vs. the law
The most important difference between governance and compliance is the legality of each framework. Corporate governance is a series of ethical principles that determine how key stakeholders of a business entity operate from day to day. Corporate compliance is bound by the law and jurisdictional regulations that enforce how a company must operate to avoid incurring criminal or financial penalties.
Internal policies vs. external mandates
This is another key distinction between governance and compliance. Corporate governance refers to the policies and procedures created within the organization by key stakeholders like executives, directors, or shareholders. These are internal rules and regulations that enforce business ethics and operational procedures across the organization.
Corporate compliance is a set of laws and regulations dictated by governments and regulatory bodies within the jurisdiction where an entity operates. Compliance guidelines are established by external authorities. The onus is on the entity to establish protocols that ensure the corporation remains in compliance with those established laws.
Optional vs. obligatory
Most legal entities choose to create corporate governance frameworks to abide by an ethical set of principles. However, corporate governance remains an optional policy. While it is highly common, there’s no mandate that forces companies to adopt corporate governance frameworks.
On the other hand, corporate compliance is a legally binding obligation. Corporations must follow the letter of the law in order to conduct their business and engage with customers. Failure to follow the laws will result in civil or criminal liabilities levied against the corporation.
Long-term planning vs. short-term remedies
Corporate governance can be as much of a strategic playbook as it is an ethical set of operational guidelines. An effective governance framework can form the basis of a long-term strategic plan that helps drive the growth and evolution of the business as a whole.
Corporate compliance is also part of a long-term strategy. However, if there are changes to jurisdictional laws or by-laws, the company must adapt with quick fixes or remedies to remain in compliance with the laws. Often, compliance is more of a reactive stance to these regulations.
How MinuteBox Supports Entity Governance and Compliance
Now that you have a better understanding of the differences between governance and compliance, what’s the best way to establish both frameworks to help protect the interests of your business entity?
MinuteBox is entity management software built by legal professionals for legal professionals, including compliance officers whose mandate is to enforce protocols that keep the corporation in compliance with the laws.
MinuteBox helps your organization manage both governance and compliance through:
- Automated compliance calendars — Never miss a filing deadline with automated reminders for annual returns, renewals, and regulatory submissions
- Organizational charts — Maintain clear visibility into corporate structure, officer appointments, and reporting relationships
- Document management — Store and organize board resolutions, shareholder agreements, and governance policies in one secure location
- Compliance tracking — The platform highlights errors, statutory non-compliance, and date-based compliance tasks that may be lacking
- Audit trails — Maintain complete records of all changes and approvals for regulatory review
Entity management systems are designed to automate workflows and streamline the process of enforcing governance and compliance. Establishing governance and compliance frameworks requires an arduous amount of administrative and clerical work to create effective protocols. Entity management software saves invaluable working time by streamlining the workflows.
Governance and compliance are important requirements for any business entity. Using an intuitive entity management platform like MinuteBox, you can ensure your corporation abides by these frameworks and functions at the highest standards of excellence.
What is the purpose of compliance policies and procedures? In the grandest and simplest sense, it’s to protect the business. Compliance programs are designed to help your business, as a legal entity, remain in compliance with jurisdictional laws and regulations.
It’s never been more important for legal entities to review their compliance programs. Canadian regulators are emboldening RCMP agents to crack down on white collar crime and reduce the impact of fraud or financial malfeasance on Canadian society. Failure to maintain compliance can result in substantial fines, criminal or civil charges, and, in some cases, imprisonment for business leaders and shareholders.
The purpose of compliance policies and procedures is to minimize the risk that these worst-case scenarios may occur. Compliance programs align all key stakeholders on the fundamental principles of the law, enabling all stakeholders of a legal entity to enforce the program and protect the interests of the business.
7 elements of an effective compliance program
What does a compliance program look like? What are the elements of an effective compliance program that should be documented?
Fundamentally, there are 7 core elements that make up a compliance program. These elements are broken down as follows:
- Documented policies and procedures
- Designated compliance officers
- Effective training procedures
- Proper reporting programs
- Monitoring and auditing systems
- Enforcement of compliance policies and procedures
- Proper investigations into non-compliance incidents
What is the value of compliance in business?
The value of compliance policies and procedures lies in the program’s function as a predetermined roadmap for the business. Company values and behaviours are framed in operational contexts that outline how the business operates day to day. At its core, compliance helps a business standardize operations and conduct itself responsibly.
Additionally, compliance offers reassurance to your customers that your business abides by certain ethical and legal standards. Customers can rest assured that your entity’s core values are secure and practiced in every way that you conduct your business. Compliance may even give you a competitive advantage in your industry by creating workplaces that inspire customer loyalty and enable long-term growth for your business.
Why are compliance policies and procedures important?
In addition to abiding by the laws of the land and promoting good organizational governance, compliance policies and procedures streamline internal workflows. A well-informed compliance program can help create new efficiencies throughout your business, improving operations in the pursuit of higher growth.
Compliance policies and procedures are the roadmap, and they articulate core values that inform decision-making throughout the organization. Decisions that adhere to strict guidelines, policies, and procedures ensure resources are managed in the most efficient and practical ways possible. Along with minimizing risk and protecting corporate interests, compliance policies and procedures can help improve how your organization functions from day to day.
Use entity management systems to maintain compliance
So, what is the best way to maintain compliance policies and procedures? Since compliance is typically managed by Chief Compliance or Legal Officers, a platform designed to support legal entity management and corporate compliance is the best resource to maintain those compliance policies and procedures.
Cloud-based entity management solutions like MinuteBox have built-in compliance modules that intuitively help your compliance team structure policies and procedures. The compliance framework monitors organizational charts, calendars, workflows, and other templates for any errors, statutory non-compliance, and date-based compliance tasks that may be lacking.
By uploading all compliance data into the platform, your team creates a centralized repository for all organizational data that affects the compliance program. The platform’s intuitiveness automates the workflow and effectively helps your organization follow the jurisdictional letter of the law. You can fulfill the purpose of compliance policies and procedures using entity management software, successfully maintaining compliance as efficiently as possible.
Any law firm has an untold number of documents and case files assigned to each and every client. Every one of those records needs to be processed, reviewed, filed, sorted, tagged, and organized. Considering the average law firm has only 2.4 employees, it’s a lot of work that requires a serious time commitment to manage.
At a time when innovative technologies are transforming entire industries, law firms don’t want to be left behind in the race towards modernization. However, the right technology can help legal teams manage their own time more effectively. Let’s break that down a little.
Entity management software automates clerical work
It’s fair to say that one of the biggest time consumers in any firm is clerical work. Since case files and corporate documents include binders upon binders of paperwork, it takes a boatload of time and energy to sort through all those files.
Among the biggest benefits of using entity management software is that it eliminates these tedious clerical tasks. Instead of combing through physical binders of paperwork, legal teams can upload minute books and corporate documents onto cloud-based servers.
The platform organizes the files in standard PDF formats. Built-in sorting and tagging features make it easy for teams to organize the files. The best part is that it eliminates the risk of losing or misplacing any important records. Client satisfaction is a must for retention and business growth; lost corporate documents won’t boost satisfaction rates.
Keep track of important dates and expiries
Another useful asset that comes from entity management platforms is their built-in features and capabilities. One of those features is a built-in calendar designed to update legal professionals on pending dates related to client cases.
Suppose a new subsidiary of a corporation must submit its registration filing by a certain date. The platform reminds the legal team that the date is coming. The date on the calendar functions like a beacon, guiding legal teams on how to proceed and allowing all of the records to be completed in the appropriate amount of time.
Let’s say a regulatory license is due to expire without the proper renewal. The platform gives legal teams plenty of time to prepare for that deadline. All the documentation can be filed, signed, and submitted to the regulatory authorities in the appropriate amount of time.
Think of the entity management platform as a guide to help create a work-back schedule. Knowing that there are key dates and deadlines that must be adhered to, the platform helps teams organize all of the necessary steps that must be taken to ensure those deadlines proceed without incident. It’s a great resource to help teams become more organized, efficient, and effective at servicing clients.
Quickly generate reports summarizing client case files
Another significant time consumer for legal teams is client relations. Cases involving corporate documents are understandably complex. Minute book records for these cases contain hundreds, if not thousands, of files that influence the outcome of the case.
With entity management software, you can create documents that note the location, date, time, and filing of each minute book record into an organized database for reference. The software enables your team to operate in more efficient ways and adopt more streamlined workflows to record valuable information for clients.
The platform also includes advanced search capabilities that allow teams to easily find specific records in a case file, providing deeper insight into the matters at hand. All that search work is completed in a matter of seconds, as opposed to the laborious amount of time that would otherwise be spent combing through binders of physical records to find the file in question. By documenting the storage of the files in your entity management platform, a quick search tells your team where to find the records in question so the information can be uncovered.
Entity management software simplifies legal caseloads
Why continue to conduct legal work with outdated tedious approaches? Eliminate the need for paper documents and save your legal team countless hours of working time and energy. Invest in entity management software to modernize minute book management. It’s a more time and resource efficient solution to help teams provide greater service to their clients.
