RMAI Certified Receivables Management Program Authorized Audit Providers perform third-party compliance audits for businesses applying for and renewing their Certified Receivables Business (CRB) and Certified Receivables Vendor (CRV) designation. This Q&A with Authorized Audit Provider, Provana gives current and future CRBs and CRVs insight into the compliance audit process.
Provana
Lisle, IL 60532
Website: http://www.provana.com
Contact: Sonal Bhargava
Email: sonal.bhargava@provana.com
Visit the following links to find a Certified Business, Certified Individual, and the Certification webpage.
How long have you been an RMAI Authorized Audit Provider?
Provana has been an RMAI authorized audit provider for more than four years.
What type of business are you in?
Provana provides tech-enabled services and software solutions and is the ideal partner to help companies grow profitably, perform better, maintain a robust compliance profile, and exceed clients’ expectations. Our tech-enabled services include back-office operations, contact center services, compliance & audit management services, and finance and accounting services. Our software solutions assist our clients with compliance and performance initiatives including speech analytics, compliance management software, intelligent document processing, and data analytics.
Approximately how many Certification Compliance Audits have you completed?
20+
What would you like prospective audit clients to know about your audit services?
For RMAI audit services, Provana, LLC has a team of seasoned auditors, having sound knowledge of RMAI standards, expectations, and best business practices being followed by companies in the ARM industry. We ensure data security and deliver our RMAI audit services through our tech-enabled service solution, IPACS. By adopting a consultative approach with our clients, we assist in remediations of the gaps identified as a part of the audit.
What advice or tips do you have for Certified Receivables Businesses approaching a Certification Compliance Audit?
We encourage certified receivables businesses and vendors to adopt a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach for the RMAI certification audits. Through these audits, businesses can adopt the necessary policies and procedures to stay compliant with regulations. While preparing for these audits, companies can identify potential gaps in their operations and remediate those gaps before becoming non-conformities. While it is important to have the right set of policies, transactional level testing help determine the operating effectiveness of such policies.
What are some common deficiencies you see in typical audits?
One of the common deficiencies falls under A4 Employee Trainings. Companies are required to have sufficient trainings in place to keep their workforce updated with changing business and regulatory requirements.
We have seen companies not conducting sufficient due diligence and ongoing oversight of their vendor relationships. This violates the standard A15 Vendor Management. Companies of all sizes are required to have robust vendor management oversight and management processes that include an annual audit and ongoing monitoring for compliance documents like insurance certificates, and business licenses.
Another area of focus can be A17 Commissions. Companies should ensure that the variable compensation programs align with regulatory requirements relating to collections. This will not only make them compliant with RMAI standard but also other regulatory requirements.
What is the average time to complete a Certification Compliance Audit?
We expect a full scope compliance audit to be completed between 45 and 60 days. This assumes the companies are responsive to the auditor’s queries and follow-ups throughout the audit. It also depends upon the nature and size of operations of the company being audited and the how robust are the internal processes.