More than 90% of organizations conduct at least two audits or assessments each year, and for larger organizations, that number continues to grow, according to A-LIGN’s 2025 Compliance Benchmark Report.
These days, compliance teams at large companies are spending their time tackling compliance challenges one by one, rather than developing a comprehensive strategy. This disjointed approach wastes time and money as duplicative audits and endless audit cycles strain compliance teams’ resources.
Enter audit harmonization: a premium service designed by A-LIGN’s industry experts to maximize efficiency and provide high-quality audits to enterprise organizations with three or more frameworks to consolidate. Throughout the process, A-LIGN will identify and consolidate overlapping requirements from audits across various vendors to reduce the complexity and burden on your internal resources.
Read on to learn how this strategy can alleviate the burden of your audit cycle.
What is audit harmonization?
Audit harmonization is a white-glove service for enterprises juggling multiple frameworks. Audit harmonization, at its core, is a service in which subject matter experts evaluate your current audit cycles and assessments and develop a plan that will streamline the process.
A-LIGN’s unique approach involves a three-step process to create a custom plan for your company that understands your goals, identifies overlapping requirements, and streamlines your efforts for an effective, high-quality audit. Our approach allows you to scale up to a robust suite of services. Enterprise customers can expect a dedicated team of highly experienced auditors who will support you throughout your compliance journey.
Why audit harmonization?
A-LIGN’s 2025 Benchmark Report found that the #1 challenge of the audit process for enterprise organizations is complexity in conducting multiple audits. These organizations are frequently conducting six or more audits per year to address their diverse compliance requirements and risk profiles. That puts some teams in a never-ending audit cycle. Audit harmonization consolidates the requirements where synergies can be achieved in both fieldwork and evidence collection, and keeps your team focused on the business, not the audits.
Beyond the time spent in audit cycles, enterprise organizations are also investing significant money on compliance. Large organizations in particular are making increased investments. The 2025 A-LIGN Compliance Benchmark Report found that 71% of enterprise companies spend over $100,000 on audits each year, whereas only 19% of small companies and 42% of medium companies say the same. Audit harmonization helps these businesses use a strategic approach for their cycles, reducing the number of duplicate tasks and saving money in the process.
Who is audit harmonization for?
A-LIGN designed the audit harmonization program with enterprise companies in mind. This service is best suited for large companies with three or more frameworks to adhere to.
Who will execute my audit harmonization process?
Your audit harmonization process will be led by a dedicated team who will offer tailored guidance to help you feel prepared and confident. This team will create a strong partnership focused on ongoing success and features A-LIGN’s expert team of auditors, including our leadership, to ensure you continuously receive the highest quality, white-glove service.
How does it work?
There are three steps to A-LIGN’s unique audit harmonization service: analyze, customize, harmonize. This process, handled by a dedicated team, ensures that your business and compliance goals remain top of mind throughout the audit cycle.
Here’s how it works:
Analyze: First is the discovery phase, where our team aims to understand the way your business operates, your organization’s objectives and the role of compliance in those objectives. A-LIGN identifies areas that may impact the audit scope, such as changes to the business, locations, headcount, processes, IT, software, and infrastructure.
Our information-gathering session results in a report that outlines the roadmap for your company’s audit. We’ll also determine the best time of year to conduct audits, recommendations, and provide a summary proposal.
Customize: After analyzing your existing program, our team presents recommendations and potential savings that can be realized in a master audit plan. This visual plan will:
- Identify audits with overlapping requirements to achieve synergies in fieldwork and evidence collection
- Recommend methods for strengthening your controls environment
Our subject matter experts will work closely with your team to deliver a strategy that is best fit for your team. After sharing our own recommendations, we’ll collaborate and adjust the plan as needed to ensure a customized path forward.
Harmonize: In accordance with your master audit plan, A-LIGN auditors review evidence, test it against the necessary compliance frameworks, and deliver a comprehensive final report upon conclusion of testing. Throughout the process, our team minimizes the amount of effort required and ensures you receive the highest quality audit.
During the process, you can expect to hear from your dedicated team regularly to ensure all plans are being upheld. The A-LIGN team will issue a final report and any follow-up items after completing field work. In addition, we will schedule annual business reviews to benchmark current projects against business objectives, to ensure you are successful in your compliance journey.
How to get started with audit harmonization
Interested in understanding how your company can benefit from audit harmonization? Contact us today to learn more.
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