Value of Automating your Due Diligence Process

Blog post Chris Marino 2020-06-17

Diligence, by definition has to be done accurately. Its management needs to be more than accurate, it needs to be efficient, too. Due diligence management can challenge investors evaluating funds or real estate as well as businesses overseeing their vendor relationships. Virtually all due diligence management involves an inefficient a process completing a questionnaire or a list of requested documents. The size and length of these questionnaires or lists can differ by situation, but management often consists of dozens to hundreds of questions, supporting content and communications when questions and issues arise.

Today, many companies manage their diligence process manually. Most companies send out email attachments of documents, request lists or long questionnaires in Word or Excel files. The use of email and ad-hoc methods to request documents makes the process painful for both parties - the sender and the recipient. And remember that unlike individual questionnaires, company due diligence can involve multiple individuals on both sides.

Automating due diligence processes offers tangible benefits for senders and recipients while raising the level of due diligence management from arduous to analytical. By digitizing requests, eliminating multiple emails, enabling accountability and automating scoring, senders and recipients can both dramatically streamline due diligence processes and provide greater insight to those tasked with analyzing the data.

The CENTRL platform is designed to create a more efficient and insightful due diligence management system. It starts with senders digitizing their questionnaire or the document request checklist. They can upload their “analog” version or CENTRL will upload it for them.

After sending the request, the recipient can conveniently assign the request to others internally. The recipient can track progress and manage their side of the request by assigning specific questions or documents to experts within (or outside) their organization. When the questionnaire is complete, it’s returned to the sender as a single consolidated package, including all relevant support documentation. But the process still isn’t finished.

The original sender likely needs clarification about specific answers or follow-ups. If they use email, then the value of automation, tracking and archiving conversations (in context) is lost. In the CENTRL platform, all communication is contained within the application.

Finally, there is the matter of scoring. CENTRL automates scoring and enforces an objective grading scale, which minimizes scoring subjectivity and results in a more impartial analysis.

The value of automating the due diligence management comes from increased efficiency, greater control and reduced subjectivity in evaluation. These benefits are compounded exponentially when applied to all due diligence processes that you initiate and respond to as an organization, sometimes on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Request a demo and see how CENTRL can revolutionize your due diligence process.

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