Compliance teams today face a burgeoning portfolio of assessments and frameworks to manage, leaving them strapped for time and thinking strategically about their approach to compliance. 

According to the 2026 Compliance Benchmark Report, one in four organizations cite managing multiple concurrent audits as their primary challenge. This challenge supersedes industry, with 97% of organizations conducting two or more audits per year, while 72% of enterprises conduct four or more audits each year.  

Cultivating a high-quality compliance program isn’t a one-time process, it’s an ongoing operation. Audit harmonization can help teams drive efficiencies and meet the high expectations that executives, customers, and other stakeholders have of final reports and the audit experience. This approach identifies commonalities between frameworks to reduce duplicative work and save your organization time and money in the process. 

Read on to learn:  

• The benefits of audit harmonization  
• A guide to audit harmonization  
• Real-world examples of audit harmonization 

Download our Guide to Audit Harmonization to follow along.

What is audit harmonization? 

Audit harmonization is a white-glove approach to simplifying the audit process that is designed for organizations conducting three or more audits per year. This process includes one-on-one time with professionals who can identify overlaps and streamline even the most complex compliance strategies. 

Benefits of audit harmonization 

The 2026 Compliance Benchmark Report found that 99% of organizations believe that consolidating audits could save them time, and they would be right. 

A-LIGN’S audit harmonization process synchronizes efforts across frameworks to: 

Align business and compliance objectives 

We create a compliance strategy with a custom solution to your compliance hurdles that drives efficiency and business outcomes. We lead interim strategic workshops for continual improvement and evolution of your compliance program. 

Simplify transition and consolidation 

Our customized transition process ensures a seamless migration. We identify overlapping requirements, requests, and subject‑matter interviews. 

Provide a seamless, white‑glove audit experience 

A dedicated team with a central point of contact provides tailored guidance and consistent resourcing to build a deep understanding of your business. 

Who can execute audit harmonization? 

Audit harmonization can be achieved with an experienced, trusted audit partner that can educate your organization about what the process looks like, identify areas for improvement, and streamline the audit process.  

Defining a successful audit harmonization process 

There are three key elements to a successful audit harmonization engagement: 

• People: The people you enlist to complete your audit harmonization process should be experienced professionals that have a track record of success. Beyond this, however, these people should work well with your organization. The communication style and frequency should align with your goals. 

• Process: A well-defined process out of the gate will lead to stronger outcomes from your audit harmonization process. This element is strongly tied to the audit partner you choose to work with, so be sure to enlist the help of an experienced firm  

• Technology: Technology helps auditors work smarter to give you a high-quality final report in a quicker timeframe and with more assurance. 

What do these look like in practice? There are five key steps to harmonizing audits through people, process and technology: 

• Preparation 
• Planning 
• Fieldwork 
• Report 
• Post-audit touchpoint 

Each of these processes are driven by people and technology to ensure you have a successful audit harmonization engagement.

How to get started with audit harmonization

Not sure how to get started? According to the Compliance Benchmark Report, 27% of organizations are in the same position. But choosing the right partner to educate and guide you through the process can ensure your organization is set up for success. Download our Guide to Audit Harmonization for more.

Taking the time to find the right partner to execute this process is essential. We recommend looking for the following qualities in a potential auditor:

• Breadth and depth of services: It’s important to pick a provider that can grow with you as your compliance strategy evolves. This will help your team achieve your goals sooner with less repeated effort.
• Tech-enabled: Although technology used to be the future of compliance, it’s now the standard. Choosing a partner that is enabled by an in-house audit management platform or integrated with a GRC/readiness tool.
• Clear audit process: The right audit partner should be able to give you a clear timeline and scoping, streamline the process, and align with the communication frequency and style of your team.

SAS improves audit harmonization and efficiency with A-LIGN

SAS is a global leader in data and AI, delivering and operating mission‑critical software solutions for major industries across the globe. SAS aims to drive its Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) program through automation, technology, and rigorous metrics, ensuring they can meet new certification and assurance demands without sacrificing speed or quality.

To streamline its compliance efforts and enhance operational efficiency, SAS actively participates in A-LIGN’s audit harmonization program. This initiative helps SAS consolidate over 10 certifications and attestations into a unified, cohesive process.

The challenge

To maintain trust and security across such a vast operation, SAS relies on its GRC-A team (Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Audit) to manage a complex landscape of public sector and commercial compliance requirements.

While the program’s primary mandates include risk reduction and strict adherence to internal controls, an overarching goal of the GRC-A program is to drive operational efficiency in their processes.

As SAS expanded its certification and assurance engagements, the GRC-A team looked to increase its auditing intake and capabilities.

SAS required a focused, long-term strategy that examined compliance obligations across a multi-year horizon.

“There’s no way that we could do all of our assurance engagements if we did them contiguously. There’s just not enough time in the year – A-LIGN harmonized our audit efforts, greatly saving our team valuable time and resources.”
-Cathy Smith, Senior Director of GRC-A

Why A-LIGN

SAS selected A-LIGN as its audit provider based on a shared long-term strategic vision and a commitment to growing together as assurance needs evolved. From the beginning of the relationship , A-LIGN demonstrated an understanding that SAS’ audit and compliance requirements would expand over time and positioned itself as a strategic partner rather than a transactional service provider.

Rather than focusing solely on immediate audit needs, A-LIGN engaged SAS in forward-looking discussions about business growth, evolving risk profiles, and anticipated assurance demands over the coming years. This approach established a foundation of trust and alignment, enabling the relationship to mature as the scope, complexity, and volume of assurance engagements increased.

As SAS’s assurance program grew, audit harmonization developed as a strategic response to managing multiple frameworks more effectively. A-LIGN’s ability to consolidate and align compliance efforts through its audit harmonization program allowed SAS to increase efficiency, reduce redundancy, and maintain consistency across engagements. By providing an integrated, tailored compliance framework for organizations managing three or more standards, A-LIGN supported SAS in developing a more scalable, sustainable, and mature compliance program aligned with long-term business objectives.

Additionally, SAS found A-LIGN’s A-SCEND audit management platform would play an essential part in streamlining and managing complex, multi-month engagements.

The results

A-LIGN’s audit harmonization methodology helped SAS streamline multiple audits including, but not limited to — SOC, ISO, FISMA, FedRAMP, and penetration testing engagements — by conducting them simultaneously. This approach maximized efficiency, transforming a traditionally year-long process into streamlined windows that reduced both time and cost, delivering significant gains for SAS’ GRC-A team.

Audit harmonization also improved collaboration between the GRC-A team and the internal IT organization. Instead of conducting multiple audits, the process was consolidated into single interviews or evidence pulls, minimizing disruptions and respecting the IT team’s time.

The A-SCEND platform further enhanced efficiency as it is designed to support organizations operating across multiple compliance frameworks by mapping evidence once and reusing it across audits (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP). This significantly reduced duplicative requests and enabled a harmonized audit experience as assurance programs scale.

Additionally, A-SCEND’s AI capabilities helped SAS identify if existing evidence met new audit requirements or if prior evidence remained valid, reducing redundant work and increasing overall productivity.

As the global compliance landscape evolves, SAS is confident in its strategy, where meticulous planning, advanced technology, and strategic partnerships clear the path for sustainable growth.

Why A-LIGN

A-LIGN is the leading provider of high-quality, efficient cybersecurity compliance programs.

Our more than 400 global auditors have completed more than 36,00 audits and have more than 20 years of experience providing the best quality audit experience and final reports, exemplified through A-LIGN’s 96% customer satisfaction rating.

A-LIGN’s white glove audit harmonization process ensures that your organization can get back to work instead of completing duplicative work. Our industry-leading audit management software, A-SCEND, powers our best-in-class audit experience.

With A-LIGN, you can achieve your compliance goals with confidence and earn a report that your buyers can trust, with support from technology that streamlines the process. Ready to learn more? Contact us today.