How to Run a Quarterly Compliance Review
A structure for a recurring quarterly review that catches problems before they become urgent.
A quarterly review sits between quick monthly check-ins and a full annual audit — deep enough to catch real issues, frequent enough that nothing sits unnoticed for too long.
1. Set a fixed recurring date
Treat it like any other important recurring meeting — a fixed date makes it far more likely to actually happen consistently than an informal "we should check on this sometime" intention.
2. Review the full Compliance Matrix, not just what's flagged
A quarterly review is a good opportunity to look more broadly than the usual expiring-soon list — check for role requirement gaps, unusual patterns, or anything that's slipped through monthly reviews.
3. Document what you found and what changed
Keep a simple record of each quarterly review — what was checked, what was found, what was fixed. This builds a useful history and is valuable evidence of an active compliance process if it's ever relevant later.
4. Close the loop on the previous quarter's issues
Start each review by checking whether anything flagged last quarter is still unresolved — a quarterly review should build on the last one, not start from scratch each time.