How TopBuild Takes Advantage of Real-Time Visibility Into Status

In our Spotlight on Success series, Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild, and Adam Hardy, Internal Audit Manager at TopBuild, share how their team has saved significant time, resources, and stress by centralizing their SOX, audit, and compliance management in one integrated platform. A Fortune 1000 company based out of Daytona Beach, Florida, TopBuild is a leading installer and distributor of insulation and building material products throughout the United States and Canada. Hear how this team eliminated version control issues, streamlined communication with stakeholders, and more by switching from a manual environment to AuditBoard, including:

• Leveraging AuditBoard’s CrossComply, SOXHUB, and OpsAudit solutions together to centralize all documentation in a single source of truth.  
• Gaining real-time visibility into status to boost reporting capabilities and elevate the perception of internal audit with business stakeholders.
• Saved 3/4 to one full-time employee by streamlining activities within AuditBoard. 

Tell us a little about TopBuild, and some of the challenges you faced in your previous manual audit environment. 

“We are a leader in residential, commercial, and industrial installation and building materials. And we have about 400+ locations in the United States and now in Canada — we recently had a pretty large acquisition, and are now an international company.” – Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild

“Prior to purchasing AuditBoard, everything was manual and extremely time consuming with absolutely zero audit trail. We had something called a “Master Blaster” where we kept all the key control testing and information. Sometimes when junior auditors came on board they had to work in that document, and they would sort and not save. I’m telling you it was a nightmare trying to maintain.” – Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild

How has having real-time visibility into status boosted communication with stakeholders and reporting capabilities?

“A big part of a manager’s job at that point is keeping status and being able to report on testing status. All that changed when we went over to AuditBoard, because AuditBoard gives you instant status at all times. I’ve been able to put together dashboards to keep status with my team and understand where they’re at. Also, quarterly reporting to stakeholders within management has been streamlined.” – Adam Hardy, Internal Audit Manager at TopBuild

“For me to go in and be able to just pull reports really easily — I think that’s probably the most “Aha!” moment: the ease of reporting. I’ve used many tools in my career, and with AuditBoard, you can just go right in and slice and dice anything the way you want it”. – Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild

What kind of ROI have you seen since implementing AuditBoard?

“I really believe that from the direct use of AuditBoard and the streamlining and efficiency it brings to the table, I think we’ve saved anywhere from three quarters to maybe even one full-time employee.” – Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild

How has centralizing documentation in a single source of truth empowered your team?

“One thing that I found really useful in AuditBoard as compared to other tools or maintaining it all manually, is the continuity that AuditBoard has from the beginning to the very end —  maintaining the entire control environment within AuditBoard. Sharing information with the external auditors, once it’s gone through our review, is streamlined and seamless and actually functions the way that you would expect it to.” – Adam Hardy, Internal Audit Manager at TopBuild

What are your plans for leveraging multiple AuditBoard modules together?

“When I looked at AuditBoard and saw the four different modules — SOXHUB, OpsAudit, CrossComply, and the RiskOversight module — I did look to the future to say, if and when we could get all four modules, how we could integrate them to really be a one-stop-shop.” – Ninette Lewis, Director of Internal Audit and CAE at TopBuild