What belongs in a fintech findings register
A useful internal controls findings register is specific, evidenced, and owned — not a stack of generic risk adjectives.
A findings register earns its keep when a busy ops lead can open it on Monday and know what to fix first. Vague labels like “governance risk” or “control culture” do not help.
Each finding should name the control objective, the evidence reviewed, the gap observed, the likely impact on funds or reporting, and a suggested owner. Severity should reflect customer fund exposure and regulatory relevance — not how dramatic the wording sounds.
We also separate design gaps from operating failures. A missing dual-control policy is different from a policy that exists but was skipped fifteen times in the sample. Mixing those types confuses remediation budgeting.
Autodatatech’s internal controls assessments deliver findings in this format so management can brief the board without rewriting our work into something actionable.