Case Study: Insurance Company achieves 5,000-hour SOX time savings with Workiva (Wdesk)

Insurance Company Saves Time on SOX by Using Wdesk

A U.S. insurance company that tests about 175 controls with roughly 135 control process owners was bogged down by manual SOX processes that created errors, duplicated edits and lengthy reviews — spending about 9,600 total SOX hours the prior year (including roughly 3,000 hours on year‑end work). The team needed a flexible SaaS solution that would reduce rework, speed reviews and give management clearer ownership of the process.

The company implemented Wdesk to automate workflows, link control data and provide dashboard visuals, and also moved about half its controls to a non‑reliance model with auditors. As a result, estimated SOX effort dropped to about 4,600 hours in the first full year with Wdesk, year‑end work fell from ~3,000 to ~350 hours, dashboards save an estimated 350–500 hours annually, and collaboration, testing efficiency and flexibility improved significantly.