Intapp Automates Independence Compliance at Mauldin & Jenkins

Intapp (NASDAQ: INTA) has announced that accounting and advisory firm Mauldin & Jenkins has gone live with Intapp Employee Compliance, replacing an email- and spreadsheet-based independence programme with a centralised platform. The firm, which has more than 850 professionals and is expanding its public company audit practice, says the implementation was completed under budget and several months ahead of its target. The deployment highlights how growing accounting firms are using compliance technology to manage employee financial interests, certifications and independence risks as regulatory and quality-management requirements evolve.

Manual independence processes reach their limits

Mauldin & Jenkins’ implementation of Intapp Employee Compliance highlights a challenge facing accounting firms as they expand: compliance processes that work at a smaller scale can become harder to maintain as employee numbers, client relationships and audit responsibilities increase.

The firm has more than 850 professionals and is seeking to grow its public company audit practice as part of its ambition to reach the Top 30 U.S. accounting firms. According to Intapp, its previous independence programme relied on emails, spreadsheets and manual follow-ups to track employee financial interests, collect certifications and review potential conflicts.

That approach placed considerable responsibility on employees and the compliance team to identify issues and keep records current. As the firm grows, the volume of information that needs to be checked can increase, while manual processes make it more difficult to maintain consistent oversight.

Andrew Glenn, partner and Assurance Committee member at Mauldin & Jenkins, said the firm’s processes had been designed for a business of around 100 people, even though its workforce had grown to more than 850. He said adopting Intapp’s platform helped the firm begin operating with the processes it believes it will need as it pursues its expansion plans.

The issue is particularly relevant to accounting firms performing public company audits, where auditor independence is fundamental to maintaining confidence in audit work. Firms need systems that help identify financial interests and relationships that could create conflicts with restricted entities or audit engagements.

Centralising employee compliance

Mauldin & Jenkins was introduced to Intapp by Johnson Global Advisory, a consultancy made up of former Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspectors that supports accounting firms with inspections, remediation and quality-control infrastructure.

After a structured evaluation, the firm selected Intapp Employee Compliance to centralise its personal independence programme. According to Intapp, the platform supports financial-interest monitoring, annual certifications, outside business activity tracking and trade pre-clearance.

The system is designed to compare employee holdings against restricted entities and incoming engagements, automate periodic attestations and flag potential issues for review. It also provides configurable workflows, allowing some disclosures to be approved, denied or escalated based on the firm’s rules.

Christian Bennett, independence partner at Mauldin & Jenkins, said automated flagging and configurable review processes had reduced uncertainty about potential independence issues. He added that the system helps the team concentrate on disclosures that require attention instead of treating every submission as an entirely manual task.

Centralisation can also make it easier to maintain consistent records of employee disclosures, reviews and decisions. However, technology does not eliminate the need for professional judgement: firms still need to define appropriate policies, keep restricted-entity information accurate and ensure that flagged matters are reviewed by the right people.

Intapp says the deployment was completed under budget and several months ahead of the firm’s target. Mauldin & Jenkins expects to eliminate hundreds of hours of manual compliance work annually as adoption of the platform increases. That is a forecast from the firm, rather than a verified measure of savings already achieved.

QC 1000 raises the stakes for quality management

The implementation is also timed around an important regulatory milestone. The PCAOB’s QC 1000 standard, A Firm’s System of Quality Control, is scheduled to take effect on December 15, 2026. The standard establishes requirements for registered public accounting firms to design, implement and operate an effective quality-control system, including processes covering ethics and independence, risk assessment, monitoring, remediation and documentation.

QC 1000 is not simply a requirement to adopt a particular software platform. Firms must build and operate a system appropriate to their circumstances, assess quality risks and document how their controls work. Compliance technology can support those activities, but the underlying policies, governance and accountability remain the firm’s responsibility.

For Mauldin & Jenkins, the goal is to have its independence processes better positioned to support growth and the standard’s implementation timeline. Intapp says the platform helps the firm maintain auditable documentation and manage independence processes in a more consistent way.

The broader quality-management landscape also includes the AICPA’s System of Quality Management Standards, which became effective for applicable firms on December 15, 2025. Those standards require firms to use a risk-based approach to designing, implementing and operating quality-management systems.

The precise requirements depend on the firm’s audit and assurance work and the professional standards that apply to it. For firms covered by both PCAOB and AICPA requirements, compliance teams must ensure their processes address the relevant obligations rather than assume one system or deadline covers every situation.

Automation must scale with the firm

Mauldin & Jenkins’ deployment reflects a wider operational consideration for professional services firms: independence management is not only a periodic certification exercise, but an ongoing process that must respond to changing employee holdings, new clients and new engagements.

Automated monitoring can help compliance teams identify potential conflicts earlier, while structured workflows can clarify who must review an issue and what documentation needs to be retained. A centralised system may also reduce repetitive administrative work for partners and professionals, allowing them to focus on client responsibilities.

The value will depend on how well the system is configured and adopted. Firms need to maintain accurate data, define clear escalation rules, train employees on disclosure obligations and periodically test whether controls are operating as intended. The success of the implementation should ultimately be assessed through measures such as review turnaround times, completion rates, issue resolution and realised reductions in manual work.

Jey Purushotham, Intapp’s practice group leader for accounting and consulting, said the project illustrates how firms expanding their public company audit practices can move away from spreadsheets and email-based oversight towards systems designed to support more structured independence management.

For Mauldin & Jenkins, the immediate milestone is the completed go-live. The next test is whether the platform delivers the expected time savings and continues to support the firm’s growing workforce and audit portfolio. More broadly, the deployment illustrates how compliance technology can help firms build repeatable processes—but it cannot substitute for the professional judgement, governance and accountability on which independence ultimately depends.

Market Landscape

Accounting firms are investing in compliance technology as workforce growth, increasingly complex client relationships and new quality-management requirements place pressure on manual independence processes.

Three developments are shaping the market:

• Automation of independence monitoring: Firms are moving beyond email reminders and spreadsheets towards centralised tracking of financial interests, certifications and restricted entities.

• Regulatory readiness: PCAOB QC 1000 is scheduled to take effect on December 15, 2026, increasing the importance of documented quality-management processes for firms within its scope.

• Scalable compliance operations: Growing firms need workflows that can handle larger employee populations and more engagements without creating a proportional increase in administrative work.

Intapp Employee Compliance competes in the employee compliance and personal independence management segment. Its capabilities include configurable workflows, disclosure tracking and auditable records.

For firms evaluating such platforms, the key considerations extend beyond automation: data accuracy, restricted-list maintenance, integration with existing systems, review accountability and evidence that the controls operate effectively.

Top Insights

• Mauldin & Jenkins has more than 850 professionals and is replacing email- and spreadsheet-based independence processes with Intapp Employee Compliance.

• The platform supports financial-interest monitoring, employee certifications, outside business activity tracking and trade pre-clearance.

• Intapp says implementation finished under budget and several months ahead of the firm’s target tied to the QC 1000 timeline.

• Mauldin & Jenkins expects to eliminate hundreds of hours of manual compliance work annually as adoption increases; realised savings have not yet been reported.

• QC 1000 takes effect on December 15, 2026, making quality-management preparation a timely priority for registered public accounting firms within its scope.

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