What is a Compliance Audit? Everything You Need to Know (2025 Edition)

Getting an entire organization to compliance, and maintaining it, is no simple task. Regulations evolve constantly, organizations grow and change, and new risks emerge seemingly overnight. If you’re on a compliance or HR team, you know firsthand how much effort goes into keeping policies, practices, and training aligned with the rules. And when it’s time to verify that alignment formally? Enter the compliance audit.

In this updated guide, we’ll cover:

The difference between compliance audits and other audit types
Why compliance audits matter more than ever in 2025
How the audit process has evolved
New risk areas auditors now assess
Real-world examples from Ethena customers
How great compliance training and tools can prepare you for a smooth audit

Compliance audit vs. internal audit vs. operational audit

The words “compliance audit” get tossed around often, but it’s important to distinguish it from related processes:

Compliance audit: A formal, third-party review of whether an organization is meeting applicable laws, regulations, and policies. Think of it as an external health inspector for your compliance program.
Internal audit: Conducted by your own internal team, typically to self-check controls and processes before regulators come knocking.
Operational audit: Broader in scope, these reviews look at efficiency, effectiveness, and risk management across business operations, not just compliance.

Why compliance audits matter in 2025

The regulatory landscape has shifted dramatically since 2022. Compliance audits today go beyond checking a box:

New regulations: Expanded privacy laws (like CPRA, VCDPA, and Washington’s My Health, My Data Act), ESG reporting requirements, and AI-related legislation now factor into audit scopes.
Rising enforcement: Agencies like the SEC and DOJ are stepping up penalties. High-profile fines for compliance failures underscore the cost of getting it wrong.
Business trust: Customers and partners increasingly demand proof of compliance, not just assurances. Audit reports are part of reputation management.

The modern compliance audit process

Audits today combine traditional review with digital-first practices:

Remote & hybrid evidence collection: Secure portals for uploading documentation, video-based employee interviews, and digital walkthroughs are now common.
Continuous monitoring: Some auditors assess ongoing compliance through dashboards and automated reports, not just a point-in-time snapshot.
Technology tie-ins: Cybersecurity penetration tests, vendor risk assessments, and SOC reports are often folded into compliance audit cycles.

Expect your auditor to request policies, training completion data, risk assessments, and records of incident investigations. Many auditors are now asking how you ensure compliance with teams, no matter where they are, local, remote or even global.

What’s new in audit scope

In 2025, auditors are looking at more than just harassment prevention or code of conduct training:

Cybersecurity & data privacy: With AI-powered attacks and phishing on the rise, cybersecurity awareness is a must. Ethena’s Cybersecurity training modules include CEO Fraud, OWASP Top 10, and Generative AI risks.
AI governance: New laws and internal policies mean auditors may ask how your company manages AI responsibly. Check out Ethena’s AI in the Workplace course.
ESG & ethics: Environmental and social governance audits are gaining traction. Training, like Introduction to ESG, supports readiness.
Third-party/vendor compliance: Supply chain and vendor oversight are now in scope. Ethena’s Mosey partnership helps teams manage state and local compliance requirements.

Real-world examples: How companies prepare

Leading organizations use training and automation to simplify audits:

AlertMedia achieved 100% compliance completion with Ethena’s nudge-based delivery. Read the case study.
Asana expanded their compliance training scope to cover evolving risks. See their story.
Superhuman streamlined compliance with scalable, engaging training. Learn more.

These examples show that compliance audits don’t have to be painful if you build audit readiness into daily processes.

How training supports audit readiness

Strong compliance training directly supports a smooth audit:

Documentation: Automated reports of training completion are often requested by auditors.
Coverage: Comprehensive libraries (Ethena offers 200+ customizable modules) ensure employees receive required training.
Engagement: Auditors increasingly care about culture. Training that employees actually complete shows real buy-in. Ethena has a 93% learner approval rating from 3.5M+ learners.

Ethena’s platform also supports our AI Training Builder for custom training based on your policies, an Ethics Hotline and Case Management for investigations, and even an AI Policy Bot for policy guidance.

Checklist: Preparing for your next compliance audit

Review current regulations: Make sure your program accounts for new privacy, AI, and ESG rules.
Update training: Ensure your training library covers current risks like cybersecurity, DEI, harassment prevention, etc.
Document everything: Maintain training completion data, policies, and investigation records.
Assess vendor compliance: Don’t overlook third parties.
Build continuous readiness: Treat audit readiness as ongoing, not a one-off.

For a deeper dive, explore our Guides & Templates.

Final thoughts

A compliance audit is more than a regulatory requirement, it’s an opportunity to strengthen trust, culture, and operational resilience. By staying ahead of evolving risks, investing in effective training, and leveraging tools like Ethena’s platform, your organization can move beyond audit anxiety into continuous compliance confidence.

Ready to simplify compliance audits? Talk to our team.