Procedures document the operational processes your organization repeats, such as access reviews or backup checks, and ISO Mate turns them into scheduled, trackable work. You create a procedure in the sidebar Compliance group, give it a category and ordered steps, set an optional recurrence, link it to the controls it supports, and publish it under version control. Recurring procedures generate a task each cycle, so the work is assigned, due-dated, and evidenced.
Create a procedure
- Go to Compliance > Procedures and click Create. When AI creation is enabled for your account, the button also offers Create with AI.
- Enter the Procedure Title, which is required and limited to 255 characters.
- Choose a Category, which is required, and optionally assign an Owner.
- Write the overview in the rich text editor. The editor includes an AI Assist button (the sparkle icon) for drafting and refining content, described in Using the AI Policy Editor.
- Add the numbered instructions in the Procedure Steps panel with Add Step.
- Click Create Procedure. It is saved in draft status as version 1.
Procedure categories
Every procedure belongs to one category, which you can filter and sort by in the list:
- Operational: day-to-day business processes.
- Security: information security activities.
- Data Management: data handling and retention tasks.
- Access Control: identity and permission reviews.
- Incident Response: response and escalation steps.
- Backup & Recovery: backup verification and restore drills.
- Change Management: controlled change processes.
- Audit: internal review activities.
- Training: awareness and enablement tasks.
- Other: anything that does not fit the categories above.
Add and order steps
The Procedure Steps panel holds the numbered instructions someone follows when the procedure runs. Add each step with Add Step, reorder them with the up and down arrows, and remove any step with the delete icon. Steps are numbered automatically, so the sequence stays clear.
Schedule recurrence
Set a Recurrence Pattern in the Recurrence panel so the procedure repeats on a schedule. The available patterns are:
- None: run the procedure on demand, with no schedule.
- Daily: repeats every day.
- Weekly: repeats on a chosen day of the week.
- Monthly: repeats on a chosen day of the month.
- Quarterly: repeats every quarter on a chosen day.
- Yearly: repeats on a chosen month and day.
- Custom: repeats every set interval of days, weeks, months, or years.
For any recurring pattern you also set the Execution Window (days), the number of days allowed to complete the procedure once it becomes due, and the Active toggle controls whether the schedule is currently running.
Publish and version control
A new procedure starts as a draft you can edit freely. Use the Publish button to publish it. To change a published procedure, open it and click Create Draft to start a new draft version. Publishing the new draft supersedes the previous one, and the full history stays visible in the version list. This mirrors the versioning used for policies in Managing Policies and Attestations.
Task generation and execution history
Once a procedure is published and recurring, ISO Mate generates a task for each cycle so an assignee can complete and evidence the work. From a published procedure you can also click Generate Task to create the next task on demand. The Execution History panel on the procedure view lists these tasks with their due or completed dates and status, and the metadata shows Next Due and Last Executed. This history is the audit trail of when the procedure was performed.
Link procedures to controls
Open a procedure and use the Linked Controls panel to click Link Controls and connect the controls the procedure supports. Linking shows which operational activity implements each control, and you can manage the same relationship from the control side in Managing Controls and Evidence.
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