Stop doing user access review the old way

---

Doing user access review the old way is holding you back. Compliance frameworks from NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS all require periodic access reviews to demonstrate least privilege and restrict excess or lingering privileges. But if you’re still exporting spreadsheets, chasing managers for approvals, and manually documenting reviews, you’re wasting time—and increasing audit risk.

Why it matters: Access reviews aren’t just a checkbox. They protect your systems from unnecessary exposure, flag overprovisioned accounts, and provide key proof for audits. Done correctly, they strengthen your security posture. Done manually, they burn time, introduce human error, and often produce incomplete or invalid evidence.

It’s time to stop reviewing access the old way. Here’s how we got here—and how smarter automation is changing the future of access reviews.

How user access review has traditionally been done

For years, user access review meant pulling access data from your systems—often by exporting CSVs from identity management tools or cloud services—and comparing those lists with an internal role inventory. Maybe you filtered out service accounts. Maybe you didn’t. Access files were packaged into spreadsheets, sometimes filtered by system owner or department, and sent out for manual review.

Manual routing eats time and creates silos. Reviewers fielded emails, highlighted changes, signed PDFs, or confirmed in email chains. That’s if they responded at all. Any deviation—a missed email, a late response, a rogue edit—meant additional follow-up.

Documentation was inconsistent and risky. When it came time to gather evidence for SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audits, compliance leads scrambled to compile reviewer inputs, track remediation steps, and package results. Sometimes, the review existed only as a historical artifact—incomplete, unactioned, and unauditable.

Intent vs. execution drifted. The goal of access review is principle of least privilege—ensuring each person has only the access they need and promptly removing what they don’t. But spreadsheet-driven reviews rarely meet that bar. Without centralized controls or validations, even completed reviews can fall short of compliance.

Common challenges in outdated access reviews

Whether you’re preparing for SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, or HIPAA requirements, legacy access review processes introduce avoidable risk. Here’s where most teams get stuck.

Missing or orphaned accounts. Reviews that rely on exports from limited source systems—like HR-only directories or individual apps—frequently miss privileged accounts, service accounts, and inactive users. That presents immediate security risk and often leads to audit findings.

Approvals without verification. Even when reviewers flag inappropriate access, teams may struggle to verify and confirm that changes were made. Incomplete remediation tracking compromises not only control effectiveness, but also audit readiness.

Reviewer fatigue. Repetitive, full-scope reviews force reviewers to scrutinize the same accounts repeatedly, even when nothing’s changed. When managers disengage—or skim reviews just to get through them—you’re left with check-the-box compliance instead of accurate oversight.

Disorganized evidence trails. Review artifacts—spreadsheets, emails, screenshots—are often scattered across files and folders. When auditors request documentation of a semiannual or quarterly review, teams scramble to assemble proof that’s complete, dated, and valid for the period under review.

Looking ahead: What access review looks like in 2026

The future of user access review is automated, contextual, and audit-ready by design. Frameworks like NIST 800-53 (AC-2(1)) explicitly support the shift toward automation to improve consistency and frequency. And starting in 2025, with PCI DSS v4.0’s mandatory semiannual reviews (Requirement 7.2.4), the bar for maturity is rising.

Here’s what to expect—and build toward—by 2026.

Centralized identity inventory. All user accounts and roles (human, privileged, and service) should be inventoried centrally, mapped to systems, and updated automatically through integrations with HRIS, SSO, and directory providers.

Smart scoping and reuse. Instead of starting from scratch, modern review tools will reuse context from previous reviews and surface only changes. That means less cognitive load for reviewers and faster, more complete reviews.

Integrated change validation. Expect your systems to enforce and verify proposed changes. If a reviewer marks ‘remove access,’ your tools should detect and confirm that action before closing the loop. This is especially important when evidencing “you said it, then you did it” for SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO audits.

Audit-friendly output, by default. Completed reviews should be available in one place, searchable, timestamped, and exportable with the context that matters to your auditor: who reviewed what, when they did it, what was flagged, and how exceptions were resolved.

Framework-aligned cadences. Whether your controls follow a risk-based cadence (like ISO 27001) or a mandated one (like PCI’s semiannual frequency), automation should support the right review cycle for your compliance program.

How Thoropass improves user access reviews

Thoropass gives you a faster, more accurate, and audit-aligned way to complete access reviews—without spreadsheets, uncertainty, or rework. Our platform eliminates common pitfalls by combining automated evidence collection, flexible workflows, and integrated auditor oversight.

Here’s how it works.

Start with the right scope. Thoropass aligns access reviews to your audit scope based on your framework—SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, or HIPAA. Reviewer tasks are generated based on configurations and live system inventory, reducing the chance of missing accounts.

Choose your mode: integrated, CSV, or manual upload. You can import user data using audited integrations, upload a CSV, or even reuse a completed review cycle. And with Head Start mode, review fatigue drops fast—as much as 95% of decisions can be pre-filled from the previous cycle.

Track action to completion. Thoropass supports “change validation” to ensure that marked changes—like removing access or downgrading privileges—are actually implemented. When an auditor asks how you remediated flagged access, you’ll have the full trail.

One source of truth for evidence. Every review is logged, timestamped, and exportable. That means no hunting for approval emails or piecing together spreadsheets when your auditor comes calling.

Designed for the way auditors work. Thoropass doesn’t stop at checklists and dashboards. Our in-house audit team keeps evidence aligned to current framework requirements and makes sure your reviews stand up to scrutiny. More than 90% of our customers sail through audit fieldwork without issue—and no one audits their own work.

Conclusion: UAR done right accelerates audit readiness

User access review is no longer optional, and it can’t be manual if you want to scale. Frameworks like NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI now expect consistent, auditable, and verifiable user access controls. The quicker you move away from spreadsheets and scattered evidence, the better equipped you are to prove compliance—and improve security.

Thoropass turns access review into a manageable, repeatable, and reliable process. Whether you’re conducting a quarterly SOC 2 review or gearing up for PCI’s new semiannual requirement, the platform helps you stay ahead of changes and build an access control program that works at scale.

Compliance shouldn’t slow you down. Thoropass streamlines user access reviews so you can focus on growing your business—securely and confidently.

Schedule a discovery session today and see how smarter reviews improve your audit readiness.