Learn how to manage compliance data in the new Evidence module, including creating, uploading, and linking documentation to controls, frameworks, and tasks for clear, centralized, and audit-ready records.
Overview
The Evidence module is your new dedicated hub for compliance documentation. Instead of uploading files, links, or text in the Documentation field in an individual control, you’ll now manage them in the Evidence module. From there, you can link one piece of evidence across multiple requirements, ensuring consistency and saving time during audits.
This shift improves security, flexibility, and visibility by giving evidence its own lifecycle, metadata, and access controls. With role-based permissions, you can restrict who can view, edit, or delete evidence, helping you manage sensitive compliance files more safely.
How to add new Evidence
Evidence resides in the sidebar menu, under Incidents. The video below walks you through the key settings to get started, including:
- How to create new evidence items (files, text, links, or data connections) and edit them.
- How to link your evidence to a control.
- How to customize the Evidence module using custom fields in Settings → Evidence.
Articles mentioned in the video above:
- See our Fields article for further guidance on how to use custom fields.
- See our Frameworks article to understand how to configure your frameworks.
How to share Evidence with a control
When you have several records, files, or pieces of evidence that support multiple requirements, you can attach them to a control. Check out how you can do this in the video below.
Common Questions
- What happens to my documentation files? Where do they go now?
Current documentation files which had previously been added to the Documentation field, are imported into Evidence, where you can preview or edit them. Data connections are also duplicated, so they’ll also remain visible in controls. - How am I supposed to use Evidence from now on?
You should now create a piece of evidence (record, file that demonstrates compliance) that should be linked to the control. From the controls page you can both link to existing Evidence and create new Evidence from the drawer or you can do it from the Evidence table view. - If a policy is considered a type of Evidence and I’m working inside a control, how do I edit it? Do I need to open the Evidence module separately, or can I do it directly from the control?
You can handle it in two ways. You can still add the policy to a control as a normal data connection, or you can add it as a piece of Evidence directly from the control with the type set to data connection. In this case, the Evidence itself is essentially the connection to something inside the system. From there, you can manage and edit the policy as Evidence without extra navigation steps.
by Elisa Roata, Product Communication Manager
We hope this article was helpful and that you now have a clear understanding of how to use the Evidence module in Formalize!If you need additional support, please feel free to schedule a meeting with our Customer Success team, here.
You are also welcome to reach out with any questions by email, at contact@formalize.com.
