AuditEdge
For audit and compliance professionals, the work has always demanded precision, but the tools haven't always kept up. AuditEdge exists to change that. Built by auditors, for auditors, AuditEdge is a powerfully simple GRC and audit platform that helps compliance teams and audit firms run faster, smarter, and more consistently across the frameworks that matter most: SOC, ISO, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, NIST, and CMMC.
Born Out of Necessity
Back in 2018, Nick Norton and Bryan Geels reached a tipping point. Both had built careers in public accounting, and both had grown tired of the operational drag baked into traditional SOC audit processes including manual workflows, repetitive documentation, and reporting cycles that slowed down good work. Existing platforms were, in their words, bloated and overpriced, and none were built for firms that prized precision and practicality.
So they did what entrepreneurs do: they built something better.
When Nick and Bryan launched Geels Norton in 2021, the firm became the proving ground for a different kind of audit experience, and a different kind of audit technology. Software development happened alongside the audit work, purpose-built for the real workflow of modern risk auditors and the clients they serve.
A Platform Worth Sharing
The internal tool worked. It worked well enough that peer firms took notice. Through a partnership with Roy Keely and the team at Firm Studio, Nick and Bryan formally launched AuditEdge to the world in 2023.
Today, AuditEdge delivers two integrated platforms: AuditEdge for Auditors, an end-to-end audit tool with automated report generation, detailed workflows, and dynamic control mapping across SOC, NIST, and ISO frameworks and AuditEdge Compliance Manager, a compliance program management platform that gives clients a clean, accessible way to track controls, manage daily compliance operations, and stay audit-ready without the cost or complexity of legacy systems.
A Strategic Carve-Out
In early 2026, Nick and Bryan reached another defining milestone: Geels Norton, the audit firm where AuditEdge was born, was acquired, and AuditEdge was intentionally carved out of the transaction to continue as an independent company. It was the kind of outcome that takes years of disciplined building to earn and careful structuring to execute.
Fourscore Business Law was proud to stand alongside Nick, Bryan, and the team through the full arc of this transition. Leading the legal work was Fourscore attorney J.R. Tulloch, who guided the founders through the complexities of structuring the deal, negotiating the terms, and ensuring AuditEdge emerged cleanly on the other side - positioned to grow on its own terms.
"Selling part of what you've built while protecting the rest isn't a simple thing to navigate. J.R. and the Fourscore team brought clarity to every step. They weren't just our legal counsel, they were thought partners who helped us think through strategy and structure with the long term in mind. Having that kind of partner made all the difference." - Nick Norton, Co-founder
"Nick and Bryan built AuditEdge inside Geels Norton, which meant the carve-out had to separate two businesses that had grown up together without disrupting either one. We structured the transaction to isolate AuditEdge's IP, contracts, and team cleanly, negotiate protections into the purchase agreement, and put transition services in place so Geels Norton's clients never felt the seam. The goal was a clean handoff on the sale side and a strong, independent foundation for AuditEdge to keep building on." - J.R. Tulloch, Fourscore Business Law
Looking Ahead
With its own platform, its own team, and a community of forward-thinking audit firms and compliance leaders behind it, AuditEdge is building the operating system for the next generation of risk and compliance work. What started as a tool to fix a frustration is now shaping how an industry operates.
At Fourscore, we're honored to support founders like Nick and Bryan, operators who refuse to settle for the way things have always been done, and who have the foresight to protect what they've built at every stage of the journey.
To learn more about AuditEdge, visit auditedge.io.
To learn more about Fourscore's legal services for business owners and founders, visit fourscorelaw.com.
Picture on the top is by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 and is in the public domain.