How an SDLC Review Works
An SDLC review typically maps the organization's development methodology against actual practices and documented controls. Reviewers examine how requirements are approved, how code changes are managed, how testing is performed, and how production deployments are authorized.
The review may cover traditional waterfall processes, agile development, DevOps practices, cloud-native environments, or hybrid approaches. Evidence can include project documentation, requirements, source-code controls, testing records, deployment logs, access permissions, incident records, and change approvals.
- Planning: Evaluate business requirements, project scope, ownership, budgets, and delivery objectives.
- Development: Review coding standards, repositories, peer reviews, segregation of duties, and change management.
- Testing: Assess test plans, test evidence, defect management, user acceptance, and release criteria.
- Deployment: Examine production approvals, release controls, rollback procedures, and environment segregation.
- Maintenance: Review monitoring, incident response, patches, enhancements, and retirement procedures.
Key Control Areas
A strong SDLC review connects technical activities with governance and financial accountability. Requirements should have identifiable owners, material changes should receive appropriate approval, and production releases should be traceable to authorized development work.
Reviewers may also assess access controls around development and production environments, evidence of security testing, vulnerability management, data protection, backup procedures, and third-party software dependencies. Where systems process financial information, controls should also support the accuracy, completeness, and auditability of resulting transactions and reports.
For accounting-related applications, reviewing the chart of accounts configuration can help establish whether system design supports appropriate reporting structures, general-ledger controls, and financial data classification.
SDLC Review and Business Processes
Software controls should be evaluated in the context of the business processes they support. A system used for procurement, for example, should provide appropriate controls around requisitions, approvals, vendor selection, and the purchase order lifecycle. This helps reviewers determine whether application functionality aligns with procurement policies and financial authority limits.
Tax-sensitive applications require a similar assessment. When software calculates or records sales tax, an SDLC review can examine how tax rules are maintained, validated, tested, and deployed across jurisdictions, including nexus, exemptions, rate changes, and audit evidence.
The financial impact of technology changes can also be assessed through a P L Review, particularly when new systems alter revenue recognition, expense classification, reporting workflows, or operating costs.
Documentation and Review Evidence
Documentation is central to an SDLC review because it allows management, auditors, and other stakeholders to understand how a system was designed and how important decisions were authorized. Useful evidence should connect requirements to development work, testing, approvals, deployment, and subsequent monitoring.
A Coding Review can complement the broader SDLC assessment by examining whether development practices follow established coding standards and whether changes receive appropriate technical scrutiny. Similarly, a Contract Review may be relevant when third-party developers, cloud providers, software vendors, or technology partners participate in the development lifecycle.
For vendor-related technology workflows, maintaining Audit Trails can provide a chronological record of actions performed by employees or AI systems, supporting transparency and subsequent review.
Practical Uses and Outcomes
Organizations use SDLC reviews to support technology due diligence, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity governance, internal controls, system implementations, and acquisition assessments. The review can identify opportunities to strengthen approval structures, improve documentation, clarify ownership, and align development practices with enterprise policies.
For finance leaders, the review is particularly relevant when software influences financial reporting, payment processing, procurement, customer billing, tax calculations, or management reporting. Establishing clear controls across the lifecycle helps ensure that technology changes are traceable and that financial processes remain aligned with approved business rules.
Best Practices
An effective SDLC review should be risk-based rather than limited to a checklist. Higher-impact systems and changes should receive greater scrutiny, particularly where they process sensitive information, affect financial reporting, or support regulated activities.
- Define review scope according to system criticality and business impact.
- Trace selected requirements through development, testing, approval, and deployment.
- Validate segregation of duties between development, testing, approval, and production access.
- Retain objective evidence for significant changes and production releases.
- Connect technology controls with financial, operational, security, and regulatory requirements.
- Reassess controls when architecture, vendors, integrations, or business processes materially change.
Summary
SDLC Review provides a structured way to assess whether software development practices support security, reliability, governance, and business control requirements. By examining requirements, development, testing, deployment, maintenance, documentation, and evidence, organizations can strengthen technology governance while improving confidence in systems that support critical financial and operational processes.