We're not here to tell you spreadsheets are terrible. They're free and familiar. But they have structural failure modes that show up specifically under the conditions junior miners face.
| Capability | Spreadsheets | External CoSec Firm | GroundOne |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live compliance calendar | Manual | Sits outside company | ✓ Purpose-built |
| Board visibility | None | None | ✓ Native |
| Evidence capture | Ad hoc | In firm's files | ✓ Linked to obligation |
| Survives key person leaving | ✗ No | Depends on firm | ✓ Yes |
| Obligation ownership | "Whoever last edited it" | External only | ✓ Named, tracked |
| Board pack generation | 3+ hours manual | Hours of manual work | ✓ 30 seconds |
| Version control | compliance-v3-FINAL-2.xlsx | In firm's system | ✓ Single source of truth |
| Regulator query response time | Days of searching | Days | ✓ Minutes |
| Annual cost indication | Free (sunk time) | $30K–$120K | ✓ Fit-for-purpose |
| Time to first value | Sunk | Months | ✓ Weeks |
We talk to junior miners every week. Almost all of them are running their compliance in spreadsheets. Almost all of them know it's a problem. Most are waiting for the problem to become urgent before they do something about it.
The issue isn't that spreadsheets are inadequate for recording information. They're fine for that. The issue is that a governance system built in spreadsheets has no structural integrity. It works because one person understands it. When that person leaves — or gets sick, or moves roles, or the company changes CFOs — the system doesn't transfer. The new person gets a spreadsheet. They don't get the context.
The spreadsheet model fails in three predictable moments. First is key person departure: when the person who built and maintains the compliance spreadsheet leaves, the company discovers how much was in their head and not in the file.
The second is a capital raise or M&A due diligence. When a potential investor asks for the compliance position, the response is a folder of spreadsheets last fully updated eighteen months ago. The raise slows. The questions multiply.
The third is an ASX query or regulatory investigation. When the regulator asks for evidence of compliance with a specific obligation, the company has to find the email from eighteen months ago, the attachment that may or may not be the right version, and the sign-off that was documented verbally in a board meeting.
GroundOne is not a better spreadsheet. It's a structured compliance operating model with software around it. Every obligation has an owner, a deadline, a current status, and attached evidence. Every board pack section is populated from live register data. When the regulator asks, you open GroundOne — not a folder of files.
The transition takes days, not months. GroundOne ships pre-loaded with the ASX compliance calendar and mining-specific registers. You confirm, extend, and own. Operational in a week.
It always stops working at the worst possible moment — a raise, a query, a director change.