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    Diligent Alternative for Mid-Market Corporate Groups

    Looking for a Diligent alternative? Compare Diligent with EntityFlo for mid-market Australian entity management, ASIC workflows, board actions and AI CoSec.

    E
    EntityFlo
    6 August 2026
    10 min read

    If you are searching for a Diligent alternative, you are likely trying to solve a practical governance problem without taking on an enterprise GRC program. Diligent is a well-known governance, risk, compliance and board management provider. It is built for large organisations, public companies and enterprise governance environments.

    That scale can be useful. It can also be overkill.

    Australian mid-market corporate groups managing 50-200-plus entities usually need something more focused: entity operations, ASIC workflows, registers, ownership, approvals, board actions, AI company secretary support and audit-ready evidence. They need a live governance operating system, not another heavy platform that takes months to configure before the team sees value.

    EntityFlo is built for that mid-market Australian use case.

    General information only, not legal advice.

    What Diligent Does

    Diligent is known for board management and broader governance, risk and compliance software. Its platform suite is used by boards, executives, legal teams, governance teams, risk teams and compliance leaders.

    Depending on the product modules selected, Diligent may support board portals, board papers, secure director collaboration, risk management, audit, compliance workflows, ESG reporting, entity management and broader GRC activities.

    That breadth suits large organisations with complex governance programs. Listed companies, regulated enterprises, financial institutions, public sector bodies and multinational groups often need board management, risk oversight, audit controls, compliance reporting and secure director workflows at scale.

    For those buyers, enterprise depth can be a positive. Procurement, implementation, permissions, integrations, training and governance controls are part of the expected operating model.

    But mid-market Australian corporate groups should ask a more direct question: do we need enterprise GRC, or do we need better entity operations?

    Those are different problems.

    Why Enterprise GRC Can Be Overkill for Mid-Market Australia

    Enterprise GRC platforms are often designed around broad risk oversight, committee structures, board reporting, policies, controls, audits, incidents and regulatory programs. That can be valuable where risk and compliance teams run large formal frameworks.

    Mid-market corporate groups usually face a different governance burden.

    Their pain often sits in the operational layer:

    • Entity data is split across spreadsheets, ASIC records, registers, adviser files and inboxes.
    • Annual reviews are tracked manually.
    • Director and secretary changes require multiple handoffs.
    • Trusts, trustee companies and SPVs are hard to represent clearly.
    • Structure charts are recreated for banks, auditors and transactions.
    • Board resolutions and minutes are drafted from old templates.
    • Approvals are buried in email.
    • Signed documents sit across folders.
    • The audit trail depends on who remembers where evidence was saved.

    This is not always an enterprise GRC problem. It is an entity operations problem.

    Buying a broad platform for a focused operational issue can create drag. The team may get features for committees, risk registers, board packs and enterprise reporting, while still doing ASIC changes, register updates and trust mapping manually.

    For a CFO or General Counsel, the risk is not only cost. It is adoption. If the system feels heavier than the work, people route around it. Spreadsheets return. Inbox approvals continue. The corporate record stays fragmented.

    What Mid-Market Corporate Groups Actually Need

    Entity management software mid-market Australia buyers should prioritise the work that happens every week, not the features that look impressive in an enterprise demo.

    A practical governance platform should help the team manage:

    • Companies, trusts, trustee companies, SPVs, joint ventures and operating entities
    • Directors, secretaries, shareholders, members, trustees and controllers
    • ASIC annual review workflows and company change events
    • Registers, share classes, transactions and source evidence
    • Board and member resolutions, minutes, consents and approvals
    • Ownership charts, structure diagrams and beneficial ownership pathways
    • Compliance calendars, tasks, reminders and exception management
    • Documents, signed evidence and audit history
    • Questions from auditors, banks, lenders, buyers and directors

    The platform should also be usable by the people who carry the work: Company Secretaries, CFOs, legal counsel, finance teams, governance managers and external advisers.

    That means fast access, clear workflows, practical reporting and a strong source of truth. It should not require a major transformation team to operate.

    Australian-first design matters here. ASIC workflows, ACNs, ABNs, annual review timing, officeholder changes, local registers, trusts and SPVs are not secondary details. They are the daily operating context.

    What EntityFlo Offers Instead

    EntityFlo is an AI-native governance operations platform for Australian corporate groups. It replaces spreadsheets, inboxes and legacy entity management tools with one live system for entities, ASIC filings, registers, ownership, compliance, approvals and board actions.

    Where enterprise GRC platforms often start with board or risk oversight, EntityFlo starts with the entity operating record.

    Entity Operations

    EntityFlo gives teams a live system for company and entity data, including officers, shareholders, registers, ownership, documents, compliance tasks and evidence. It is designed to keep the record current as work happens.

    That is the foundation. If the entity record is incomplete or stale, board workflows, audit packs, AI outputs and compliance reporting cannot be trusted.

    ASIC Filings and Australian Compliance

    EntityFlo is built around Australian governance operations, including ASIC-related workflows, annual reviews, company changes, register updates and audit evidence.

    For mid-market groups, this is where value appears quickly. The team can move from tracking obligations manually to operating from a connected workflow.

    Board Actions Without Board Portal Bloat

    Diligent is widely associated with board management. Some organisations need a full enterprise board portal. Many mid-market groups need something narrower: board and member decisions connected to the entity record.

    EntityFlo supports board actions as part of governance operations. Resolutions, approvals, consents, minutes and evidence connect to the entity, the change event and the audit trail. The board action is not isolated from the record it affects.

    AI Company Secretary Support

    FloSec, EntityFlo's AI CoSec, helps governance teams draft and progress company secretary work from the live record. It can assist with resolutions, minutes, approvals, entity questions, missing information and governance outputs.

    This is different from using generic AI over documents. FloSec is designed to work with structured entity data, source evidence and workflow context.

    Ownership and Structure Clarity

    Australian groups often include companies, trusts, trustee companies, SPVs, operating subsidiaries, property vehicles and joint ventures. EntityFlo helps teams map ownership and control pathways so finance, legal, boards, auditors and lenders can rely on current structure information.

    The output is not just a diagram. It is a governance record connected to source evidence.

    Faster Time-to-Value

    Mid-market groups need pace. They need to migrate out of spreadsheets, clean up records, capture obligations and start operating with confidence.

    EntityFlo is designed for faster setup and adoption than broad enterprise GRC programs. It focuses on the work Australian governance teams need to complete, without forcing a heavy implementation around features they may not use.

    Diligent vs EntityFlo: Comparison for Mid-Market Groups

    CriteriaDiligentEntityFlo
    Core positioningEnterprise governance, risk, compliance and board management suiteAI-native governance operations platform for Australian corporate groups
    Best fitPublic companies, large enterprises and regulated organisations with broad GRC needsMid-market Australian groups managing 50-200+ entities
    Primary operating focusBoard, risk, compliance and enterprise governance programsEntity operations, ASIC workflows, registers, ownership, approvals and board actions
    Australian entity operationsBuyers should assess module fit for ASIC, trusts and local workflowsBuilt Australian-first around ASIC and local structures
    ASIC workflowsMay require product/module assessment and configurationASIC-related workflows, annual reviews, company changes, registers and evidence built in
    Trusts and SPVsBuyers should validate suitability for Australian trusts and SPVsDesigned for trusts, trustee companies, SPVs, JVs and control pathways
    Board actionsStrong board management heritageBoard decisions connected directly to entity operations and audit trail
    AI CoSecBuyers should assess AI capabilities by module and workflowFloSec AI assists with resolutions, minutes, approvals, questions and evidence-based CoSec work
    Implementation profileEnterprise procurement and implementation expectations may applyFaster mid-market setup and practical adoption
    Risk of overkillCan be broader than needed for entity operationsFocused on the governance work mid-market teams run every day

    Diligent may be right for organisations that need a broad enterprise GRC and board management suite. EntityFlo is designed for Australian corporate groups that need a focused operating platform for entity management, ASIC workflows, board actions and AI-assisted company secretary work.

    When EntityFlo Is the Better Diligent Alternative

    EntityFlo is likely the better Diligent alternative when your team needs to fix entity operations before adding more enterprise governance layers.

    Common signs include:

    • Your entity list lives in spreadsheets.
    • ASIC records, internal registers and board documents do not always match.
    • Annual reviews depend on manual reminders.
    • Trust and SPV structures are difficult to explain quickly.
    • Resolutions and minutes are drafted from old templates.
    • Approvals happen by email and are hard to audit.
    • Finance, legal and CoSec teams ask each other for the same information repeatedly.
    • A bank, auditor or buyer request triggers a scramble for evidence.

    These are not abstract governance issues. They are operating failures. They slow the team down and weaken confidence in the corporate record.

    EntityFlo addresses the layer where those failures occur. It gives the team one live place to manage entities, filings, registers, ownership, documents, approvals, board actions and audit history.

    How to Evaluate a Diligent Alternative

    When comparing Diligent alternatives, avoid evaluating only from a board portal or enterprise GRC checklist. Use scenarios from your actual governance workload.

    Ask each platform to demonstrate:

    • Processing an ASIC annual review across multiple Australian entities
    • Managing a director appointment from approval to lodgement to register update
    • Creating a structure chart with companies, trusts, trustee companies and SPVs
    • Drafting a board or member resolution using current entity data
    • Showing the audit trail for a governance action
    • Producing an evidence pack for a lender, auditor or transaction process
    • Onboarding a 100-entity Australian group without a long enterprise program

    The right platform should make these workflows easier, faster and more reliable. If it mainly adds another place to upload documents or view board papers, it may not solve the core problem.

    FAQ

    What is the best Diligent alternative for Australian mid-market groups?

    For Australian mid-market corporate groups that need entity operations, ASIC workflows, board actions, registers, ownership and AI CoSec support, EntityFlo is a focused Diligent alternative.

    Is Diligent too large for mid-market companies?

    Diligent can be valuable for large enterprises, public companies and regulated organisations with broad governance, risk, compliance and board management needs. Some mid-market groups may find that scope heavier than required for practical entity management and ASIC operations.

    What is entity management software mid-market Australia buyers should look for?

    Mid-market Australian buyers should look for software that supports ASIC workflows, local registers, trusts, SPVs, ownership charts, approvals, board actions, documents, audit trails and fast setup.

    Does EntityFlo include board workflows?

    Yes. EntityFlo connects board and member decisions to the underlying entity record, including resolutions, minutes, approvals, evidence and related governance actions.

    Book a Demo

    If your team is comparing Diligent alternatives, see how EntityFlo gives Australian mid-market corporate groups one live system for entities, ASIC filings, registers, ownership, approvals, board actions and AI CoSec workflows.

    Book a demo at entityflo.com

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