From first draft to print-ready. Why is the process still so manual?

3 minute read
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Transforming how teams prepare the Management Information Circular.

It’s the final stretch before filing. A last-minute change comes in from your VP of Compensation. In the traditional workflow, that means marking up the proof, sending it to your service team, waiting for typesetting, waiting for a new PDF, reviewing, and approving. All for a single sentence. Sound familiar?

If you’ve worked on a Management Information Circular, you know how much time gets lost to process. Not the content itself, but everything around it. Formatting. Version control. Proof requests. Manual updates to numbers that appear in six different places. The work that has nothing to do with the substance of the document, but somehow takes up a significant part of the timeline.

The hidden cost of manual formatting

Most teams that work on the MIC still operate in a world where design and content are deeply intertwined. A contributor working in Word can accidentally shift a heading, break a table layout, or throw off the formatting of an entire section without realizing it. Fixing those issues takes time, often from people whose expertise has nothing to do with design.

The reality is simple. If you’re a lawyer drafting disclosure language, your role is clear.  Perfect the content. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your edits broke the document’s visual structure.

Design that’s built in, not bolted on

This is one of the things Quinn changes fundamentally. Before a document is ever released for drafting, the design framework is already in place. Templates, styles, formatting rules, and branding are all configured upfront with the support of your brand and marketing teams. When contributors open the document, they just write. The platform handles the rest.

And it doesn’t just apply the design. It protects it. Quinn uses a structured styling system that prevents contributors from accidentally altering the document’s visual integrity. The formatting stays consistent no matter who’s working in the document or how many changes are made.

No more waiting for proofs

In a traditional workflow, generating a proof means sending the document out, waiting for typesetting, waiting for a review cycle, and hoping nothing shifted in the process. With Quinn, a perfectly formatted, print-ready proof is generated directly from the platform with the click of a button. Days, weeks, or months before filing, you can preview exactly what the final document will look like.

That last-minute change from your VP of Compensation? Make the edit, generate a new proof, and move on. Minutes, not hours.

Updates that flow through the entire document

That last-minute compensation change? It’s rarely just one number. Executive compensation figures often appear across multiple sections of the circular, from the summary table to the CD&A discussion to the notes. In a traditional workflow, each instance has to be found and updated manually. Miss one, and you’ve got a consistency problem in a filed document.

Quinn handles through automated processes and workflows. Financial data is mapped directly from Excel and syncs across every instance in the document in real time. When the number changes at the source, it changes everywhere. Key dates, names, or disclosure language that repeat throughout the document can be updated once and applied globally. No more tracking down every instance and hoping you didn’t miss one.

The bottom line

The content in your Circular will always demand careful attention, but the process of formatting, proofing, and updating shouldn’t consume the timeline the way it does today.

Quinn was built to take that burden off your team. Less time on process. More time on substance.

Ready to see Quinn in action?


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Jason Barnard - Business Development Manager, Canadian Compliance

With over 20 years of experience in client relationship management, Jason specializes in supporting public issuers with shareholder disclosure, strategic planning, and project execution. Currently serving as the Business Development Manager for Canadian compliance, Jason focuses on enhancing shareholder connectivity through tailored design and content best practices. Jason is known for building strong client relationships, staying ahead of industry trends, and delivering actionable insights that drive results.

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