ACL Launches New Suite of Pre-Built Analysis Apps to Monitor ERP Process Risk

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL, a software provider helping governments and the world's largest public and private companies stamp out fraud, operational waste, and unethical business, today announced the launch of ACL Essentials, its new suite of premium analysis apps that continuously assess critical business processes. The pre-built Essentials process controls can be activated at a fraction of the cost, time and effort of traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) process controls. Each is available standalone, or can be bundled into mix-and-match solutions.

The premium analysis apps run on the ACL platform, identifying control gaps by monitoring data continuously for indicators of fraud, waste, and abuse. They quickly enable objective, factual insight into ERP process health, compliance risk and financial exposure that was previously difficult to achieve.

"The pre-packaged ACL Essentials analysis apps have allowed us to see immediate value from our data analytics program. We've quickly progressed from a focus on expected risk in theory to actual risk in reality by taking a targeted approach to analyzing data from our ERP system," commented Leslie Marie, group manager of internal audit for the SRI Group. "We've been able to cut costs and gain greater insight into supplier interactions, which we have already utilized in supply chain negotiations. It also helps us to track and improve efficiencies and causes us to question why and how we did certain things."

Organizations are typically unable to effectively control business processes and prevent leakage from within such a complex platform as an ERP system. Rather than choking efficiency by adding preventative controls, ACL Essentials provide ERP oversight through detective controls. Based on more than 30 years of consulting experience, the apps automate continuous process control without depleting resources.

"While each public, private or government organization is unique, nearly 60% of process areas are identical for all, like payroll and vendor management," said Dan Zitting, chief product officer at ACL. "Constraints on time, skills and resources mean very few organizations are able to analyze the massive data they produce each day. ACL Essentials offers pre-built, process-ready tests that continuously monitor data, with little human intervention, so teams can focus their time on the risks unique to their business environments."

ACL Essentials applied to the accounts payable process, for example, can flag instances of a purchase order date occurring after an invoice date or paid at a greater amount than approved, so organizations can know with certainty whether vendor billing processes are healthy. Pre-configured tests are also available for monitoring other standard ERP processes, including: accounts receivable, assets management, cash disbursements, general ledger, human resources, purchase order management, salaries & payroll, sales analysis, stock & inventory, and vendor management.

While ERP process control solutions typically require extensive configuration and IT support, the ACL Essentials apps are easy to install, readily expandable, and offer an intuitive user experience.

To learn more about ACL Essentials, visit www.acl.com/products/acl-essentials.

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About ACL
ACL delivers software solutions that are transforming audit, compliance, and risk management to give organizations unprecedented control over their business. www.acl.com

© 2016 ACL Services Ltd. ACL and the ACL logo are registered trademarks of ACL Services Ltd. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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