New Analyst Study Shows ACL's Audit Management System Achieves ROI of More than 150 Percent

Using ACL GRC and ACL Analytics Exchange, a regional commercial bank realizes nearly $1.5M in benefits and cost savings over three years

VANCOUVER, Canada, Jan. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL today announced an independent study found a regional bank that deployed ACL™ GRC and ACL™ Analytics Exchange audit management systems achieved a return on investment (ROI) of 156 percent and considerably improved the organization's operational efficiency. ACL commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct "The Total Economic Impact™ of ACL" study in December 2015.

Forrester interviewed a representative client in the US financial services sector that has used ACL's full suite of data-driven GRC and analytics solutions for three years. The study concluded the total cost savings and value creation for the customer using this platform totaled nearly $1.5M.

"This Total Economic Impact study confirms organizations that use ACL's integrated, data-driven software suite can dramatically increase the efficiency and value of their audit function and, in turn, directly drive the performance of their organization," said Dan Zitting, Chief Product Officer at ACL. "By improving audit tools and processes, organizations are then better equipped to manage risk, reliably achieve objectives, and avoid regulatory scrutiny."

The study identified the following specific benefits that the organization experienced by using ACL GRC and ACL Analytics Exchange:

• Increased audit coverage. Without an increase in staffing, the client company increased the number of audits completed by up to 150 percent. The client estimates that to deliver that number of completed audits without ACL, it would have had to hire three to seven new employees on the audit team, which could have cost more than $690,000 annually.
  
• Reduced regulatory issues. With ACL GRC, the audit team is able to identify the root causes of business and regulatory risks—not just the symptoms—delivering more useful results to business operations. This allows the organization to take a proactive approach to pre-empting regulator criticisms, resolving issues that would have otherwise been raised by regulators. This also helps build trust with regulatory bodies.
  
• Improved audit delivery quality and results. Since implementing GRC, the audit team has delivered more informative and useful reporting that helps managers and executives make better decisions to reduce or eliminate the right issues and invest in the most beneficial opportunities.

In addition to these value-added benefits, Forrester identified several qualitative advantages to using ACL's data-driven platform, including improved knowledge management, better visibility into the audit team's work and results, and the generation of more specific insights that directly impact the client's bottom line and process development.

As an example, Forrester noted that ACL GRC can help identify a time-consuming, cross-departmental task that could be shortened or eliminated. "If ACL GRC can have an impact on even a fraction of a percentage of income, this could mean hundreds of thousands or even millions [of dollars] each year," the report stated.

When asked by Forrester about the improvements gained by using ACL's data-driven GRC platform, the client's chief auditor answered that instead of being seen as adversarial, the audit team is now seen as a business partner that is there to help.

"It was an eye-opener for employees in business groups that [the recommendations based on ACL analysis] could come out of an audit department, because traditional audit departments don't do that," noted the chief auditor.

To learn more about ACL GRC and ACL Analytics Exchange, visit http://www.acl.com/products/

Supporting Resources:

• For the latest news and views on audit, governance, risk management, compliance, and fraud, visit: www.acl.com/blog
• Follow ACL on Twitter: @ACLServices
• Join ACL on LinkedIn: www.acl.com/LinkedIn
• Like ACL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ACLServices

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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