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CONTINUOUS

CONTROLS

MONITORING

Support Regulatory Compliance

Improve Cost Management

Drive Operational Performance

CLARITY.

CERTAINTY

CONFIDENC



ACL CCM solutions address controls and business challenges within corefinancial and operational processes. CCM application modules include:

General Ledger

ACL CONTINUOUS CONTROLS MONITORING

ACL CCM solutions provide an independent control review mechanism to help organizations assure the

effectiveness of internal controls, reduce operational risks, minimize profit erosion, and mitigate the risk

of fraud, while meeting increasing regulatory requirements. CCM controls tests have been designed

to support the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations) Enterprise Risk Management Framework,

recognized as the standard for enabling compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

CCM solutions identify errors, fraud, and inefficiencies by independently checking and validating

transactions against specified control parameters and business rules. Summary reports, available through

an intuitive browser-based user interface, provide the opportunity to drill down to specific exceptions and

transactions. Management and business process owners receive timely notification of control breaches, can

quickly review quantified exposure of business risk, and investigate and resolve potential problems before

they escalate. As a result, organizations can better support compliance, contain costs, and minimize losses.

Executives today are more challenged than ever to make quick, well-informed decisions

that address increasing business complexity and regulatory requirements. Close examination

of the business transactions underlying financial reporting is needed to uncover unforeseen

risks, potential control breaches, and opportunities for operational improvements.

ACL Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) provides this critical insight. Built on

powerful ACL technology, CCM solutions extend best practices in controls compliance

and transactional analysis into core business processes.

Control objectives addressed by CCManalytics across key business processes:

Authorization

Accuracy

Completeness

Validity

Efficiency & Effectiveness

Segregation of Duties

Regulatory Compliance

COSO ENTERPRISERISK MANAGEMENT

Supported by ACLtechnology

Control Activities

Risk Response

Risk Assessment

Event Identification

Objective Setting

Information & Communication

Monitoring

S t r a t e

g i c

O p e r a t i

o n s

R e p o r t

i n g

C o m p l i a

n c e

Internal Environment



SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABLE

SARBANES-OXLEY 404 COMPLIANCE

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management

certification and external attestation that the internal controlsand procedures underlying financial reporting are ef fective.

Continuous monitoring of the controls governing financial

transactions provides an increased level of assurance and

confidence to management, auditors, board directors,

shareholders, and other key stakeholders.

ACL CCM solutions automate internal controls testing in

key financial and operational processes across the enterprise

through transaction analysis from any source. Organizations

gain independent, comprehensive assurance of the effectiveness

of internal controls – and support sustainable compliance,

year after year.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS GOOD BUSINESS

While regulatory compliance requirements may be the catalyst

to validate controls effectiveness, best practices in corporate

governance are also good business. ACL CCM solutions enable

financial managers to closely review internal controls effectiveness,

and provide immediate opportunities to realize cost savings, reduce

operational risks, and improve business performance.

The current business environment continues to exert pressure on

organizations to reduce expenses and inefficiencies while improving

top-line revenue growth. Faced with a dynamic regulatory landscape,

fewer resources, less time, and mounting demands from stakeholders tomitigate business risk, organizations must formulate strategies to contain

costs, prevent fraud, safeguard corporate assets, and address revenue

leakage. ACL CCM solutions provide value beyond meeting regulatory

compliance requirements by enabling organizations to continuously test

the integrity of transactions and rapidly identify and solve control issues

before profit erosion impacts bottom-line performance.

BENEFITS OF ACL CCM SOLUTIONS

Independent testing of controls – through the review

of 100 percent of transactions from any source

Timely notification to management of control

breakdowns – an “early warning system” of compliance

risk, enabling control weaknesses to be fixed before they

materially impact financial results or are reported ex ternally

Improved fraud detection and reduction of

business risk – through identification of control gaps

and weaknesses that can lead to error, abuse, and fraud

Improvements to efficiency and effectiveness

– with potential to increase profitability by containing costs,minimizing losses, and improving revenue collection

Extensibility to multiple end-to-end business

processes – with independent assurance of controls

effectiveness and transaction integrity across the enterprise

Sustainable compliance – ongoing, automated

internal controls testing that provides cost-effective

support for compliance programs

“In the past, internal controls were merely considered

by auditors; now they will have to be tested and

examined in detail. That process will add an important

protection for investors because solid internal controls

are the first line of defense against misconduct and

one of the most effective deterrents to fraud.”

William J. McDonough Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman



ACL BUSINESS ASSURANCE

ANALYTICS TECHNOLOGYWith ACL CCM solutions, organizations can continuously

test and monitor internal controls, embedding audit “best

practices” into organizations’ day-to-day business operations.

They apply automated, pre-defined analytics to critical control

points, mapped to the COSO framework, within core business

process areas. By comparing and analyzing data from multiple

systems across the enterprise, ACL CCM solutions support

efficient, independent testing of business transactions to

identify errors, exceptions, and control weaknesses

Management and compliance teams receive timely

notification of control exposures within the enterprise

– and gain independent assurance of the integrity of

transactions underlying financial reporting.

The key attributes of ACL CCM technology

include the ability to:

Check and validate transactional data from

any ERP (including SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft),

mainframe system, or custom-built application,

against organizations’ control parameters and

business rules

Rapidly analyze unlimited volumes of data,

with seamless data access and aggregation

from virtually any enterprise application, while

maintaining data integrity

Leverage powerful ACL analytics to identify suspicious

activity, errors, segregation of duties issues, and

exceptions that may be hidden within high volumes

of transactions

Receive prompt notification of control breaches,

through an easy-to-use browser-based user interface

Quickly review quantified exposure of business

risk, and drill down to specific exceptions and

transactions to resolve potential problems before

they escalate

The flexible nature of ACL CCM solutions also recognizes

that every organization’s controls and operational policies

are unique – even within common business processes.

The analytic parameters can be easily fine-tuned by authorized

personnel as circumstances change – for example, when

approval limits change, staff take on new or expanded

responsibilities, or business risk profiles demand more

frequent testing of key controls. ACL CCM technologyprovides management with an enterprise-wide approach

to controls testing and compliance that is efficient,

cost-effective, and sustainable.

A C L C C M S

O L U T I O N

B U S I N E S S P R O C E S S A R E A S

OtherPayrollGeneralLedger

AccountsPayable

AccountsReceivable

Business ProcessOwners

FinancialManagers Auditors

Present Results

Access Data

Test

Transactional Data

Identify Control Exceptions



THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS CONTROLS MONITORINGToday the need for continuous monitoring of controls is more critical than ever.

Financial managers face challenges that include the need to manage regulatory

compliance, reduce financial process costs, improve revenue assurance processes,

oversee outsourcing arrangements, and monitor cross-organizational business processes.

All these point to the need to refocus on financial controls in business transactions.

Typically organizations implement a range of controls to detect and prevent significant

errors, fraud, or inefficiency. However, in reality, no controls system is entirely effective.

Manual controls break down as transaction volumes increase. The pressures of growing

workloads and increasing business complexity can make it operationally expedient to

circumvent controls. Controls available in enterprise applications may be overlooked or

simply not implemented due to time, cost, and efficiency. Organizations are exposed to

potential financial loss while management and audit run the risk of failing to maintain

effective internal controls and meet the requirements of regulatory compliance initiatives

(e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404). While data analysis technologies have been used

successfully by internal audit to assess internal controls and identify transaction errors

and exceptions, such reviews frequently take place long after the transactions have

occurred, limiting management’s ability to take timely and corrective action.

The increasing costs of external audits and compliance reviews are pressuring organizations

to find a cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable means of validating controls performance.

There is an identified need for technology solutions that can automate the independent

and continuous testing and monitoring of controls.

“Companies should not reinvent the wheel for SOX compliance . . . but rather

make new technology investments to automate key parts of the process

for repeatability, sustainability, and cost effectiveness . . . Key technologies

can reduce the cost of SOX compliance upwards of 25 percent, as compliance

has been a mostly manual, people-intensive process.”

AMR Research – Decisions 2005

“The value of continuously monitoring and auditing controls has been discussed

and experimented with for a considerable time, but two factors are now helping it

to become standard practice. Specifically, enhanced computer technologies and the

impact of legislative changes such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are serving to facilitate

and accelerate the use of continuous monitoring approaches.”

The Honorable David M. Walker,

Comptroller General of the United States and

Chair of the Center for Continuous Auditing Advisory Board

CLARITY.

CERTAINTY.

CONFIDENC



©2006 ACL Services Ltd.CCM/B/E/230206Printed in Canada

ABOUT ACL

ACL Services Ltd. is the leading global provider of Business Assurance Analytics to financial

executives, compliance professionals, and auditors. Combining market-leading data analysis

software and professional services expertise, ACL solutions give organizations confidence in the

accuracy and integrity of the transactions and the effectiveness of the internal controls underlying

increasingly complex business operations. Since 1987, ACL’s proven technology has enabled financialdecision-makers to assure controls compliance, reduce risk, detect fraud, minimize losses, enhance

profitability, and achieve fast payback.

ACL delivers its solutions in more than 130 countries through a global network of ACL offices and

channel partners. Our customers include 70 percent of the Fortune 500 companies and over two-thirds

of the Global 500, as well as hundreds of national, state, and local governments, and the Big Four

public accounting firms.ACL Headquarters

T +1 604 669 4225F +1 604 669 3557

[email protected]

acl.com ACL, the ACL logo, the ACL logo with the text “Data you can trust. Results you can see.”, and Audit Command Language are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACL Services Ltd.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FOR CONTROLS MONITORINGACL Continuous Controls Monitoring solutions address controls and business challenges within core financial and operational processes

that represent significant areas of potential business risk. The extensible CCM framework allows organizations to easily add application

modules to gain immediate and comprehensive insight into control exposures across the enterprise. The ACL CCM product suite addresses

the following core business processes:

General Ledger

Order-to-Cash Cycle

Payroll

Purchase-to-Payment Cycle

Purchasing Cards

Travel & Entertainment Expenses