2011-01-01
“With ACL continuous monitoring software, we have been able to automate the review of 100 percent of our payment transactions. This provides us with an added degree of certainty over the effectiveness of controls of our payables which is critical as we move towards SOX 404 certification. This solution has resulted in the identification of duplicate payments which are five times the total cost of implementing the ACL software.”
Gary Silsbe, Director of Operational Excellence, TELUS Communications Inc.
TELUS Communications Inc. is the second largest telecommunications company in Canada, with £3.88 billion in annual revenues and millions of customers nationwide. The TELUS Accounts Payable division is committed to innovation and efficiency, and to promoting accountability and fiscal transparency throughout the organisation. To further enhance corporate controls, support regulatory compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404, and identify cost savings opportunities, TELUS chose to implement ACL continuous monitoring within its corporate purchasing card program and overall purchase-to-payment cycle. By automating its internal controls testing, TELUS now can independently monitor transactions on a daily basis and minimise control gaps across the enterprise. With ACL technology, TELUS has gained invaluable business assurance – and seen immediate bottom-line returns on its compliance investment.
TELUS has 4.8 million network access lines and 4 million wireless subscribers throughout Canada.
The company provides customers with a full range of telecommunications products and services including data, voice, and TELUS Mobility wireless services across the country, utilising next generation Internet-based technologies. TELUS has approximately 25,000 employees and is listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
TELUS uses ACL within two critical business processes – its overall purchase-to-payment cycle and its purchasing card program – to automate labor-intensive testing and monitoring of internal controls.
TELUS is a corporate leader in Accounts Payable (AP) innovation, with strong internal controls and a commitment to efficiency and bottom-line results. The internal finance division is always looking for ways to further strengthen its AP controls and boost profitability – especially in the areas of duplicate payments, errors, and overpayments. Previously, the company successfully recovered duplicate payments by contracting an outside firm to analyse AP transactions. TELUS wanted to find these exceptions within its own operations sooner, and eliminate the need for payment of outside commissions.
TELUS also required a more robust process to identify potential financial leakage and to ensure that both employees and merchants were adhering to the business policies and regulations of its corporate purchasing card program. The TELUS finance team had a reporting system in place, but felt continuous monitoring technology would make further operational improvements possible.
TELUS selected ACL continuous monitoring on the basis of the technology’s powerful, independent transaction monitoring capabilities and its affordability. In an effort to drive best practices in operational excellence throughout the TELUS organisation, the use of ACL helps the finance team to minimise profit erosion and gain further efficiencies.
The finance department now monitors all corporate purchasing card and AP transactions on a daily basis. The process is simple, yet comprehensive. Within weeks of implementation, TELUS identified duplicate payments, other errors, and opportunities to increase bottom-line results and strengthen the company’s internal control framework. With ACL technology, TELUS executives also gain greater assurance in the effectiveness of company’s control mechanisms, as a key element in ensuring compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act – a pressing regulatory issue for companies listed on the NYSE.
TELUS is looking to expand continuous monitoring to support revenue assurance within the order-to-cash cycle in the near future, based on the early success of its AP and purchasing card monitoring installations. The team also is examining how ACL software can help staff perform ad hoc analyses and investigations into the range of suspicious transactions, errors, and anomalies identified through continuous controls testing and monitoring.
The TELUS Accounts Payable division is committed to ongoing operational improvements, efficiency gains, and promotion of best practices in controls compliance. By adding ACL continuous monitoring solutions to its world-class operations, TELUS can:
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