Data Analytics - Engagement Memo

This is to inform you that our office is initiating an audit and investigation project to assess the effectiveness of controls in Amtrak's various business processes such as Purchase to Payment, Materials Management, Payroll, Health Care, and Claims. This project will rely heavily on data analysis software tools. Analysis of organizational data using specialized software is increasingly becoming the preferred way of conducting audits and proactive investigations in the IG community. The objectives of this project are to (1) assess the effectiveness of internal controls in company's business processes, (2) identify opportunities to control risks, and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business operations, and (3) prevent, detect, and deter instances of fraud, waste and abuse in the company. We plan to accomplish this work on an incremental basis by focusing on a small subset of critical business processes at a time. As part of this effort, we plan to use the ACL(Audit Command Language) data analytics software by mapping it to critical business data systems such as SAP, Ariba, Maximo and Spear.