Strengthening internal audit fuels insurance company’s strategic expansion
$1 million+
Unreported reimbursable deductible owed to client discovered through internal audit services.
At a glance
Client
Commercial P&C insurer
Industry
Insurance
Our role
Enhance internal audit
Our solution
Supports future growth
Scenario
An insurance firm with a new CAE needed to upgrade and expand internal audit capabilities to support the company’s strategic objectives and growth plans.
Approach
Grant Thornton partnered with the organization to enhance its internal audit framework, propose strategic recommendations and deliver co-sourced support.
Result
We helped the company build an internal audit foundation to support the planned expansion — and discovered a reimbursable deductible owed to the client.
Scenario
Our commercial property and casualty insurance client was looking to expand its operations in North America to focus on a broader clientele, building out new capacity in a competitive market space.
As the client expanded operations, its back-office functionality hadn’t kept pace with the growth and its internal audit function was immature and was not identifying the processes and functions that were holding the company back.
The company hired a new head of internal audit, who asked Grant Thornton to assist in building a more robust internal audit function that would create and execute a more effective and insightful audit plan.
Approach
Grant Thornton helped the client develop a structured methodology and a focused, risk-based plan for assessments and internal audits.
However, the client lacked the personnel to execute its internal audit plans, so Grant Thornton provided subject matter experts in a co-sourced arrangement. This filled a critical gap, providing the human capital and subject matter experience the client needs until the client can hire its own internal audit team.
Going beyond the tasks needed to fulfill the new internal audit objectives, Grant Thornton also hosts working sessions with the client to train existing team members on industry knowledge and best practices for conducting a set of program audits and operational financial audits.
Meanwhile, Grant Thornton is building a long-term, trusted relationship with key people in leadership positions with the client. In particular, Grant Thornton has collaborated with one key stakeholder throughout their career and has a mutual understanding of the long-term value our services can bring to the company.
This focus on building business value led to an upgrade in the tools used in the internal audit.
Result
As expected, working alongside the client’s audit team has helped the company build more rigorous processes that can support the ambitious growth goals.
But that wasn’t the only benefit. In one third-party audit, Grant Thornton and the client identified a reimbursable deductible owed to the client worth more than $1 million.
Over the course of the audit work, Grant Thornton provided the client with recommendations on how to unlock the additional functionality of its existing tools and applications. While the company employs Guidewire’s SaaS platform for policy administration, claims management and billing, it continued using Excel for tasks that Guidewire could seamlessly automate.
We recommended that the client use Guidewire as its subledger platform to reduce manual work and the potential for data entry/keystroke errors that could affect financial statements.
Related Resources
Content disclaimer
This Grant Thornton Advisors LLC content provides information and comments on current issues and developments. It is not a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter covered. It is not, and should not be construed as, accounting, legal, tax, or professional advice provided by Grant Thornton Advisors LLC. All relevant facts and circumstances, including the pertinent authoritative literature, need to be considered to arrive at conclusions that comply with matters addressed in this content.
Grant Thornton Advisors LLC and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms.
For additional information on topics covered in this content, contact a Grant Thornton Advisors LLC professional.
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