Accenture (ACN) is assisting Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) to streamline Zurich’s global finance IT function under a five-year application services agreement signed in 2012. The initiative, which is being implemented through Accenture Finance and Risk Services, is designed to help Zurich further improve its finance IT processes, better align the finance IT function to support the company’s objectives, and reduce costs.
Accenture is developing, implementing and managing finance and business intelligence applications that support the insurer’s operations in North America, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The initiative enables faster and more collaborative decision-making within the insurer’s finance IT organization. Zurich’s finance and business intelligence applications are based on SAP® solutions and support a range of processes including accounts payable, accounts receivable, month-end close and balance-sheet reconciliations.
"Our goal is to generate the most value from our applications, working with our Finance leadership, to build the foundation for a world-class finance organization," said Markus Nordlin, Chief Information Technology Officer, Zurich. "Accenture’s global track record in SAP application services and finance transformation projects, combined with its deep industry knowledge, makes it an ideal partner to help us drive higher returns on our IT spend and align IT more closely with our business strategy."
John Del Santo, senior managing director of Accenture’s Global Insurance Industry practice, said, "In this challenging economic environment, insurers need to do more with less. By streamlining its finance technology and associated IT processes, Zurich is ensuring that it delivers enhanced services to its finance professionals while freeing up resources for other strategic projects that are also important to support business growth and improve service quality."