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8/30/2017 Will Robotics (RPA) Replace ACL?

| ITauditSecurity

Will Robotics (RPA) Replace ACL?


In my last post, I described Why Internal Auditors Should Care about
Robotic Process Automation.

In this post, Ill explore whether RPA can replace analytic packages
like ACL, IDEA, R, and Power BI.

That might seem like a strange question, but a few managers and a VP
have asked me just that recently. Heres how Ive answered it.

Please note that in this post, unlike my previous post, Im only


addressing robotics use in internal audit as it applies to analytics, not
as it applies to the typical business operation (even though some of
the same points would apply when comparing robotics to python
scripting, Power BI, etc., to accomplish business operations).
Also, when I refer to ACL, I am including IDEA, Power BI, R, and any
other analytics software used for analytics. Im just saying ACL as a
shortcut, and because thats what most auditors use.

Will RPA Make ACL DOA?


Heres my answer:

No!, not in most cases, because:

Robots require a well-defined process that is rule-based. How many of your analytic
projects meet that criteria? Not many of mine, either.
Also, many analytic projects are one-time projects. Few are well-defined, at least not
from the start. Once you have it scripted in ACL and it is well-defined, maybe robotics
would work. But if you already have it scripted in ACL, why bother with robots?
Due to the rule-based requirement, you cant give a robot something that requires
human judgment. Robots are not good with exceptions and nuance. If a transaction
requires that, the robot just flags it and passes it to a human.
With robotics, you still have to code the analysis (again, this assumes youre replacing an
analysis package like ACL), whether its in Excel, SQL, or whatever language. Doesnt it
make sense to code data analysis in a package like ACL that is custom-built for that
purpose? Why code the analysis in another software while in the process also code the
robot? Do twice the work for what reason?
One of the first exercises in a data analytics process is to profile the data and explore it.
While profiling data can be codified in a rule base, often the exploration piece depends
on the data; the more different types and sources of data, the more creative
opportunities. Do you really want to try to code all the possibilities into software?
Also, data analysis isnt just a science, its a art. Robots dont have hunches, cant follow
their gut, and dont get tips and gossip over lunch that sometimes leads you down a
profitable rabbit hole.
The key selling point of a robot is that it uses the same software as usersit can log in
like a user and access, add, or update data. But if the screen name, file menu option,
field name, or button name changes, the robot scratches its virtual head and spits on the

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floor. Do you want to update your robotic process every time your IT group updates MS
Office, Oracle, or a home-grown application, etc.? I dont.
When problems occur, a human could look for the missing screen, file menu option,
field, or button, and have a good chance to figure out what changed, adapt, and keep
working. A robot cant.
If your company already one, two, or a handful of auditors who can write ACL scripts
and use other analytic tools, why spend additional training dollars and climb another
learning curve? Again, I dont see the ROI in this.
Robotics will require additional licenses and maintenance fees, and the robot(s) have to
live somewhere (server, infrastructure). Again, wheres the ROI?
As this IIA article noted, we cant codify everything (requires IIA membership & login).
Although the point of that article is that good auditors do more than follow standards,
guidance, and a code of ethics, or get certifications, the same holds true for analytics.
Creativity, adaptability, and years of experience are extremely valuable, and cant be
programmed into a robot perfectly.

Shortly after this post appeared, ACL posted this about data robots. Im guessing they are
jumping on the recent hype about robots and automation to sell more software and
services. While their points are well-taken and needed to be heeded by all auditors, I think
they did a bait-and-switch on the robot/automation topic.
Why do I think that? Even if you master ACL and use it to script and automate most of
your risk assessment, testing, etc., I do not believe thats enough to meet the data
revolution thats already starting; I do not believe any one analytics program can save the
audit profession and keep internal audit relevant to the business. Ill lay out those thoughts
in a future post.

Conclusion: Stick with ACL, IDEA, Power BI


So in summary, show Mr. Roboto to the analytic door.

The biggest reasons for NOT doing analytics via robotics:

1) Most things that would cause an automated ACL project to fail (e.g., a new/changed
column/field on a data source file) would also cause a robotic process to fail.

However, a robotic process has more failure points, especially when the process navigates an
application user interface (most analytics use file paths or back-end processes to obtain data).
A complicated process could depend on multiple applications or websites, each with their own
interfaces, and if any of them changed substantially, the robot would fail.

Therefore, you would not typically choose robotics over ACL (and the like) unless you simply
couldnt do it any other waythats when you DO want to use robotics.

2) Data analysis is part science and part art. You might be able to get a robot to think and
learn the science, but the art is another matter. Thats where creativity, adaptability, and
judgment come in. Spock is dead.

3) You better have some good ROI numbers before trying robotics. Aside from the training
and licensing costs, the real issue has been whether you can really save money in the long run
by roboticizing your process (yes, thats a new technical term).

What About ROI with ACL?

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Now you might say the ROI isnt too good with ACL. If so, why are you using it?

In my experience, bad ROI with ACL and similar tools is due to the following:

Management doesnt support analytics, or says they do, but dont really (I wrote an
entire post about this here).
Analytics is not part of the audit process. Therefore, analytics is only done periodically
and its hard to retain something you only use occasionally.
Obtaining key data (e.g, HR, user ID, payroll, general ledger, IT infrastructure and
devices) is not automated, formatted, and made available to auditors for use on multiple
audits.
Scripting and automation are not a goal. Starting from scratch for each audit takes too
much time and doesnt eliminate work.
No one is dedicated to lead the analytics program.
Too many auditors are not analytical thinkers and are not technical enough to learn
analytics and the skills required to make automation happen.

Think Automation

As I mentioned in my previous post (and ranted about immediately above), auditors need to
step up

If automation is the future, dont you think you should learn more about it? One way to get
started is to do analytics, and then automate those analytics.

This will require you to increase your technical acumen as you connect to databases and
websites, format and transform data, analyze data, write scripts, schedule and maintain
analytics, and finally, trouble-shoot all the scheduling, connectivity, user ID, database, and
network/firewall problems youll encounter along the way.

ACL, IDEA, R, or Power BI would be a good place to start. Or Python.

Just get started.

If you have already started, thats great. Now take it to the next level.

Comments?
Are any of your companies using robotics or thinking about it?

Related Posts
Why Internal Auditors Should Care about Robotic Process Automation
Robotics to Replace ACL, Part 2
Auditors, Do Data Analytics or Die
#1 Reason for NOT Doing Data Analytics
Excel: Basic Data Analytics

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