Identifying Appropriate Amount of Key Controls Greatest Model Audit Rule Challenge for Insurers

CHICAGO (May 4, 2018) – A flash poll conducted by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (Baker Tilly) indicates over half of insurance organizations specify identifying the “right amount” of key controls is the single-most challenging factor when maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of its Model Audit Rule (MAR) program. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Annual Financial Reporting Model Regulation #205 is commonly known as the Model Audit Rule.

“Insurance companies should be assessing key controls and compensating controls on an annual basis,” John Romano, CPA, CFE, CIA, senior manager in Baker Tilly’s risk advisory practice, said. “Particular attention should be made to procedures that have gone from manual or semi-manual to automated, to track and realize improved efficiencies throughout your organization’s processes.”

“If your organization has numerous compensating controls, the question should be asked if those controls should be designated as key,” Garrett Gosh, CPA, CITP, HITRUST CCSFP, senior manager in Baker Tilly’s risk advisory practice, said. “If your organization is referring to several key controls to address a specific risk or management assertion, however, that may be an indicator of areas where evaluation efforts are duplicated.”

Baker Tilly recently held an educational webinar, The Model Audit Rule: Diagnosing your program’s reliability, resources and re-engineering processes, to inform insurers on current trends, best practices and suggestions to improving their organization’s MAR program.

The webinar presenters discussed:

• MAR requirements for management’s report of internal control over financial reporting
• Common misconceptions and current trends in addressing the requirements for the basis for management’s review and assertions
• Options for how to re-engineer a MAR compliance program to be more cost efficient and effective

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