AT&T and Accenture have announced a five-year, $500 million agreement designed to transform AT&T’s residential credit and accounts receivable management functions to support AT&T’s growth plans into the local services market and provide the company with new capabilities and efficiencies. This agreement, which follows a multi-billion dollar agreement the two companies announced last year, is designed to help AT&T expand its service portfolio, increase marketing flexibility, improve uncollected receivables, enhance operational efficiency, and reduce costs. To help AT&T realize the full benefits of the transformation program, Accenture will manage the integration of planning, initiative execution, and collections treatment processes across multiple organizations within AT&T Consumer. Approximately 45 AT&T management employees, whose work is within the scope of the agreement, will follow their work and transition to Accenture. In addition, approximately 250 other AT&T employees will be part of the “co-sourced” operation and remain on the AT&T payroll. Co-sourcing combines the strengths of both companies, each of which will contribute to the management, staffing, technology, and culture of the operation. The agreement has been structured so that AT&T will retain control of business planning, credit policy, and customer interaction. Accenture will lead the overall transformation program and be responsible for operating the credit risk management and collections functions. In addition, Accenture will build and deploy enhanced capabilities to enable AT&T to support its growth objectives while mitigating risk and reducing uncollectibles.

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