Accenture's Track Record

Accenture's Track Record

  • When Texas contracted with Accenture for enrollment in its Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), enrollment plunged to its lowest level since 2001. Although there have been programmatic changes, part of the reason for the drop was staffing shortages. Many families applied for CHIP but Accenture never processed their applications (Houston Chronicle, March 1, 2006).


  • Colorado's Department of Labor and Employment Services had a $39 million contract with Accenture for a computer system. In November 2005, the state declared that Accenture was in breach of contract and launched negotiations to resolve the matter. Accenture originally demanded an additional $19.9 million to finish the project, but reduced its demand to $9.8 million when the state balked. Finally, the state dumped the company after pouring $35 million into a computer system that does not work (Denver Post, Dec. 31, 2005).


  • In 2005, Colorado canceled another $10.5 million contract with Accenture for a voter-registration computer system after spending $1.5 million, deciding that continuing work on the contract would be "throwing good money after bad" (Denver Post, Dec. 1, 2005).


  • In 2004, Florida canceled three information technology contracts with Accenture worth more than $250 million. One of the contracts was for help-desk services that the state's chief information officer said "weren't addressing the needs of the various agencies the way they should have been" (Tallahassee Democrat, Aug. 20, 2004).


  • In 2003, the New York state comptroller described a child welfare system designed by Accenture as "a high-cost, incomplete system that did not meet the needs of [its] users" (Correspondence from the New York state comptroller to John A. Johnson, New York Office of Children & Family Services, Sept. 18, 2003).


  • An Accenture contract with the Canadian province of Ontario to redesign its welfare system was called "the mother of all sweetheart deals." The original deal would have allowed Andersen to make $180 million. By 2002, the cost of the project had swelled to $246 million. The provincial auditor criticized Accenture because its "billing rates were substantially higher than the corresponding amounts charged by the (Ontario) Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services" (Auditor's Report: Ontario Works, 2002). In 2004, Ontario closed its Accenture-designed call centers because they were "frustrating for applicants" (Accenture Corporate Profile, Polaris Institute)


  • In 2001, Ohio fired Accenture from its Ohio Works project. Accenture designed Ohio Works, a computer system to help people find jobs, but the system was difficult to use (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 12, 2001). Arnold Tompkins, the former head of the agency that contracted with Accenture for Ohio Works, pleaded guilty to violating the state's revolving door law. After pushing through the $60 million Ohio Works contract without competitive bidding, Tompkins went to work for Accenture as a $10,000 a month consultant (Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 2, 2001).
Print Version