Cost reduction, operational efficiency and best practice working capital management are key priorities for every business in today’s challenging environment.
Shared Services underpinned by a standard ERP architecture and robust, well planned processes can deliver these goals.
According to Hackett (a research company) around two-thirds of companies who have implemented Shared Service Centres have saved 20% or more of their annual operating costs, a figure which Hackett considers simply a baseline target. Indeed 21% of companies report saving north of 40%. Costs are not the only areas of improvement: SSO’s are a route to improved effectiveness as well. The vast majority of SSO’s report improvements of at least 10% in productivity, quality and customer service levels.
However the transition to a shared services operating model is an evolution; typically involving 4 phases:
Phase 1 Consolidation: The bringing together of transactional processes, such as AP, AR, Cash and Bank, into a single location serving multiple customers.
Phase 2 Standardisation: During this phase processes are re-engineered and improved to create a standardised best practice process architecture; typically enabled by the implementation of a single instance global or enterprise-wide ERP solution. This drives economies of scale and increases transparency. If the Consolidation Phase was based on a country or regional model, this phase typically globalises the SSO, involving the creation of off-shore or near-shore centres, or the outsourcing of services to BPO providers, to deliver labour arbitrage benefits whilst maintaining access to sufficient talent pools.
Phase 3 Expansion: The investment in the shared services operating model is leveraged by migrating more value adding processes and services into the SSO, such as financial reporting, decision support and analysis.
Phase 4 Optimisation: Incorporates the implementation of automation tools to make processes touchless, the refinement of the governance and commercial service model, and the more sophisticated use of BPO and other associated sourcing strategies to achieve an optimal balance of service efficiency, cost and location.
SystemsAccountants has extensive experience of providing expert resources to lead, deliver and support all phases of this transformational journey. Over the last 10 years we have garnered an in depth and proven experience of providing project management expertise to lead the establishment and continued development of shared services organisations. In particular we have refined an approach for qualifying consultants who combine a hybrid mix of financial, project, process and technology competencies. Often with management consulting backgrounds they will typically bring robust project discipline and practical experiences having implemented and lived with the solutions they have devised. A carefully selected interim consultant can prove a demonstrably more cost effective, flexible and impactful alternative to the more formal engagement of a consulting firm.
We are currently experiencing a significant client demand for Interims across the disciplines of Process, Change & Transition Management to deliver discrete and strategic initiatives in the following areas:
Order-to-Cash: process improvements & working capital efficiency
Procure-to-Pay: supplier rationalisation & process automation
Shared Services creation & optimisation
