Undertaking another Finance Transformation

Undergoing another Finance Transformation Project?

Are you really improving or swapping one system for another?

Is transitioning to the Cloud one of the key drivers, so are you considering moving to Oracle ERP Cloud

or upgrading Oracle E-Business Suite and possibly putting it into the cloud?

Is this being considered as part of a Finance Transformation Project?

Are you focused on the right areas?

A critical part of any Transformation Project should be to enhance the current processes when you choose to undertake an upgrade or implement a new solution, but all too often we hear the common phrase “We want to ensure we replicate what we did before.”

When the question should be “How do we ensure we improve what we did before and therefore update our current processes?”

Frequently the driver to undertake a review of the current system is when reaches its “End of Life” and it needs to be upgraded. This is typically driven by IT requirements and not by the Business but in these current times, the Business needs to review its applications to maximise benefits and obtain a return on its investment. Just undertaking a technical upgrade will not provide this and offers no improvement.

The success of the project should be determined by the improvements and efficiencies that are obtained through real transformation, not an update to the status quo. There must also be a balance in the approach to transformation. Just because some areas have perceived levels of automation in place, does not mean you are getting value for money.

One of our clients recently stated

“Using Mi Invoices in the past year has been invaluable, the ability to undertake home working has been seamless and Arcivate provide a complete service with their knowledge of the Accounts Payable processes”

What have you considered for your new implementation?

The top of most agendas with CFO’s today, is the need to move to the Cloud and enable flexible working to save money.

This can mean implementing a whole new solution, of which an example of this is moving from Oracle E-Business Suite to Oracle ERP Cloud.

But is this right for your business and are there options?

Oracle E-Business Suite can now easily be moved to the Cloud and Oracle has committed support until at least 2032. Did you know there is a trial instance of E-Business Suite 12.2.10 in OCI to undertake an evaluation?https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E72030_01/infoportal/ebsoc.html

Taking this option enables you to reuse your significant investments and provide returns by using the enhanced user interface and additional features, which have been included in the latest releases.

Or take the alternate option and migrate to Oracle ERP Cloud.

Here the benefits are no more upgrades ever and no infrastructure to worry about. It also offers all the advantages of a SaaS solution in gaining resilience and agility, and the ability to adapt business models and processes quickly so you can reduce costs, but it is a redeployment so do be aware of the work needed to achieve these goals. https://www.oracle.com/uk/erp/

How do you ensure business benefits?

Just upgrading or moving to the Cloud doesn't necessarily provide any real benefits or process improvements, which is the first objective of the Finance Transformation Project.

For this, you do need to look at the process, especially those which are currently either manual or have limited automation. A common business problem we see with all Finance applications is the processing of supplier invoices. This is an area that organisations frequently look to resolve, it’s a task that requires interaction and can be very labour intensive. Even though Accounts Payable (AP) and supplier invoice processing is only a small part of Finance, it is an area that does offer the business the real opportunity for change and enhancement.

This might have been something you may have looked at before or have had a previous experience with an underperforming or less functionality-rich solution. We highly recommend you undertake a new review, as there have been significant changes in capability and not all solutions are equal. Do also take into consideration the knowledge of your technology vendor around invoice process, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and integration.

With Oracle E-Business Suite there is no embedded Invoice Automation solution, this is fulfilled by third-party solutions, but do consider some of the points below as they are relevant when selecting a solution.

If you are considering undertaking a new implementation of Oracle ERP cloud, it is a great opportunity to define the process from the ground up as Oracle ERP Cloud includes an inbound supplier invoice OCR solution.

However, consider the following:

1. Does it suit your process?
2. Do you have PO and non-PO invoices to process?
3. Are you expecting high automation results?
4. Have you seen a live demonstration? Will it meet your expectations?
5. Have you spoken to another client using it? And are they happy?

Is the Upgrade being used to help redefine processes to drive efficiency?

Vendors are great at core process and technology but they are not the experts across all processes? A simple example is most businesses run both Microsoft and Oracle applications, as one vendor doesn’t have all the answers.

There are several specialised Oracle partners to fill the gaps in areas such as; global tax processing or the loading of currency values for example. At Arcivate, we are experts in invoice automation. Our SaaS solution Mi Invoices and our experience can help improve your processes. Mi Invoices provides much greater benefits, by filling the gap in Oracle E-Business Suite or offers significant enhancements over the entry-level solution available in Oracle ERP Cloud.

Mi Invoices SaaS solution, with fast deployment and a flexible approach, does not have the constraints or barriers of old on-premise invoice automation technology. It has been designed specifically for maximising efficiency and processing capability with a rapid return on investment.

Key processes to consider as part of your finance transformation project, does your organisation require functionality for multiple business entities, languages and currencies, are you processing in a shared service centre or locally in-country?

Do you also need to support areas such as:-

Are your approvals tied to a specific hierarchy or do you use multiple authorisation routes depending on the services or value to determine, who should approve?
Do you want to have a solution that always has the latest technology and functionality as standard?
Do you want to never have to upgrade?

Process Improvements

We understand that Software by itself is not a “Silver Bullet”, but our ability to work with clients to improve the process and adopt best practice leads to improved efficiency, which is enhanced with Mi Invoices.

It is critical to improving your AP practice alongside an upgrade, you need the right solution to integrate with E-Business Suite or ERP Cloud to control your process.

We recommend seeing if you are experiencing any of the following indicators that could highlight your current process is inefficient

Are the AP team last to receive the invoice?
Was the last time you cleansed your Supplier data over 12 months ago?
Are you receiving lots of duplicate invoices?
Does your AP team find manually matching invoices to PO lines difficult?
Are you printing out invoices received via email? Only to then key them in manually?
Does your existing AP system require you to upload a file to import your invoices into EBS?

If the answer to any of the above is “Yes”, it may not be just the solution you are using, which would indicate internal processes need to be amended. All of these factors would indicate your AP needs to be improved as part of your Finance Transformation.