With the advent of ERP systems and a myriad of data warehouses and analysis tools over the past 20 years, companies often find themselves in the position of having plenty of information, but little in the way of actionable analysis and reporting as a result of implementing new technologies. Yet the truth remains that accurate […]
The shiny silver bullet for reducing cost and complexity via a robust purchasing card (PCard) program can be tarnished significantly with a purchasing card implementation that requires onerous cardholder record keeping and poorly designed transaction review processes. While the benefit of implementing purchasing cards is widely accepted, the best approach to creating a controlled environment […]
With the consolidation of work activities for Accounts Payable into a few centers globally, it is increasingly common for companies to have the scale required to justify the elimination of work through automation. Unfortunately, the path to replace paper with electronic invoices has seen a proliferation of approaches that show promise, with no one clear […]
Having formal methods for process reengineering and process improvement are core requirements for any Shared Services organization. With many methodologies to select from, formal Lean Process Mapping may not be the first tool selected. However, in many instances, the positive impact of completing a formal process mapping exercise is well worth the effort. An interactive […]
The past decade has seen an increased focus on ensuring the integrity of financial reports for all publicly traded companies. As a result, more companies are creating detailed standardized procedures to ensure that account reconciliations are performed timely and accurately. While centralizing may reduce the proximity to where the account transactions originate, a rigorous review […]
With the move to control discretionary spending in recent years, many companies have significantly reduced their travel budgets. One opportunity to secure large gains in this space is by restricting business class travel, where the price difference for a single trip can be $4,000 or more. Given that the most powerful executives are often frequent […]
Transitioning work activities into a new service center is a step that has been completed by hundreds of companies and, with the exception of acquisition or divestiture events, typically occurs in abundance early in the lifecycle of Shared Services. Closing a major regional service center is a significant event that isn’t often planned for, or […]
The approval process for the huge number of transactions that are recorded within each functional area of any multi-billion dollar business becomes more daunting as work processes are centralized into large processing centers. Approval processes often evolve over time with different approaches and philosophies used by different functional areas, making coordination and the sourcing of […]
Payroll is a process that touches every employee multiple times a year, with a distribution of funds that make it one of the largest expense categories for any business. The Payroll audit process, while an important control mechanism, needs to be efficient and effective, without negatively impacting the end goals of accurate and timely payrolls […]
A balanced approach to measurement is fundamental to achieving top performance. Including customer satisfaction measures is a good idea for any process, and for processes like Accounts Receivable that touch external customers, it’s even more important. In fact, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, the entire Order-to-Cash process needs to be as customer-friendly as possible. Peeriosity’s […]