leveraging primavera to fulfill financial management strategies

Leveraging Primavera P6 to Fulfill Financial Management Strategies

Matthew Friedman, Director of Integration Services, EcoSys Management

Jeffrey Finkiel, Senior Financial Analyst, Guardian Life Insurance

• Primavera Service Provider and Technology Partner• Supported over 150 enterprise project and financial

management Implementation & Integration Projects• Original designers of TeamPlay/P6 enterprise software• EcoSys Financial Manager software: bridges project

management with financial management• Headquarters in New York; branch offices in London,

Atlanta, San Francisco

EcoSys Management

• Headquarters in New York City • $41 Billion including subsidiaries• 5000 employees, 700 in IT, including consultants• Provider of life, health, disability insurance to

individuals and businesses • Has rigorously reduced IT spending through strong

financial control• Fifth largest mutual life insurance company in US• 85 agencies around the country

Guardian Life Insurance

Agenda

• Current vs. Projected Financial Management Strategy at Guardian

• Review Guardian’s set of Financial Tools

• Guardian’s Financial Management Requirements

Guardian – Current Financial Strategy

• Overview of current overall processes and the issues involved

Guardian - Projected Financial Strategy

• Expanded utilization of Financial Manager• Next Steps towards more efficient processes

Guardian’s Financial Toolset

• Primavera Enterprise• EcoSys Financial Manager • PeopleSoft• Clarity / Essbase• Excel Spreadsheets• Notepad• Napkins (coasters)

Guardian’s Financial Requirements

• Top-Down Budgeting• Software Capitalization• IT Chargebacks• Past-Period Cost Adjustments• Financial Reporting & Charting

Top-Down Budgeting

• In Financial Manager Guardian takes advantage of all the work PMs & users perform in P6

• Import Primavera Planned Values into Financial Manager as a Budget Starting point

• Import Primavera Actuals into Financial Manager and utilize for Budget Forecasting/Comparison

• Provide access in Financial Manager to Primavera PMs to make requests and get approvals for budget for their projects

• Financial Manager Funding Sources or Profit Centers originally come from Primavera

Top-Down Budgeting

Software Capitalization

• Guardian’s current approach towards Software Capitalization

• Next steps for Software Capitalization utilizing Financial Manager

· 3 types of Chargeback costs: Emp./Cons./Other Exp.

· Chargebacks based on the direct cost to be recovered through project work

· Business units split project funding by percentage

· Results fed monthly through General Ledger

· Consolidated bill provided to business units by each IT division

· Budgeting process incorporates commitments and targets on spending types (e.g., New development vs. Production support)

IT Chargebacks

Integration between Primavera, Financial Manager and PeopleSoft

EcoSys Financial Database

• Chargebacks • Monthly Closeouts & Controls• Report of Credits/Debits in

PeopleSoft Format • Financial accounts and categories• Top-down annual budgeting

Primavera Project Database

• Projects • Resources• Labor Costs• Other Expense Costs

Financial UsersProject Users

PeopleSoft• General Ledger• Other Financials

Labor/Expense Costs

Credit/Debit Report

Guardian IT Chargeback Process

Past Period Cost Adjustments

• PM – data always changing; FM – need to lock data down to become financial system of record

• Financial Manager provides for adjustments for past periods but difficult to identify - scenario...

• EcoSys created a custom solution for Guardian for Financial Manager which addresses this

• Provides detailed report about differences in costs and units between minor periods

• Input results into adjustment screen – $1MM per quarter have been correctly charged back

Past Period Cost Adjustments

Financial Reporting & Charting

• Detailed and Flexible Reporting tool built into Financial Manager

• Companion Charting Tool provides key visual depictions of data

Financial Reporting & Charting

Financial Reporting & Charting

Financial Reporting & Charting

• Matthew Friedman – Ecosys Management• www.ecosysmgmt.com• Phone: 914.304.5022• Email: mfriedman@ecosysmgmt.com

• Jeffrey Finkiel – Guardian Life Insurance• www.guardianlife.com• Phone: 212.598.7109• Email: jeff_finkiel@glic.com

Contact Information

Questions?