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 BEST  PRACTICES  FOR  SHARED  SERVICE  CENTRES  

   The   shared   service   centre   (SSC)   is   a   very   critical   backbone   for   the   entire  enterprise.   If   kept   functioning   at   optimal   efficiency,   it   can   help   deliver   high  performance,  contribute  to  major  cost  reductions  and   improve  governance  and  compliance   for   any   enterprise.     Today,   shared   services   are   integral   to   the  leadership  team  of  the  enterprises  they  serve.      In   the  past   few  years,  shared-­‐service   is  making   its  strongest  re-­‐emergence  as  a  delivery  model   for   over   a   decade.   Close   to   25%   of   enterprises   are   heavily   re-­‐investing   in   their   shared   services   operations.       This   is   led   by   changing  expectations   of   internal   customers   that   itself   is   being   driven   by   fast   pace   of  business,   where   cycle   time   to   revenues   determines   competitiveness   and  leadership   for   any   enterprise.   Today’s   business   users   are   constantly   moving,  always  connected  and  more   informed   than  ever  with  access   to   latest   tools  and  technologies   to   help   them   function   better.     Business   users   want   their   shared  services  to  deliver  SLA’s  with  better  operational  analytics  capability.  They  want  a  more  savvy  and  creative  support  talent  who  are  able  to  function  flawlessly,  with  agility  and  engage  better  with  stakeholders  to  help  them  get  to  the  next  level.    In   the   recent   past,   high   performance   SSCs   are   achieving   this   by   leveraging  technology  in  a  big  way.  Given  that  many  of  these  SSC’s  are  operating  based  on  a  hub   and   spoke  model,   they   leverage   technology   to   ensure   better   adherence   to  process  standardization  with  automated  checks  and  validations,  workflows  and  approvals  leading  to  postings.    

 

 

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   There  is  a  common  pattern  in  the  way  high  performance  shared  services  deliver  results  for  key  business  processes:    Order  to  Cash:    With  a  strong  focus  on  reducing  DSO’s,  the  SSC  typically  ensures  that  not  only  credit   limits  are  clearly  set  and  communicated  to  customers  from  time   to   time,   but   also   ensures   that   there   are   minimal   outstandings   from  customers.   One   of   the   key   pain   areas   that   they’ve   addressed   really   well   is   to  ensure  immediate  visibility  to  the  payments  that  customers  make  and  applying  such  receipts  to  open  invoices  correctly.  While  this  is  seemingly  logical,  it  is  often  discounted  and  not  followed  through  with  rigor,  being  a  largely  manual  process.    High  performance  SSC’s  ensure  that  :  

-­‐ They’re   able   to   capture   information   from   cheque   /   bank   remittance  advice,  validate  and  match  to  open  invoices    

-­‐ Identify  any  exceptions  and  automate  workflows  /  approvals    -­‐ Maintain  complete  audit  trail  of  entire  process  -­‐ Continuous  online  visibility    -­‐ Reporting  based  on  SLA’s  

 Order   Processing:     High   performance   SSC’s   follow   best   practices   of   ensuring  that   they   send  order   acknowledgement   to   end   customers   capturing  key   inputs  from  the  order  and  further  communicate  the  expected  timeline  to  delivery,  credit  period  etc.   In  case  of  any  delay,   they  ensure   that   the  customer   is  automatically  intimated   and   any   resulting   escalations   /   exceptions   is   handled   appropriately.    Documents  relating  to  the  order  execution  including  end  customer  PO  are  always  archived  and  linked  to  the  ERP  transaction  for  future  reference.      Procure   to   Pay:    High  performance  SSC’s  have  completely  automated   the  P2P  process.     Purchase   requisitions   from   various   parts   of   the   organization   are  processed  centrally  and  routed  to  relevant  stakeholders  for  approvals,  followed  by  automatic  PO  creation  in  the  ERP  system.    Paper   invoices   are   scanned   and   subjected   to   OCR.     They   have   applications   to  automate   matching   of   information   in   the   invoice   to   the   purchase   order   and  goods  receipt  note  and  identify  any  exceptions.  Notifications  and  alerts  are  sent  to   the   relevant   stakeholder   and   any   approvals   are   automatically   handled.   All  documents   in   this   process   are   archived   and   linked   to   ERP   for   audit   and   easy  reference.      As   a   result   of   better   visibility   into   the   payment   cycle   per   vendor,   high  performance  SSC’s  deliver  results  via  better  discounts  with   their  vendors.    The  entire  process  is  automated  leaving  no  room  for  errors.    Regular  dashboards  are  sent  to  the  leadership  team  detailing  outstanding  liabilities,  payment  cycle  time,  discounts  received  etc.      Managing   customer   requests   for   posting:  High  performance  SSC’s   automate  such  processes  via  forms  that  allow  capturing  of  key  information  from  customers  

 

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for  them  to  post  to  their  MDM  /  FI  related  transactions.  This  ensures  that  audit  trails  are  appropriately  maintained  and  SLA’s  for  such  postings  are  tracked  and  reported.    All  workflows  relating  to  such  postings  are  also  fully  automated.    HR   and   related   processes:   High   performance   SSC’s   digitize   all   paper   based  documents   for  HR,  Travel   receipts  etc.   and   integrate  documents   into   their  ERP  transactions   for  ready  visibility.   Important  documentation   is  archived  and  kept  for   future   reference.    All   exceptions   and  workflow  approvals   are   automatically  driven.      High   performance   shared   services   run   like   a   separate   business   with   strong  leadership  who  is  able  to   initiate,  manage  change  well  and  set  the  expectations  with   the   leadership  and  key   stakeholders.  They  exercise   tight   control  on  costs,  governance  and  compliance  and  process  standardization.  They  ensure  that  they  manage   increasing   customer   demands   by   creating   a   scalable,   agile   and  responsive  process  whereby  all  redundancies  are  eliminated.    Avaali   Solutions   enables   SSC’s   deliver   high   performance.  We   help   SSC’s   create  and  execute   their   strategy   across   key  business  processes  with   rigor.     To  know  more  about  our  offerings  for  SSC’s  please  visit  www.avaali.com