Building Your Business Case for P2P Automation
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This document outlines a webinar focused on creating a business case for procure-to-pay (P2P) automation, emphasizing its importance in overcoming barriers to automation and securing project approval. Key components of a successful business case include an executive summary, background information, proposed solutions, and an implementation plan, along with steps to assess stakeholder needs and ensure clarity in the approval process. The session encourages interactive participation and highlights the benefits of automation, as well as the need for careful planning and validation of the business case before proceeding.
Building Your Business Case for P2P Automation
- 1. BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS CASE for P2P AUTOMATION Hi, thank you for joining us! We will begin shortly. In the meantime, please keep in mind: • We want this to be an interactive webinar, enter your questions and comments in the chat or Q&A box • Slides and recording will be sent out afterwards
- 2. AGENDA • A Business Case – But Why? • Business Case Must Haves • Before You Dive In • Be Sure to Include • You’re Not Done! • Final Thoughts • About Tradeshift Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 3. BEFORE WE BEGIN… Jon Casher Serial Entrepreneur • Founded Casher Associates in 1976 to design and develop custom financial systems and back office automation • Co-founded CM Associates, provider of financial Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 industry software products, in 1985 • Co-founded RECAP, an A/P Audit firm, in 1988 Current Focus – Industry Expert & Consultant: • Finance, AP, AR and Procure-to-Pay organizations • Providers of AP, AR and P2P automation products and services • Training, Certification
- 4. BEFORE WE BEGIN… Poll Question Have you ever done a major project within your department? 1. Never tried 2. Tried but never got started 3. Started but not completed 4. Started and completed 5. Something else… Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 5. BEFORE WE BEGIN… Poll Question Have you ever put together a business case? 1. Never tried 2. Tried but never got completed one 3. Yes but could not get it approved 4. Yes, got it approved but not implemented 5. Yes, got it approved and implemented Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 6. A BUSINESS CASE – BUT WHY?
- 7. A BUSINESS CASE – BUT WHY? Advice from an expert: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.” Attributed to Yogi Berra Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 8. A BUSINESS CASE – BUT WHY? Barriers to Automation Top Reason • No Business Case or Justification Prepared Other Reasons • No Project Sponsor • Insufficient Resources – People, Money, Technology • Excessive Implementation Time Excuses • Can’t Decide What to Do • Difficulty Selecting a Solution Provider • Reluctance to Change • Risk Aversion Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 9. A BUSINESS CASE – BUT WHY? Some practical reasons… Helps you: • Overcome the barriers to automation • Focus on what needs to be done • Prioritize • Justify what should be done Makes it easier to get approval to proceed Surveys show the average and median time from identifying the need to getting approval is 9-11 months regardless of industry or company size Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 10. BUSINESS CASE MUST HAVES
- 11. BUSINESS CASE MUST HAVES Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 Sample Outline 1. An Executive Summary 2. Background of the Case: • Current Situation • Description of the Problem 3. Objective 4. Alternatives 5. Proposed Solutions: • Benefits, Tangible • Benefits, Intangible • Costs, one-time • Costs, Ongoing 6. Assumptions & Constraints 7. Dependencies & Interdependencies 8. Return on Investment & Payback 9. Risks 10. Implementation Plan: • Resources • Schedule • Milestones • Deliverables
- 12. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN
- 13. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 1. Assemble a Business Case Team • Team Leader • People from departments/organizations who will need to be on the implementation team • People from departments/organizations most impacted • Solution provider personnel Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 14. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 2. Prepare a Business Case Project Plan • Schedule • Deliverables • Milestones • Status Reporting Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 15. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 3. Understand Your Approval Process Parties involved in making decisions and their roles Parties Roles • CEO/President • Sponsor • Chief Financial Officer (CFO) • Champion • Chief Information Officer (CIO) • Decision Maker • Controller • Buying Influence • Shared Services Manager • Barrier • Accounts Payable Manager • Purchasing Manager • Other Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 16. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 4. Assess Where You Are • Identify Stakeholders • Determine Stakeholder Concerns and Needs • Understand How Your Processes Work • Identify and Develop Baseline Metrics Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 17. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 5. Identify Where You Want & Need to Be • Identify Automation Alternatives • Determine What Others are Doing • Determine Senior Management Goals • Develop Goals Consistent With Stakeholder and Senior Management • Select an Appropriate Automation Alternative Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 18. BEFORE YOU DIVE IN 6. Determine How to Get There • Decide What to Do • Get Preliminary Buy In • Find Solution Providers • Issue an RFP (to a few bidders) • Evaluate Responses • Select a Vendor Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 19. BE SURE TO INCLUDE
- 20. OUTLINE Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 1. An Executive Summary 2. Background of the Case: • Current Situation • Description of the Problem 3. Objective 4. Alternatives 5. Proposed Solutions: • Benefits, Tangible • Benefits, Intangible • Costs, one-time • Costs, Ongoing 6. Assumptions & Constraints 7. Dependencies & Interdependencies 8. Return on Investment & Payback 9. Risks 10. Implementation Plan: • Resources • Schedule • Milestones • Deliverables
- 21. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 1. Executive Summary • Write this section last • Have one topic corresponding to each of the subsequent sections • Include “headlines” and key points • Keep it short – no more than 3 pages Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 22. BE SURE TO INCLUDE Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 2. Background Current Situation • Describe current operations, organization(s) and processes • May have been included in an RFP The Problem Draw on: • Informal surveys of staff, internal customers and suppliers • Automation you don’t have in place that others are using • Goals of senior management not currently being met • Issues identified in internal audits, results of process mapping
- 23. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 3. Objective Current metrics and expected improvements to: Cost and Effort • Time to process various types of transactions • # of people and skills needed Input Quality • # and % of transactions requiring exception processing • # of rejects due to missing or inconsistent information Input Timeliness • # and % of transactions arriving at Purchasing or AP within X days • # and amount of discounts lost due to late arrival Process Quality • # and amount impact of errors made in Purchasing/AP Process Timeliness • Cycle time from receipt of transaction to posting Achieving Senior Management Goals and Objectives Other Goals and Objectives Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 24. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 4. Alternatives • Identify and briefly describe alternatives that were considered • Provide matrix showing how alternatives do or do not achieve the objective or the individual metrics Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 25. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 5. Proposed Solution Describe proposed solution using information from the selected vendor. Benefits – Tangible and Intangible: • Present metrics for the current situation and expected changes based on the proposed solution • Include information about ongoing impact on: - People and Processes within AP and Purchasing - People and Processes in Company external to AP and Purchasing - People and Processes of External Parties - AP and Purchasing Productivity - Cycle Time - Cash Flow and Working Capital - Controls - Other Costs: One-Time and Ongoing • Draw on information from the selected vendor and expected changes to current Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 costs • Be conservative
- 26. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 6. Assumptions and Constraints Draw on information: • From RFP if you did an RFP • From answers to questions asked of bidders and their references • From the selected vendor Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 27. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 7. Dependencies and Interdependencies Draw on: • Your team’s experience • Issues raised by internal partners, customers, suppliers and other parties who will be impacted • The selected vendor’s experience Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 28. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 8. Return on Investment and Payback Vendors have models to calculate the return on investment and payback. • Some may have provided such information within their proposals. Make sure the model accurately reflects your situation, cost structure, etc. Test the model by changing some of the assumptions Be conservative in what you present in your business case Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 29. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 9. Risks Project Risks • Determine areas where the team may have to be supplemented with training and/or specific skills • Identify actions that can or will be taken to reduce such risks Solution Risks • Identify what might go wrong and possible Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 fallback • Identify contingencies and/or alternatives • Identify financial and compliance risks
- 30. BE SURE TO INCLUDE 10. Implementation Plan Resources People and technologies needed Schedule Include slack for unexpected issues, missing tasks, etc. Milestones Measurable meaningful milestones Deliverables Identify who is responsible and how to measure quality and completeness Other • Regular status reporting • Document deviations from plan, changes to scope, key actions and key decisions Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 31. YOU’RE NOT DONE!
- 32. YOU’RE NOT DONE! Get the Approval Validate key points and issues before putting everything in writing Prepare a draft Business Case Report Circulate to key people for comments and suggestions Revise as appropriate Prepare a short presentation Get appropriate signoffs Get going! Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 33. YOU’RE NOT DONE! Go Live You may need a temporary increase in staff If possible, start with a pilot and work out the kinks: • Look out for unexpected effects • Expect to make adjustments, and Allocate resources to do so Monitor Key Metrics and Performance Indicators • Track before and after to see if expectations are met • Measure against metrics used to build the business case Do a post project review of lessons learned and what to do differently next time Celebrate and reward success After a few months, survey key customers and business partners and share results Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 34. YOU’RE NOT DONE! Final Thoughts Decide what’s best and appropriate for your Company, Purchasing and AP departments Understand your company’s approval process Understand the capabilities and limitations of your existing systems and people Beware of icebergs and expect the unexpected Be creative, flexible, adaptable and willing to change Avoid overpromising Set priorities, realistic expectations and measurable goals Use people and technology wisely Take appropriate risks Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014
- 35. ABOUT TRADESHIFT
- 36. ABOUT TRADESHIFT Amazing things happen when businesses connect Tradeshift brings all companies, big and small, together to transact, connect and collaborate with each other. • Enterprises – Work more easily and productively with their entire supply chain, anywhere in the world. • Suppliers - Free electronic invoicing, faster payments and predictable cash flow is only the beginning. Over 500,000 suppliers in over 100 countries 5 million suppliers connected through platform partners such as Intuit Fastest growing B2B platform in the world today with more than 2000 suppliers joining every week
- 37. WHO WE WORK WITH SBS Some large suppliers on the Tradeshift Network:
- 38. TRADESHIFT’S OPEN PLATFORM APPROACH CloudScan® (Paper) Supplier Management TRADESHIFT PLATFORM Document Transmission, Statuses, Messages, Integration, Security, API Supplier Buyer Order Management Electronic Invoicing Business Firewall Collaborative Workflow Financial Solutions Build Your Own App Ability to expand functionality as needed
- 39. 3 PRONGS OF SAVINGS 1. AP Automation • Eliminate paper invoices, reduce invoice approval cycle time, and improve visibility and overall AP processes Business Case per $1B of Spend $600K $3.5M+ 2. Early Payment Discounts Discount program management and dynamic discounting, savings of $3-5M per billion of spend. 3. Power of the Platform $3.6M Rapid innovation through apps: Legal compliance in mandate countries, supplier information & risk management, tax compliance, expense management, billing, quick quotes, contract compliance, more… Real-time supply chain information: Minimizes currency risk, eliminates quarterly AP Automation cost data lag, enables better cash plan and business plan design. Total Business Case Additional Benefits Apps Early Pay Discounts $7.1M+ $3M
- 40. Paper, PDF, Email, Fax EDI, XML, e-invoice, PO Flip, Portal
- 43. CONTACT INFO Copyright © Casher Associates, Inc. 2013-2014 Jon Casher www.casherassociates.com jcasher@casherassociates.com +1.617.527.3927 Vishal Patel Tradeshift.com vpa@tradeshift.com +1.781.492.2525 @VishalP_
- 44. BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS CASE for P2P TRANSFORMATION Thanks for joining us! • Visit tradeshift.com/resources • Slides and recording will be sent out afterwards