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Interviews

• LyondellBasell Move to the Next level in Global Business Services

How to make the move towards structuring and delivering the next level of Global Business Services? Dan Sundwell from LyondellBasell answers our questions.



• The Reasons for Change and Looking Forward

Patrick Cassity, Owen Corning talk to SSON about what it took to move from a 16 year old captive to an outsourced operation, the reasons for change and looking forward, the opportunities ahead.



• Transforming Finance at Technicolor

Rick Floore, Global Head of Accounting & FSSC, Technicolor on moving from captive to outsource and back in-house as well as the challenges such a decision entailed. Rick provides pointers for companies who would like to implement a Financial Services Solution Centre and gives insight on Technicolor's global Finance Transformation project.

• How to Move up the Value Chain in Financial BPO

Abhinav Arya, Transition Manager at Pearson talks about the approach he is taking to value-added Business Process Operations and how this is driving finance transformation. Firstly, he talks about the shift from function-based to process-based outsourcing. He offers his view on what is the bigger trend in the industry at the moment – outsourcing or automation.

• The Arena of Shared Services within P2P at GlaxoSmithKline

What are the benefits of adding shared services as a strategic business lever to your P2P? This exclusive interview features Stephen Kunz, Director Corporate Finance at GlaxoSmithKline.

• How Coca-Cola Survives Change, Reduces Costs, Adds Value and Satisfies their Customer

It is critical to keep adding value to your shared service center, but maximizing efficiency and adding value is easier said than done. Coca-Cola Enterprises has refined the process. In this podcast, Karen Dobson, Director of Financial Support Services at Coca-Cola, shares her tips for surviving change, reducing costs, adding value and satisfying your customer.

• Transforming Finance through P2P at LOWE'S

Eric Jones, Director of Corporate Payables at LOWE'S tells SSON how LOWE'S is tackling “indirect spend”, shortening cycle times and capitalizing on early payment discounts and simplifying and automating invoice to payment reconciliations.

• Avoiding Failure in Governance

Graham Russell, Head of Global Transactional Finance at Astra Zeneca, joins SSON to discuss how to excel in governance, leadership and process excellence and hands out tips on how to avoid the worst - failure.

• How to reduce the errors of core processes by over 70%

Steve Johnson, Director of Finance, Masonite
Steve recently explained to SSON how lack of quality controls, loss of productivity, inconsistencies and reporting errors are some of the many reasons why Masonite moved their GL & higher value F&A work to corporate. This step has helped them save over $1 million dollars. Listen to the podcast and find out how exactly how they did it...

• End-To-End Process Evolution – how Shared Services can move up the value chain

Ira Fialkow, Executive Vice President, EVP Shared Services, CEMEX USA
SSON talks to Ira Fialkow about improving the efficiency of the end-to-end processes by taking advantage of automation and looking at how the end-to-end processes work in order to add value to the organisation….

Videos

	Join the Shared Services and Outsourcing Revolution Discover the 'New Normal' and join in the conversation
	Finance Transformation Europe 2011 Watch the highlights of our recent Finance Transformation event in London
	Are You Up To Speed With Outsourcing Innovation? Abhinav Arya, Global Transition Manager at Pearson discusses developments in innovative outsourcing, offering his views on where outsourcing is most effective in searching for the optimal sourcing balance, how he sees outsourcing options evolving, the implications for the remaining in-house SSO operations, and how outsourcing arrangements are leveraging innovation.
	End-to-End Processes – Learning from Experience Michael Hyltoft joins SSON to discuss End-To-End Processes. Michael has worked on major finance transformation projects for companies such as Kingfisher, Dixons and Speedy Hire. In this exclusive interview, he explains the novelty in taking an end-to-end approach versus a conventional approach - and the benefit in terms of metrics, time, cost and quality. He also discusses how to implement an end-to-end mindset and an end-to-end process; how to apply measures and metrics and offers his recommendations in terms of repositioning teams for an end-to-end model.

Articles

• FAO Solutions Providers Take The Extra-Mile To Push For Industry Growth

Every sport has its players and guidelines, and just like in a race there is an underdog and a crowd favorite. This is quite similar to how finance and accounting outsourcing is being perceived by the outsourcing industry experts today since there are those solutions providers which the market prefers over the others.

• Beyond the Basics: Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

A deeper look into the Finance processes being outsourced and the processes which are perhaps being overlooked within the Finance and Accounting function.

• Why 'Pick and Mix' is the Key to Successful Financial Outsourcing

In some territories ‘outsourcing’ is still a dirty word, but all this will change over the coming years as organizations see the cost benefits of a blended approach, explains Technicolor’s Rick Floore

• Financial Services Outsourcing - Alive and Well

With the global recovery and mounting tension within the outsourcing industry, one sector that has quietly faded into the background is the financial services outsourcing industry.

• Critical Steps to ensuring a smooth F&A Transition

There are actions that can be taken before, during and after outsourcing to increase the likeliness of success. eBay takes you though their transition journey...

• Finance and Accounting Outsourcing Update: New and Old Players, Destinations

Prospects for finance and accounting outsourcing have been high as more businesses seek to focus more on core processes to grow their business.

• Financial Shared Services - The Next Generation

This article presents the survey findings by APQC, followed by a discussion of why these are so important for financial and accounting professionals today.

• 7 Trends to Watch in F&A Outsourcing

Is the Finance and Accounting (F&A) party over? F&A outsourcing was the obvious first choice for organizations looking to outsource or offshore their back office work. But things feel different today. It is as if the credit crunch decapitated any residual demand for F&A BPO. This is certainly a popular perspective, but here we predict a new set of trends emerging..

• Executive Dilemma: How do you Know if Your Cost Structure is Optimum?

Historically, benchmarking has been the first step, but there are other options. Map the alternatives to determine the best fit for your situation

• A look at Improvements in the Order-to-Cash Processes - Integrated Process Management at HP

SSON talk to senior managers Gabriela Manzo and Ramon Rodriguez at HP’s Guadalajara business services center. Both will be sharing insights on Integrated Process Management at Finance Transformation in Chicago from 28-30 September.

• Align shared services and finance to generate savings

SSON interviews Thomas Nash, vice president, Ministry Health, who'll be speaking at the Finance Transformation 2010 conference.

• Automating and Outsourcing Procure to Pay

SSON speaks to John Douglas, Vice President, Hess Corporation, on automating, standardizing and streamlining P2P processes and how this can benefit a company.

• Improving End-to-End Processes

Oscar Vincenti, Business Process Manager at CEMEX USA, tells SSON more about improving End-to-End processes, the Process Management Service Approach and what he expects from the Finance Transformation 2010 conference.

• The Strategic Value of Centralized Collections

Helen Sanders, Director of Asymmetric Solutions Ltd runs through some of the challenges and issues involved in centralizing collections, and provides examples of how companies have addressed them. You will better understand the drivers, challenges, benefits and trends of how to make the move to Finance & Accounting Shared Services Centers. Key learning’s include: Getting Paid on Time, Identifying Collections Quickly, Enhancing working capital, Overcoming Obstacles and Implementing shared services at a global employment services provider.

• Top 10 Tips for an Optimal O2C Process

SSON guides you through O2C optimization. The lifeblood of the business, the fuel for the corporate machine is money. And it’s O2C’s job to secure it and pipe it in, as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Choke up here and you’re depriving your organization of critical energy at the worst possible time; get all channels running fluently, however, and without obstruction, and you’ll be driving the business forwards on injections of high-octane cash.

• Metrics to implement Global Process Ownership

Hackett’s finance metric demonstrates how global process ownership is challenging to implement but can help finance to deliver great enterprise value from its processes.

Whitepapers

• Alsbridge: Cutting Costs in the Finance Function

This paper seeks to act as a guide to the main points that need to be reviewed if you are considering FAO and the various options available to your organization.

• Ten Critical Things Every CFO Should Know Before Outsourcing

by Frank J. Casale - Outsourcing Institute Founder, CEO

• Electronic Invoice Management

No more Recycling - Getting rid of the paper from the Source. ADP brings us this technology insight report

• A Buyer's Guide to Accounts Payable Optimization

This report provides guidance on selecting solutions required to optimize the A/P function, including how to align technology with the many facets within A/P.

• Optimizing P2P Workflows by Spend Category

Check out Hackett’s Procurement Metric of the Month - The percentage of organizations that have defined and implemented optimal purchase-to-pay (P2P) process flows by expenditure category.

• Your Path to Accelerated Finance & Accounting Transformation

Capgemini’s innovations in the development of the Global Process Model© and the fast-track, lowrisk transition methodology that is inherent to the Finance Academy© will halve the timescale of a conventional transformation program. This whitepaper demostrates how transformation can be achieved at reduced cost without quality or productivity being compromised.

• Adding efficiency to your Invoicing Processes

Automating your Purchase-to-Pay processes means shorter processing times generating improved cash management, less reminders, more early payment discounts and better business relationships with your suppliers. This whitepaper will help you discover how you can achieve continuous cost savings to your accounts payable process and gain the tools to manage your suppliers better through efficient invoicing.

• 7 Procurement Outsourcing Myths, Demystified

Genpact’s insights into 7 common myths can help drive best practices, set correct expectations and bring about increased success in procurement outsourcing initiatives.

• Dashboards and Scorecards

Are we measuring the right things and are we doing it in the most efficient way? Developing an accurate and comprehensive view of O2C performance that leads to better decisions and growth.

• Finding Strategic Balance in P2P Process

Fast, adaptable and integrated approach to Outsourcing that leads to optimization of working capital and cash flow. Dr Tony Donofrio gives us practical strategies that un-lock value from procurement in the globalization era.

• Quality Circles in Accounts Receivables

HP Mexico's mantra is that 'Quality is everyone's responsibility' (W. Edwards Deming) - read how they achieved continuous improvement through group quality circle projects

• The Journey to World Class

Benchmarking your Finance Organization - Jeff Rosengard, The Hackett Group boasts 'We know how the best do it, where they do it and the benefit of doing it.'

• Technology as an Enabler for Finance Transformation

Leveraging automation and business intelligence tools across Finance, Accounting and Procurement

• Electronic Invoice Solutions

Debbie Rich-Walker discusses the benefits felt by The Home Depot company and the opportunities that arose from cutting out the paper trails and moving to electronic invoicing.

• Change Management: Your Key to Successful Finance Transformation

Alberto Elli discusses the importance of effective change management and its impact on the business improvement cycle

• Foundations of Excellence

BAE Systems provide us with quick and easy solutions that balance both precision and simplicity.