3fifteen, the Microsoft development partner, has developed and implemented a "simple" Web-based journal workflow application for the Edcon Group that rationalises and automates complex accounting and budget approval processes across hundreds of outlets countrywide and departments at head office.
The workflow application has significantly reduced response and approval times for captured journals and has made amendments to existing journals far simpler and faster.
The system is also saving on paper work; reducing human error when capturing journals manually; and providing an online service to department heads to view and maintain journals captured against their departments.
"We constantly investigate process improvements to increase the Edcon Group`s agility and efficiencies. Edcon has been on an IT systems upgrade path, with a focus on more efficient and productive business processes and this is one of them where we have seen a return on investment," says Henri Slabbert, CIO at Edcon.
According to Colleen von der Decken, corporate business integration manager at Edcon, the upgrade of Edcon`s main ERP (enterprise resource planning) system exposed various disparities and offered new opportunities for further integration.
"A defined workflow is in place that allows users to select specific departments, which have predefined first-level and second-level managers who are responsible for approving captured journals. The approval of these journals will automatically be integrated into the general ledger," she says.
In the past, Edcon`s accounts processes required an enormous amount of manual capturing, involving thousands of paper documents. The new ERP system, combined with 3fifteen`s workflow solution, automates all these complex processes while still maintaining the ability to separate responsibilities as required by auditing procedures.
"The new solution front-end is also very user-friendly and has been readily accepted by the majority of our staff. We are now able to take advantage of templates to handle numerous monthly journal entries, with the only variation being the amount," she says.
"We may also apply a validation process during the data capture process, which we never had before. This helps to eliminate errors when interfacing with the ledger. It also allows for nominated approvers to decline a journal and give reasons for the decline. Notification of the decline is then e-mailed to the initiator for correction.
"The workflow solution has a further advantage in that it provides a view of what is being charged to various cost centres before the month-end run, which supports management planning and response," she explains.
"Previously, the view of the journal was only available at certain times of the month, but with the new solution, the current status of the journal can be viewed at any time. This information is available to 700 locations in our group and over 100 different departments at head office," she adds.
3fifteen, which has been working closely with Edcon on a variety of productivity-enhancing solutions ranging from developments on the group`s Web site and a variety of workflow-based systems, recommended an easy-to-use Web-based journal workflow application.
"There are presently nine essential applications and business processes running on 3fifteen`s workflow solution. The fact that we had already established a workflow platform for other solutions greatly reduced the roll-out time for the accounting solution," he explains.
Roger Trummer, sales director at 3fifteen, says 3fifteen also made available an online training manual which users could access whenever required.
"Edcon IT and accounts staff made themselves available for user support, but there have been very few queries and the overall solution has saved an enormous amount of time, effort and money," he adds.
"The co-ordination and planning done upfront helped to eliminate problems with the roll-out. This project was an exception to the usual situation where there are always unanticipated problems and issues. There were two focus areas: understanding what benefits would be achieved for the business and then managing to realise those benefits. The new system has enabled us to integrate with our numerous suppliers, which means that they also benefit," says Slabbert.
"We made the decision that Microsoft technology was cost-effective and this solution sets the direction that we want to pursue for the future. The decision was also motivated by the awareness that, with the dominance of the Microsoft front-end in the workspace, it made sense to have the same technology running at the back-end. The overall capacity for integration supports our other goal of achieving better business intelligence," he concludes.
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