Starting the conversation with each other about the future of Accounts Payable (AP). That was the objective of the Basware Professional Event on November 28, 2019. Plenty could be said about the drizzling weather in Ede, but participants had come to ICreative's office mainly to talk with each other about the opportunities for process optimization and the transition to SaaS.
'If you have Basware, you don't necessarily have automation.' With this tantalizing statement, Mario Unkel, senior consultant, sparked the discussion. "I notice that many customers do think this, but it only really starts after you have implemented Basware.
Process optimization
Mario Unkel, senior consultant at ICreative
If Basware users want to implement process optimizations, they can look for it in several corners. There is especially much to gain for companies and institutions working with purchase orders. "The more purchase order invoices you have, the higher the level of automation you can achieve," Unkel said.
The quality of the purchase order is a good starting point for process optimization. Unkel: "Where we often see it go wrong, for example, is with purchase orders with different payment terms. From a purchase order perspective, it is not convenient when an amount of 100,000 euros is divided into, say, three payment terms. By the time the last payment is due, the purchase order is already closed. So you will have to create different order lines for this.'
Digital transformation
Kim Vanoppré, ERP Manager at KPMG Central Services
Kim Vanoppré, who had traveled from Brussels especially for ICreative's customer event, talked about the digital transformation KMPG Central Services is currently undergoing. Once started with Basware IP, KPMG Belgium signed up for Basware SaaS in April 2018 and recently went live. 'The lead time was longer than planned. From a legal and security perspective, it was a tough journey. We have to be compliant. Basware has made a lot of progress on that front," says Vanoppré.
'We learned that change management is a critical part during implementation,' the ERP Manager continued. 'Our CFO did several internal roadshows to show what the change entailed. It is also very important to engage and train people from the beginning. We had already gone through a cloud migration with our Oracle ERP. That experience of came in handy now.'
Paperless
Furthermore, the consulting firm has started a supplier onboarding program, with support from ICreative. It is a process that takes time. 'Our goal is to work paperless. We no longer accept paper invoices; the majority already send PDFs, preferably via the Basware Network," Vanoppré revealed. 'Furthermore, we will be working with purchase orders in the near future and the implementation of Basware Purchase is planned. We also want to roll out mobile apps and digitize the outgoing invoice flow.
Other roles
That technological developments are changing the roles of employees within the AP department was evident from the presentation by Maaike Snijder, Manager Center Financial Services at Ballast Nedam. The construction company has been working with Basware SaaS for some time, which means a shift in operations from processing invoices to managing exceptions. 'That requires different competencies from employees. You need people who can identify causes and make suggestions for structural process improvements," Snijder said.
Specialist versus leading pioneer
Finally, Anton Rademakers, group controller at the Innovestit Group, and chairman of the day Peter Derksen presented the participants with two possible future scenarios for the finance department. In one scenario, finance is given a highly specialized function and consists of a small team of highly specialized people, in areas such as tax, compliance and risk. In the other scenario, the finance department is a leading pioneer in digital trends. It consists of an interdisciplinary team that combines financial data with figures from the business. 'One is not necessarily better than the other,' Rademakers stressed. He himself strongly believes in the second scenario.
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