Susan Bova-Fasano, APM-D, APSCGlobal Business Process Services & Development Leader

IOFM - TAPN TARN TCNSBova@Divcom.com

Game Changing Tools, Metrics, Training & Certifications For Your Global Teams

Questions for you…..

• Are my operations & people Best in Class? If not, why?

• Are there talent gaps that currently exist in our GBS or SSC’s O2C and P2P opps?

• How well do all teams, in all geographies, work together?

• What is the overall ability to implement and execute our GBS initiatives and goals based on current team skill sets?

•What are the top 3 areas your AP/P2P or AR/O2C operations could improve in the next 6-12 months?

Quote:

“Technology solutions can be powerful assets for an AP or AR department, but they can be wasted investments if the professionals at the helm don’t know how to drive the ship. This is why an AP or AR staff ’s collective skill set must evolve with the adoption of these solutions in order to maximize the investment.”

CPO Rising 6/13/14

Are your managers and staff highly skilled and trained?

Talent management remains one of the top three priorities for CEOs. Yet according to the latest research from Oxford Economics, only 35 percent of surveyed executives worldwide believe the talent in leadership positions today is sufficient to drive global growth for their companies. If the lack of adequate leadership is a major impediment to achieving workforce goals ‒ and I believe this is the case ‒ then talent management is one of major challenges every company needs to address. The impact on companies cannot be overstated.

According to research from PwC, one in four CEOs stated they were unable to pursue a market opportunity or had to cancel or delay a strategic initiative because of talent challenges. What’s more, the study also found that one in three is concerned that skills shortages will impact their company’s ability to innovate effectively.

Mike Ettling, President: Cloud & On-Premise HR at SAP

Key takeaways from Mike……

• Business Innovation: “We don’t need a whole bunch of IT people sitting around writing programs to interface things – it automatically happens. The information is already there, allowing us to focus our time on the important pieces, such as figuring out how we can create more business value for our internal and external customers."• Strategic & Predictive HR: Tapping into the power of the cloud, HR is providing

real-time answers that impact the business, answering questions like:• How can we ensure the right people with the right skills are in the right place—

today and for the future?• How do we better engage our workforce knowing that engaged employees are

more productive, profitable, customer-focused?• How do we ensure that global compliance is in place to quickly and easily enter

new markets? Mike Ettling, President: Cloud & On-Premise HR at SAP

By putting case studies, change management learning, global best practices, tools and compliance go-to’s, in the hands of many, YOU can change the mindset and the imperative to:

What WE measure, and have input in, improves!

The Advantages of Ongoing Training Instead of Single-Event Training by Shelagh Dillon, Demand Media, Houston Chronicle

 Single-event training is a useful tool, but ongoing training is essential for survival in the ever-changing corporate environment.

• Phrases such as “lifelong learning” and “continuous professional development” become ever more important as the reality of the phrase “no such thing as a job for life anymore” becomes increasingly relevant. Gone are the days when you could leave high school or college, walk into a job and stay with the same company until retirement. Ongoing training has become the key to staying employed and beating the competition to jobs in an work environment that’s continually in flux with layoffs, increasing short-term contracts and constantly changing technology, legislation and economies.

• Organizations need to keep their most valuable resource -- their staff -- well-trained, motivated and productive. Ongoing training contributes to a satisfied and efficient workforce, but it can be expensive. Deterred by high costs, organizations often cut budgetary investments in training in favor of more immediate financial priorities. Single-event training can act as a Band-Aid solution to fill a gap in the short term. In many cases, a one-shot training program does serve a useful purpose, such as induction, introducing new skills or raising awareness of important issues.

Updating Essential Skills and Staff Motivation

• Ongoing corporate training may be in the form of regularly occurring single events to update staff on new industry and organizational developments. From the employee perspective, regular training updates help them to stay interested and motivated, which in turn help reduce staff turnover. However, the real benefits to employees depend on that learning being transferable and relevant to their current jobs as well as to their long-term careers. Ideally, training events should be certified and accredited to have the most long-term value to employees.

Renewing Qualifications and Accreditation

• Many qualifications need to be updated regularly in order to remain valid, such as first aid, health and safety and food hygiene. In these cases, the single event is not enough; there is an obligation to maintain the certification as it expires or lose the expertise. For most professionals, continuous learning is a crucial part of the job as technology and legislation constantly change. Being a member of any professional association or society involves having a formal record of ongoing training. Keeping qualifications up to date is essential for job seekers, too. Employers always prefer the candidates with recent experience and qualifications. Even if money is tight, investing in your own training is worth every dime.

Maintaining Knowledge and Skill

• Workers who earned professional qualifications many years ago know how important it is to refresh and use that learning, or it gradually becomes less useful. Regardless of how good the quality of the training was at the time, the learning deteriorates over time. Just as the muscles of a bodybuilder need to be worked constantly to keep them in shape, so, too, do employees need to use what they have learned and occasionally revise or update the training. Single-event training can be forgotten quickly, so it is important for employers to evaluate, test and follow up effectively to get the maximum return on their training investment.

TAPN & TARN members have 24x7 access to quarterly benchmarking survey results, tools, compliance answers, BP’s, training videos, and

more empowering you and your team to fully engage and execute your organizational and departmental strategies.

www.TAPN.com and www.TARN.com

At Zappos.com……..• Core Values Promote Improvement

From the get-go, Zappos management wanted to establish a unique corporate culture. This desire is evident in everything from the company's hiring practices to the office layout. For instance, there are no individual offices. The building features an open floor plan with all employees, including the CEO and COO sitting together in cubicles.

• Zappos’ corporate culture is guided by its ten core values, which promote customer service. These values include:

• Deliver “Wow” through service• Embrace and drive change• Create fun and a little weirdness• Be Adventurous, Creative and open minded• Pursue growth and learning• Build open and honest relationships through communication• Build a positive team and family spirit• Do more with less• Be passionate and determined• Be Humble

What is each person’s role in the big picture?

AP, AR, 1099, and the Controllers Certification program, CPC, are an investment in each person on the team, bringing heightened awareness and even unexpected ROI’s.

More importantly, the executors of your policies and implementers of your new technologies and process goals, learn how their daily activities fit into and affect the entire end-to-end process, financials and ultimately, what the CFO bases the cash strategies on.

AP Profile: Zappos.com …..excerpt…..Pursue Growth and Learning

Management provides a variety of educational activities for employees in every department, focusing on department functions and leadership training.

Under these training programs, non-finance employees take Finance 101, which teaches them about balance sheets, income statements and basic accounting concepts. By having a basic understanding of accounting, non-finance employees can better interact with their colleagues in AP. Meanwhile, finance employees are asked to take courses on topics such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

"Our aim is that within a five-year period a new recruit is able to obtain management status," Fernando says. "While you can't get promoted to a supervisor position if there isn't one available, at each stage in the program you are told what skills you need to achieve to qualify for a promotion."

In addition, to emphasize the company's focus on customer service, all new hires undergo a month of customer service training. Part of this training involves spending a week working in the call center fielding questions from consumers and vendors. This teaches all employees, regardless of position, how to handle vendor calls, fill orders, and work inside the company's back-office systems.

AP Certification

Another example of promoting employee education came in 2007 when Nevins became interested in the TAPN/IOMA AP Certification Programs. She signed 20 employees up to prepare and take the APS or APM certification exam, which tests AP specialists and managers on a broad range of payables topics.

In 2009 AP was restructured so that key personnel could focus on implementing a new SAP Retail Edition ERP system. AP department operations shifted to treasury. One of treasury's first moves was to move forward with certification.

Treasury Analyst Scott Schaefer designed a certification preparatory curriculum featuring one class per week covering a chapter in the AP Certification Program manual. The classes were taught via PowerPoint presentations and quizzes created by Schaefer with the AP Supervisor Crystal Toft's assistance. AP employees were compensated for their time in class sessions and for personal time spent studying during office hours. During the final days leading up to the exam, time was specifically set aside for group study and Q&A sessions.

TPN Advisory Board Member and AP certification instructor Tom Nichols led the staff through a pre-test review session, which many employees found helpful, and administered the test. "The certification book has a lot of material," Schaefer says. "Tom did a great job relating the material to our everyday functions and keeping us entertained with his anecdotes. He captured the attention of the whole class."

While traditional certification exam pass rates are between 60 and 70 percent, everyone at Zappos passed the test. In keeping with their corporate culture, Nevins, controller Mike Adrop, and Treasury Director Daniel Simmons threw a party at a local restaurant honoring the AP staff, complete with plaques and an award ceremony.

AP certification is a key extension of Zappos' goal to promote growth and learning. "Internal and external education are highly promoted in this company," Fernando says. "Regarding an employee's career, being certified isn't required but it's highly encouraged."

Benchmarking & Metrics

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” ― H. James Harrington

What if you engage everyone, daily or weekly to think in process improvement mode, instead of carrying the burden yourself and just a few managers ?

* The percent of AP staff with a bachelor’s degree has doubled in five years, from 12 percent to 25 percent.

* The percentage of AP staff who’s highest attained level of formal education is high school has decreased in five years from 56.5 percent to 34.5 percent.

Benchmarks: The State of Accounts Payable 2014 - Summary Findings   

Source:

* One-quarter of companies indicate that the proficiency of their AP staff has “greatly increased” today vs. five years ago, and 58 percent indicate proficiency had “increased.”

* Nearly half of organizations invest in certification for their AP staff and 38 percent invest in staff training through tuition reimbursement for college courses; nine percent do not invest in training AP staff.

Staff Education and Proficiency

Over 300 downloadable and customizable policies, RFP’s, tools and templates are ready to use. 80% of the work is done; all you need to do is download, save, and customize!

Activity Time Study Template

Accounts Payable Balance Forecast Template

Global Best Practices

AP Best Practices on Cash Flow

Compliance

Susan Bova-Fasano

Compliance

• Are you and your team(s) up-to-date and current with all tax regulations and ever-changing laws?• The IRS and other regulatory bodies, like OFAC, clearly send the

message that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

* FATCA* Escheatment* 1099, 1042, W8, W9* OFAC* US Sales Tax* VAT Tax* Canadian GST, HST, PST* UCC* Bankruptcy Courts & State Collection

Laws

FATCA – Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act TAPN provides a Complete Guide on the site with all the information you need and updates. We also offer an IRS Regulation Bootcamp to get you up to speed and in the know asap.

OFAC & SDN Compliance

On Demand Answers, Tables, Monthly Updates – 1099, Sales & Use Tax and UP

Ask The ExpertUnlimited Service for TAPN & TARN

Members

Thank you!SBova@divcom.com

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