Boost Fertility New Invention Ups Success Rates.pdf
Collaborate
1. Session 39130
Reduce Costs by
Incorporating Imaging into
PeopleSoft Expenses
Madeline Osit
Beacon Application Services
2. Context [Why Peoplesoft -
originally]
• Adopt best practices through using a package
with minimal customizations
• Having the originator of the transaction
subsume the input of that transaction in an
easy, reliable (error free) and consistent way
• User empowerment – access to data
• No islands of information
• Less paper – on-line approval and routing
3. Travel Environment
• 10,400 Trips Conducted Annually
• $97M Travel & Entertainment Budget
• International Travel Comprises 99% Of All
Travel
• 85% Of All Staff Will Travel At Some Point In
Their Career
4. PS Expenses
• Brought value as an
automated, integrated, workflow-enabled T&E
system but did not fulfill the goal of being a
paperless environment
5. What to do?
• Evaluate areas where paper was necessary
or an inhibitor
• Evaluate ways to expedite the reimbursement
process
• Create a project to address the above
6. Imaging Project Business
Objectives
• Reduce Report Preparation, Approval and Auditing
Time for Expense Reports
• Reduce Document Copying and Storage Costs
• Provide Online Access to Receipts
• Reduce Wait Time (faster payments)
• Support Automated Report Assignments
• Align with the objectives of providing faster
processing of payments and of supporting evolving
travel business requirements
• Provide a foundation that can be leveraged for
additional process improvements in other
administrative areas
7. Why an imaging solution?
• Cost-effective solution that leverages
technology investment through:
– Capturing, organizing and presenting unstructured
data in harmony with your ERP solution
– Creating secure long-term storage for financial
documentation, supporting SOX initiatives
8. Why an imaging solution?
• Automate the business workflow within a
document-centric process
• Integrate web-processing activities with
source documents eliminating the paper
chase
• Ability to electronically access documents at
the point of need
9. Supports key compliance goals
• Data Integrity – stores all data using indexing
and object store provides secure storage for
long-term retention
• Data Confidentiality – Authentication and
encryption features
• Data Accessibility – Display capabilities
integrate with security and ensure all user
actions are auditable
10. The before picture:
• The traveler (or their authorized
representative) created an Expense Report in
Expenses and submitted it for approval:
– The traveler created an expense report “skeleton”
by using the delivered “Copy from Travel
Authorization” function.
• The skeleton contained all expense items included in the
TA except prepaid items, such as prepaid airfare.
– Original receipts were required and forwarded to
Finance even though the Expense Report is
submitted on-line.
11. • The completed expense report was routed to the
owning department for review and approval via a
custom workflow.
– The Department approver received an email that the
expense report is available for review as well as an
entry on his worklist.
– An email notification was sent to the traveler via a
custom workflow process upon department approval of
the expense report
12. • Expense reports approved by the department
were routed to Finance for pre-pay audit
review and approval via a custom workflow
process.
13. So --
• Expense reporting process was all automated
and work flow enabled
• Tolerance checks ensured line item detail meet
with corporate policy
• Employee expectations included rapid turn-
around of approval and payment process
….but….
15. What Change meant
• Implementation of ImageNow solution to process
expense report receipts
• Imaging solution integrated with PeopleSoft (PS)
Financials Expenses module
• Imaging receipt files were to be captured using fax or
multi-function printers (MFP) and indexed to PS
Expenses records
• Access to images via link on PS expense report
page, leveraging existing PS security
• Existing expense report PS workflow will not change
• Paper receipts stay within departments throughout the
process, disposition of paper receipts occurs a lot
sooner and document copying and storage costs are
reduced
16. Description of Change – User Impact
• Departmental assistants will:
– Collect expense report information and paper receipts from
travelers
– Prepare expense report in PS Expenses
– Print cover page with bar coded Travel Authorization # and
Expense Report # from PS Expenses module
– Fax cover page and travel receipts to imaging server as TIFF files
– Alternatively, use Multi Function Printers to scan cover page and
receipts and place TIFF files in a pre-determined network directory
• Departmental approvers will:
– Review expense reports and will have access to receipts images
using link on PS expense report page to launch WebNow viewer
• FIN staff will:
– Access and process expense report and receipts using link on PS
expense report pages to launch ImageNow client
21. Description of Change - Technical
• ImageNow solution components – technical view:
– AIX Server : New schema under FINPROD database to
store metadata
– Windows Server : Application Server, Fax Agent, Import
Agent, iScript Engine, Recognition Agent, Content
Server, OCR Recognition Agent, Web Server (Apache
Tomcat)
– Client Software: ImageNow Full Client – 15 users in
Fin/Travel Payments section – Winstall download
– Brooktrout TR1034 analog fax board (4 channel)
– 4 analog phone lines with hunt for free line
– Multi-function printers scan receipts to file
– Expenses module changes – online tolerance, edits, cover
page report with bar code, link to launch imaging
solution, workflow
22. Users Affected
• Core users: FIN – Travel Payment staff (15)
• Preparers and approvers: Divisional
assistants, OMs, budget
assistant/officers, approvers (about 500)
• Phased deployment over a two month period:
– Started with Pilot departments, using the financial
group as the first to go live
– Second group was the “heavy travelers”
– Third deploy encompassed support departments
[HR, Technology Services, etc.
– Remote offices being discussed
23. Prerequisites for Change
• Minor changes to PS Financials Expenses
application to support bar-coded images
24. Project / Implementation Team
• Finance Department
• Beacon Consultant
• Information Technology Services
– PeopleSoft IT support
– Server Infrastructure Team
– Telecom Engineering
– Multimedia Services [Printer Maintenance]
– Client Services [Help Desk]
25. Considerations
• Complex solution with multiple components
and high level of user impact
• Communication and training
• Testing and Q/A
26. Testing / QA
• Comprehensive set of tests to confirm expected
functionality, integration, security and
performance/load
• Imaging Application Functionality Testing
– Capture, Indexing, Image
Viewing, Annotation, Attachment, Print to
ImageNow, Manual Linking, Full Content Capture, Full
Content Search
– Security Testing - Access, Roles
• Integration with PS Expenses Testing
– Link Fax Image, Link Scan Image, Launch
ImageNow, Launch WebNow
• PS Expenses Process Changes Testing
– Bar code cover page report, report pre-edit, tolerance
exception, workflow
27. Testing / QA
• Performance/Load Testing
• System Testing – 2 weeks
• User Acceptance Testing – 2 weeks
• Post-Migration to Production Testing (before
go-live)
• IT readiness and sign-off
• User sign-off
28. Communication Plan
• Weekly status meetings with major stakeholders
• Readiness review/sign-off meeting
• Coordination Meeting with Pilot Departments
– Identify contacts
– Obtain full commitment
– Review timetable
– Review user training plan and schedule
– Review process changes
• Broad user meetings to introduce imaging solution
concept and timetable to expense report preparers
and approvers for all departments
29. Communication Plan
• Send Implementation Announcement and
Progress updates via e-mail to All
Departments:
– Include rollout dates
– Confirm training sessions and participation
– Send out FAQs
– Follow up with progress reports and user
satisfaction
30. Configuration / Operational Issues
• Project team closely monitored first days of
operations:
– Fax lines
– Agents
– Logs
– Response time
– User feedback and satisfaction
31. No problems, no issues
• No outage required
• Help desk was well trained
• Users very accepting
• Sped up process
• Saved time and money
33. …and then we went one step further…
If everything was there, was there really a need
to audit every expense report?
34. Originally…
• Audit concern that expenses above specific dollar amounts should
be substantiated
• Developed data checks (tolerance edits) on expense types invoked
when expense report is submitted for approval
• Edits are based on:
– Dollar limitation (fixed amount or per day)
– Presence on report
– Quantity (how many) appear on report
– Percentage above specific cost
• Traveler is forced to provide comment on each edit before expense
report can be submitted
35. Risk Factor Assignment
• Type of Travel
• Expense types used within Report
• Expenses over a specific dollar amount
• Refunds over a specific dollar amount (based
on cash advances)
• Multiple destination trips
• Presence of specific edit conditions on report
36. • Needed method to “rank” expense reports to gauge
amount of audit required
• “Risk factor” ranking will indicate amount of review by
auditors:
– Risk Factor 5: full expense report review
– Risk Factor 4: review tolerance edits, hotels, office
space, transportation, interpretation
– Risk factor 3: review hotel charges and tolerance edits
– Risk factor 2: review tolerance edits
– Risk factor 1: no review, immediate approval
37. Implementing Risk Factor
Analysis
• Evaluation is done during Department
Approval Process
• Expense Report is checked against Risk 5
factors, then Risk 4, etc. until one risk factor
is satisfied
• If no criteria is met, risk factor of 1 is assigned
• Risk Factor Level appears on Expense
Report Details page in Pre-Pay Audit
38. Risk Factor Distribution
• Statistics:
– Risk Factor 5: 8%
– Risk Factor 4: 26%
– Risk Factor 3: 17%
– Risk Factor 2: 34%
– Risk Factor 1: 15%
• Process is being refined currently:
– more tolerance edits are being added
– other tools are being developed to take full advantage of risk
factor assignments
• Goal: Auditors should focus on audit role, not recalculate
expenses
39. The perfect pair
• Auditors can view receipts on-line when
reviewing flagged expense reports
• Reduces paper handled by finance and provides
streamlined audit trail
40. Other options for the future:
Payables - Invoices
• Speeding the approval process for invoice
handling
• Route invoices to approver for immediate
response – no lost discounts or unpaid
invoices
• Monitor inbound invoices, volumes and time it
takes to process
41. Other options for the future:
Human Capital Management
• Creating a secure environment for all
employee related documents
• Recruiting and applicant data
• Payroll
![Context [Why Peoplesoft -
originally]
• Adopt best practices through using a package
with minimal customizations
• Having the originator of the transaction
subsume the input of that transaction in an
easy, reliable (error free) and consistent way
• User empowerment – access to data
• No islands of information
• Less paper – on-line approval and routing](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)