The BDO outsourcing division and the office of the Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical concern in Russia have announced the launching of their joint project concerning the automation of the processing of expense reports on the basis of the Concur software.
The Boehringer Ingelheim's business in Russia is characterized by a high degree of mobility of personnel working in practically every city and region of the country. Representation and business trip costs constitute a considerable portion of the company's budget. Its accounting department has to process between 600 and 800 advance payment reports monthly.
Of course, timely accounting for this great monthly number of printed documents mailed from all over, even the remotest corners of Russia was impossible. As the numbers of personnel increased, so did the costs of logistics and the amounts of accounts receivable. Courier services and a large number of employees filling in advance payment report forms being prone to errors, payments were delayed and conflicts arose. This was the reason why the turnover rate of the accountants responsible for this area was very high.
This was why the company administration decided to introduce the system of the processing of advance payment reports based on the Concur software-as-a service.
According to Olga Moiseyeva, Boehringer Ingelheim's head of the accounting, taxation and exchequer department, when selecting software, the company looked at such factors as the possibility of accessing the system from anywhere in the world, the availability of a Russian language interface and settings, accounting for the requirements of Russia's legislation, and no need for a large initial investment.
The integration and testing of the system took about four months. Over that time, all the adjustments required by Boehringer Ingelheim were made, all the data migrated and Concur integrated with the SAP system, used by Boehringer for managing the company and doing financial accounting, and the required personnel was trained.
By this time, the Concur system has the following functionalities: automated, in compliance with the company policies, preparation of reports, report approvement mechanism, the emailing of document status notifications to employees and the electronic archiving of documents. A note is in order that any employee of the company may access the system at any time, using any device, including mobile. They also may delegate the preparation of reports and report approvement to their colleagues who have such rights.
Besides, the possibility of adding to the system a module for setting up business trips and having them approved and another one for integrating Concur with clients' bank systems is being researched. Boehringer Ingelheim intends that this should allow its employees to monitor, in real time, the movement of money through corporate cards.
The important portion of the project was outsourcing the processing of advance payment reports with the BDO company. Now, Boehringer Ingelheim employees fill in all the necessary report forms at the Concur portal, attach the scans of payment documents to them and send them to their bosses for approval. As soon as a report has been approved, it is sent to BDO professionals for verification. The latter will either accept the report or request the missing documents, if any. Once all the necessary information has been assembled, it is sent to Boehringer Ingelheim's accounting system for their employee's spending to be reimbursed.
BDO outsourcing professionals put together monthly summaries as to the number of processed advance payment reports and errors made by client company's employees while preparing them. This helps to make added adjustments in the system and to give personnel clearer explanations about the rules of working with reports so as to reduce the number of possible future errors. All the documents and relevant correspondence with comments are electronically archived so that Boehringer Ingelheim employees and the BDO project team may refer to the necessary data at any time.
The project has resulted in the significant increase, from 50% to 98%, of the number of documents timely presented to and, accordingly, processed by the accounting system. The cost of logistics has been significantly reduced, the company's local offices now sending only correct documents to the home office, all errors corrected while electronic reports are being put together. Tax-related risks and the amounts of company's accounts receivable have also been reduced.
"We are very satisfied with the results of the project, – said Victoria Smirnova, Boehringer Ingelheim's chief accountant, – and we plan to continue introducing electronic document circulation for the use of our company's financial services. For instance, very shortly, we plan to introduce, with the support of the BDO company, the automated processing of civil legal agreements, which is also a sizeable portion of work related to the specifics of our company's activities".
Added information
Boehringer Ingelheim is a family enterprise, a pharmaceutical company founded in Ingelheim, Germany in 1885.
At this time, Boehringer Ingelheim is among the world's leading pharmaceutical companies engaged in developing and making medicinal preparations sold with and without doctors' prescriptions. The company concentrates on creating innovational medicines and therapeutic methods. Boehringer Ingelheim is active across the world, continuously strengthening its market position and increasing its financial efficiency. The company owns scientific research centers, facilities for synthesizing and biosynthesizing active ingredients and pharmaceutical production facilities, including divisions cooperating with industrial partners and engaged in marketing and sales.
