Athlete Performance Solutions

 

2016 г. — present

 

 Russia

 

1 legal entity

Task:

In 2016, Athlete Performance Solutions (Nike global licensee) outsourced its accounting services to Unicon Outsourcing. Over the year, the company's turnover grew by 400%, which led to an increase in labour input for both the customer and the provider and set a task to optimize business processes and liaison protocols before the companies.

Decision:

When its turnover increased sharply, the customer did not have enough employees and software products to automate its work processes. Since the company was just developing, the customer had neither a worked out model nor a clear financial plan to meet the needs of a rapidly growing business. As a result, the following challenges arose:

1. Big amount of manual labour: turnover growth made accountants unable to cope with the introduction of primary documents due to a sharp increase in commodity items.

2. Resource misallocation: all accounting and paperwork was assigned to the provider.

3. Outdated liaison protocols: communications between the provider and the customer were confined to the current issues of filling out documents. 

All this led to the need to increase the number of Unicon Outsourcing team members, so the cost of service increased accordingly. 

Thus, a situation developed in which further operations seemed impossible without a serious increase in the monthly check. The Unicon Outsourcing team and APS management have reconsidered the existing liaison model in order to optimize business processes and ensure their continuity. As a result, the CEO of APS gave their team a part of the routine financial function (for example, tracking cash flow and working with bank statements). This model made it possible not only to take into account regular services in the budget structure, but also to predict the financial results of new projects and determine how the maximum efficiency of individual processes will be achieved - by the internal forces of the company or with the help of an outsourcer.

On top of that, the companies analysed the work of the accounting department and identified areas and programs for automation. Unicon Outsourcing Team:

1. Automated introduction of source documents and some business tasks, including product labelling and retail sales.

2. Implemented the 1C:Trade Management module and made the appropriate settings to comply with the Russian legislation.

3. Taught the customer's employees how to work with the program.

In order to avoid the outsourcer's resource misallocation, outdated communication regulations were revised and the most effective system of interaction between provider and customer was developed. With this model:

1. Employees of the company update information about business operations in the TM module.

2. The company manager responsible for communication between the customer and the outsourcer checks the correctness of the information and assesses the risks.

3. The information goes to the Unicon Outsourcing team who conduct financial analysis and give strategic advice.

Strategic decisions are now managed jointly: Unicon Outsourcing team receives management decisions directly and can offer cost-effective solutions for the customer's business.

Automation and administration gave the accountants more time to participate in strategic sessions. Communication is now not only about paperwork, it also concerns operational and strategic issues, including:

• regular meetings to discuss current tasks and distribute them among working groups;
• strategic sessions to discuss market changes, new IT products, and a further business development plan. 

Results

Transparent accounting was set up for the customer, ensuring continuous and error-free processes, which allows the company's management to make the right managerial decisions. Accounting optimization has also cut the monthly bill by more than 50%.

Thanks to the process automation, accountants have more time to participate in strategic decisions, and regular sessions allow to monitor market changes in time and consider the company's development plan.