How to stand up resilient finance capabilities with SAP® solutions

Outmaneuvering uncertainty

2 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

In unpredictable times, finance must be ready to move rapidly to operate in new situations. Providing financial insights, forecasts and planning capabilities are never more critical than when organizations find themselves under unexpected stress and forced to adapt rapidly to fast-changing circumstances. Whether that means a large proportion of the workforce operating remotely, the need to move fast to model the impacts of new external factors or other unexpected events, finance has to be ready to guide the business through trying times.

To help finance respond rapidly and confidently to the current situation and be ready for whatever comes next, Accenture has pivoted offerings with SAP technologies in four key areas to deliver resilience and agility:

Treasury and working capital predictor – gain a rapid view into liquidity impacts

Cost visibility with AI and machine learning – enable real-time spend management decisions

Connected enterprise planning – forecast and model the impacts of external factors on balance sheet and P&L

Remote financial close management – automate and remotely manage key control and compliance processes

Business value Optimized liquidity management• Minimize cash buffers

• Reduced cost of debt and optimized return on investment

Working capital and trade finance optimization• Improved working capital terms

• Optimized payables / receivables

Improved hedging activities• More accurate exposure forecasts

• Reduced hedging inefficiencies by lowering risk thresholds

Optimized banking terms • Increased cash visibility enables

stronger negotiating positions that can improve banking fees

• Enhanced use of credit facilities

Under volatile conditions, complex global organizations must balance broad planning assumptions with specific local factors (e.g. taxes, regulations). The main capabilities that treasury needs to do this effectively are:

Cashflow forecastingWith real-time reporting and data analytics, new predictive capabilities offer finance managers more accurate working capital forecasts and an easier way to monitor cashflow. This empowers them to better manage global cash positions, with alerts and flags that support critical liquidity decisions and help to reduce foreign exchange risks.

Predicting late paymentWith an algorithm predicting the probability of late payments, automated reporting can accelerate the collection process.

Receivables collection reportReal-time reporting of receivables precise analysis and rapid action.

Preconfigured applications that are available for rapid deployment include:• Intelligent Collector

• Cashflow Forecaster

• Period-end Accelerator

• Revenue-leakage Predictor

Treasury and Working Capital Predictor

3 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

Business value • Enhanced cost visibility and insight

• Value case for cost optimization based on industry benchmarks

• Clear set of data-driven insights enabling actions to reduce costs

In turbulent times, companies more than ever need easy visibility into their cashflow and spend. This is key to moving rapidly to identify areas for cost optimization.

Accenture’s proprietary algorithm (AURORA) categorizes costs based on standard categories.

Using SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), the results of this analysis can be presented and navigated easily to identify major cost categories and relevant details.

Resulting actions are clearly presented and compared with industry benchmarks. This supports business case evaluation for a zero-based budgeting (ZBB) approach and/or more accurate forecasting for specific cost categories.

We can provide clients with a working model in SAC in 2-3 weeks (depending on company size and complexity).

In the short term, clients will be able to monitor their costs based on standard cost categories, as well as to develop a clear business case for cost optimization.

Cost Visibility with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

4 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

Business value • Increased ownership of planning outcomes

• Reduced planning cycle time

• Real-time data insights and planning outcomes

• Standardized way of working across the organization

• Shift to more value-added activities

• Integration across multiple functions

• Real-time simulation and “what ifs”

• Improved visibility for planning drivers and assumptions

• Collaborative working across functions

Organizations must be able to rapidly re-plan and re-forecast key economic drivers for finance, supply chain, procurement, HR, sales, and other enterprise functions.

The ability to embed macroeconomic events and external factors into a scenario is essential, along with achieving a balance between accuracy and sufficient granularity for effective planning.

To help companies move fast, Accenture uses SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) to develop “what if” and scenario planning as-a-Service.

We can provide a standalone working model in a few months that offers the basis for scenario modelling and future solution development.

In the short term, clients will be able to access multiple scenarios based on specific company data (e.g. M&A, impact to workforce, impact to sales due to consumer changes, etc).

Connected Enterprise Planning

5 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

Business value Creating a remote financial close management system helps to ensure the continuation of current close monitoring, compliance, and controls processes as business dynamics, work locations, and resource availability are impacted by external events.

This solution can provide a foundation for continuing to enable greater flexibility in the performance of additional financial functions in a remote and distributed work environment.

For the finance function to continue to provide an accurate and timely view of performance, it is critical to maintain financial closing processes when external events impact operations.

Accenture’s remote financial process management solution strengthens financial close by improving and accelerating compliance and controls, automating activities and providing centralized monitoring.

For clients with SAP S/4HANA®, ECC or non-SAP ledgers, we can provide:

• an initial assessment of remote financial process management solution options within 1-2 weeks

• a working model of SAP Financial Closing Cockpit (FCC) or SAP Advanced Financial Closing (AFC) in 4-6 weeks

• automation of financial close process activities in 4-6 weeks.

Remote Financial Close Management

6 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

7 Outmaneuvering uncertainty - finance capabilities Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

Treasury and Working Capital Predictor

GlobalConstantin Holzner Managing Director Accenture

North AmericaJohn Hutton Associate Director Accenture

EuropeCarlos Lopez Senior Manager Accenture

Cost Visibility with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

GlobalConstantin Holzner Managing Director Accenture

North AmericaKaren Chung Managing Director Accenture

EuropeGiammarco Ariozzi Senior Manager Accenture

Connected Enterprise Planning

GlobalConstantin Holzner Managing Director Accenture

North AmericaKaren Chung Managing Director Accenture

EuropeGiammarco Ariozzi Senior Manager Accenture

Remote Financial Close Management

GlobalConstantin Holzner Managing Director Accenture

North AmericaPaul McDonald Managing Director Accenture

EuropeEliseo Belmonte Managing Director Accenture

Contacts

Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.

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About AccentureAccenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 509,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com

Learn More Find out more on how Accenture can help you stand up resilient finance capabilities with SAP® solutions at

Accenture’s SAP finance transformation web page