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Making a Business Case
for Intelligent Finance

CFOs Discuss the Benefits
of SAP S/4HANA

Intelligent Finance
Enables the Strategic CFO

Transformative and intelligent technologies such as in-memory processing, machine learning, predictive analytics, cloud, and others are changing the way finance professionals work and increasing the value finance brings to the organization. These innovations are driving process efficiencies through increased automation and simplification, freeing finance professionals to spend more time focusing on more-strategic work that improves the overall performance of the enterprise.



Keeping Pace in a Disruptive
Business Environment

A recent Economist study found that CFOs and senior finance executives are concerned with their ability to keep up with the pace of change and adapt quickly to changes in the business environment.1 In fact, respondents cited the following as their top challenges when executing day-to-day activities.

The top four concerns of finance professionals

Adapting to unexpected changes to financial forecasts

Adapting to rapidly evolving business models

Aligning strategic, financial, and operational plans

Analyzing data across the business to develop cost containment strategies
8 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 75 80 82 84 86 89
90%

Agreed that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning across the company to ensure operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans

1. “Steering Through Collaboration”, survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2018.

Empowering the CFO

Today’s CFO must be prepared and equipped to help the business respond and evolve to a changing business landscape. As the Economist survey revealed, companies in which finance executives feel empowered to drive strategic decisions across business functions were more likely to have a higher financial performance in financial year (FY) 2016–2017 and FY 2017–2018 and anticipate higher growth rates for FY 2019–2020.2

Percentage of respondents who feel empowered to drive
strategic decisions and its impact on performance

Financial
performance
FY 2016–2017 		Financial
performance
FY 2017–2018 		Financial
performance expectation
FY 2019–2020
40%
17%
65%
11%
80%
8%
 
Revenue growth above 10%
Revenue decline by more than 10%
2. “Steering Through Collaboration”, survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2018.

Changing the Way Work Is Done

To keep pace in this dynamic business and technology environment, CFOs are choosing an intelligent ERP with SAP S/4HANA as the foundation of their company’s digital core.

SAP S/4HANA can help empower your finance team to change the way work is done and the value it brings across the enterprise by enabling the following.

A rock-solid foundation of finance, risk, and compliance processes based on a single source of the truth

Intelligent technology innovations to drive finance transformation and business improvement

A flexible and accelerated innovation adoption path

A modern user experience offered in the cloud or on premise

Building a Rock-Solid Foundation
for Intelligent Finance

With SAP S/4HANA, companies can gain the ultimate business advantage with an intelligent, next-generation ERP system. It consolidates financial, managerial, and operational data in a unified in-memory system that accelerates performance with real-time processes and analytics deployed in the cloud, on premise, or in a hybrid model. The result is a rock-solid digital core to address end-to-end finance needs.

Financial planning and analysis:

Accelerate planning cycles and enable decisions based on real-time insights

Accounting and finance close:

Automate complex closing cycles and consolidate with direct access to the required transactions

Treasury management:

Optimize working capital with forward-looking insights into cash flow, risk, and liquidity

Financial operations:

Deliver superior service and collaboration that streamlines core finance processing across receivables, payables, real estate, tax, and travel management

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC):

Safeguard your company and processes with embedded GRC and cybersecurity controls and monitoring

Real-World Examples

As more and more companies adopt SAP S/4HANA, there are ample real-world examples of how it enables intelligent finance processes and empowers the strategic CFO.


Click to see examples that pertain to your industry or line of business.


Consumer
Products
Energy
Discrete
Manufacturing
Services

Transforming Finance with
Intelligent Innovations

Maintaining momentum in the evolution of finance requires an investment in intelligent technologies that enable innovation. Integrating these innovations into core finance processes empowers support across all areas of the business to develop insights not possible until now, and it transforms that insight into foresight.

Explore intelligent finance applications that increase automation and efficiency and drive business transformation, which empowers finance to fulfill the strategic role.

Take a Closer Look at Embedded Intelligent Finance Innovations

Critical resource-intensive tasks work exponentially more efficiently than ever or than any human could. Example: The SAP Cash Application software uses machine learning to learn from historical data to continuously find efficiencies and clear payments automatically.

Analyze actuals, forecasts, and simulations to predict market trends and future results. Example: SAP S/4HANA Cloud enables predictive accounting and closing by predicting critical KPIs with an audit trail back to actual transactions in the system that are not yet GAAP-posting relevant.

Machine learning and predictive analytics automatically detect suspicious entries to drive down risk. Example: The SAP Business Integrity Screening application detects and ranks data suggesting fraud or noncompliance with corporate policies.

Digital assistants provide voice-activated, in-context support in your applications to boost workers’ productivity. Example: The SAP CoPilot digital assistant drives intelligent receivables management in SAP S/4HANA by boosting collaboration and shortening time to access relevant data for critical business processes and decisions.

How You Benefit

Seventy-three percent of finance leaders agree that automation is improving the finance function’s efficiency at their company, giving its executives more bandwidth for value-added tasks.

Source: Oxford Economics

Predictive analytics software is guaranteed to produce a ROI. What’s even better? The ROI compounds. The more you use it, the greater the return.

Source: SAP performance benchmarking

An organization’s typical occupational fraud loss is 50% of its annual revenue.

Source: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

By 2020, the average person will have more conversations with bots than with their spouse.

Source: Gartner

Take an Accelerated and
Flexible Path to Innovation Adoption

Whether you’re upgrading your current SAP software landscape, moving to the cloud, already using SAP HANA, or starting a completely new implementation, you need experts who can guide you on your journey to SAP S/4HANA Finance. The SAP Digital Business Services organization works with you to determine the right strategy, road map, and architecture to maximize solution value.


For companies with very comprehensive ERP, finance, and other system landscapes – or those that want to keep existing systems intact – we offer SAP S/4HANA for central finance foundation (see the figure on the next page). This option helps facilitate and accelerate the transition path to SAP S/4HANA Finance without requiring changes to your existing systems. It supports a multi-ERP enterprise environment while enabling real-time reporting, harmonization, planning, and consolidation. You can migrate processes at your own speed to reduce your number of systems over time.

Heterogeneous
Landscape

SAP S/4HANA for Central
Finance Foundation

SAP S/4HANA

Iterative
Process Migration

SAP S/4HANA

Figure: Implementing SAP S/4HANA Finance with SAP S/4HANA for Central Finance Foundation

See how Hershey accelerated its journey to finance transformation and innovation adoption with SAP S/4HANA for central finance foundation.

Discover how Enel chose SAP S/4HANA for central finance foundation to update and streamline its financial closing process, focusing on one simple goal: get the most reliable data as quickly as possible.

Sapphire NOW event video Business transformation study

Agility and Digital Innovation in the Cloud

The cloud is quickly becoming the preferred software deployment method for many businesses – and for good reason. It brings opportunity for standardization and automation without the cost or complexity of customizing software or maintaining infrastructure.

Continuous innovation

  • Stay agile with rapid innovation cycles
  • Get the latest capabilities and best practices
  • Keep up with regulatory changes

Speed

  • Accelerated go-live and user adoption
  • Rapid global deployments
  • Flexibly scaled to new business needs

Predictable, lower total cost of ownership

  • Shift from capital expenditure to operational expenditure
  • Reduced need of IT administrative tasks
  • No infrastructure investment needed

Simple, reliable, and safe

  • Easy to configure and extend
  • Fully managed by a trusted third party
  • Complete data security and protection

Read Why Companies Are Choosing SAP S/4HANA Cloud as Part of Their Finance Transformation.

C2 International: As a growing company with disparate systems, C2 implemented SAP S/4HANA Cloud to simplify its accounting and financial processes all around the globe. Now, the global event producer is using cloud technology to reimagine the business conference experience.

Experis Ciber: By using SAP S/4HANA Cloud, IT consultancy Experis Ciber is inspiring its clients with knowledge of its cloud system. Now, it can deliver better service, including superior insight into project profitability and faster closing, which frees time for more client-focused activities.

Take the Next Step on Your
Journey to Intelligent Finance

To keep pace with today’s increasingly complex, competitive, and global marketplace, finance organizations are building functionality to achieve optimal insight and agility. CFOs are transforming their organizations to take on a more strategic role and are turning to intelligent technologies to help create greater value. SAP S/4HANA supports finance executives in this transformation.

SAP S/4HANA integrates every business process, turns real-time data into actions, and increases employee productivity – with the security you expect from SAP – enabling you to innovate, transform, and run ahead. See how it can help you consolidate financial, managerial, and operational data into a single source and accelerate performance with real-time processes and analytics.

Learn more today





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  Consumer Products
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Boryung Pharma

See how this Korean pharmaceuticals company gained high visibility and control of its business information in real time with the SAP S/4HANA Finance solution. Find out how a differentiated implementation methodology allowed it to reduce days sales outstanding by 10 days.

 
17%

higher on-time delivery performance

 
15%

fewer days in raw material inventory
 
75%

less time required for closing period

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Fertimig Fertilizantes

Find out how Fertimig Fertilizantes implemented SAP S/4HANA Finance, enabling the company to automate processes, adopt market best practices, optimize outcomes, and lay solid foundations for sustainable business growth.

 
50%

faster financial closing process

 
Real-time

reports for decision-making

 
50%

more time for strategic tasks

Watch video

Dole

With SAP S/4HANA Finance, Dole Packaged Foods is able to write all financial transactions in a universal journal. Additionally, it enables management reporting to come directly from the ledger, incorporating budget and plan data in real time.

 

From multiple subledgers and databases to one universal journal

 

Management reporting that comes directly from the ledger, incorporating budget and plan data in real time

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Horizon Pharma

Working with Accenture, Horizon Pharma has started its digital transformation in the finance function by moving general ledger systems to SAP S/4HANA. This global deployment will standardize and automate financial processes and reporting functions and optimize production, logistics, sales, procurement, and services.

 
7 days

to complete month-end reporting (down from 30 days)

 
Enhanced

innovation due to improved scalability
 
Simplified

IT infrastructure
  Consumer Products
Watch video

Nestlé

See how SAP S/4HANA Finance is enabling Nestlé to use the full potential of the finance function.

 
Unlock

full potential of finance function
 
Support

global, end-to-end processes and extension of shared services
 
Enable

future innovation

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Union Medical Healthcare

Learn how this leading healthcare company upgraded its financial management system and took a step toward digital transformation with SAP S/4HANA Finance.

 
Easier

visibility into company financials
 
Significantly

reduced manual recheck process

 
Faster

more-efficient monthly settlement and liquidation

Watch video

Rexel Electrical Supplies

See how this French electrical supplies distributor upgraded its technology by moving to SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. Learn how VISEA Consulting helped it make the transition in just six months. Review how the firm gained significantly faster reporting thanks to the in-memory computing power of the SAP HANA database.

     
5x

faster financial reporting

  
<12

months to gain ROI

  
Recipient

of SAP Quality Award for fast delivery

  
  Energy
Download BTS

Enel

Discover how Enel chose the SAP S/4HANA solution for central finance foundation to update and streamline its financial closing process, focusing on one simple goal: get the most reliable data as quickly as possible.

5 workdays

for the closing process, down from 16
1 source

system as a result of data consolidation, down from 19

Real-time

data analysis allowing instant visibility with no system performance restriction

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FARYS

See how, in partnership with Capgemini, FARYS implemented SAP S/4HANA Finance following a successful pilot. The new solution supports the complex divestiture and provides real-time business performance data and integrated reporting.

7x

reduction in database size

30%–50%

faster closing runs without the need for reconciliation
50%

increase in live reporting
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Mitsui Coal Holdings

Read how, working with PwC, Mitsui Coal Holdings used SAP S/4HANA and the SAP Business Planning and Consolidation application with partner managed cloud. Learn how it now has centralized data that is clear, correct, and simple to access – and predictive capabilities that help determine ROI for new mining sites.

   
 
10%

reduction in finance headcount, with more time to focus on strategic tasks

  
80%

of time in finance now spent on business strategy and data analysis instead of transactional operations

  Manufacturing
Download BTS

Alliance Contract
Manufacturing (ACM)

Gain insight into how this Malaysian manufacturer of industrial equipment used SAP S/4HANA Finance to integrate software across subsidiaries for complete visibility into operations. See how, with support for the entire value chain, it experienced decreased inventory levels and saved on procurement.

50%

reduction in uncollectible accounts receivable
3 months

to deploy SAP S/4HANA

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Archidply

Get the highlights of how this mill products company based in New Delhi, India, increased visibility into its business processes by implementing SAP S/4HANA. Learn how implementation partner SGN Software provided support to implement the solution within six months.

Greater

visibility into business operations

6 months

to complete implementation
Better

profitability management
  Manufacturing
Watch video

Klöckner & Co

Klöckner, a producer and independent distributor of steel and metals, has operations across 200 locations, serving more than 140,000 customers. To maintain its industry leadership, the company embarked on a digital transformation, realizing the benefits of having real-time finance data with SAP HANA.

More-consistent

data quality
Single

source of truth
Possibility

to analyze data every day rather than at month-end closing

Watch video

Ouns Group - Siam
City Cement Services LoB

See how Siam City Cement was able to cut its month-end closing by half with SAP S/4HANA Finance.

Cut

month-end closing by half

Increased

digitalization
50%

increase in live reporting
Download BTS Watch video

General Datatech

Video: General Datatech is using SAP IT Operations Analytics software, based on SAP HANA, and SAP Predictive Analytics software in its monitoring and management division to simplify processes and aggregate data from multiple sources in real time.

BTS: General Datatech participated in the SAP Early Adopter Care program and deployed the SAP S/4HANA suite with the SAP Fiori user experience. SAP S/4HANA has given the company a single source of truth and increased the speed at which it is able to retrieve financial and operational insight.

 
Reduced

year-end financial close from 3 ½ months to real time

 
Reduced

time required for quotes from hours to minutes

 
2-week

user adoption period

  
  Services
Watch video

ArcLight Cinemas

Hear how ArcLight Cinema is gaining the real-time visibility and agility to drive business growth with SAP S/4HANA.

12 weeks

to complete implementation
38 million

transactions hitting the system after just 4 months
5 months

to break even on the cost of the system

C2 Montreal

C2 Montreal is organizing events that bring together visionaries from around the world to explore the relationship between commerce and creativity and its potential to redefine business. As a growing company with disparate systems, C2 implemented SAP S/4HANA Cloud to simplify its accounting and financial processes all around the globe.

100%

cloud based, from accounting to operations to social networking
Real-time

reports for decision-making
Proven

ability to handle thousands of customer transactions a day from multiple systems through automation
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Imperial Logistics International

Read how this provider of supply chain expertise was able to transition to a culture of heightened accountability when it implemented SAP S/4HANA as its digital core. See how, with help from Arvato Systems, it consolidated finance operations into one accounting service center for its operations.

 
30%

faster reporting processes, and improved financial governance and transparency

 

Roll out SAP S/4HANA and the accounting service center to 75 more units

Watch video

PayPal

Observe how PayPal transformed itself with a single source of truth for financial and accounting information. Find out how the SAP Bank Analyzer set of applications, powered by SAP HANA, helped the business improve visibility and standardize its processes.

 

One financial data ecosystem providing the same data to various reporting tools

Centralization and consistency of accounting and business rules

Clear data lineage and visibility to finance data
  Services
Watch video

Swiss Re

Learn how Swiss Re leverages SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA for its financial transformation program to meet the economic challenges of today’s low-interest market.

 

Handle 8 different currencies in an automated manner
 

Close accounts within 5 days, beating its goal of 55 days
 

Increased process speed
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Türk Telecom

See Murat Kirkgoz, CFO of Türk Telecom, talk about how his financial organization transformed from a product-based to a customer-based structure. He explains how, using SAP S/4HANA to get an integrated view of all the companies, it operates more efficiently and quickly while dramatically reducing its accounts payable closing times.

 

Transformed its finance organizations and processes
 

Accelerated month-end closing, reconciliation, accounts payable closing, and reporting in hours rather than days
 

Integrated view of the business to make timely decisions to drive the business
Watch video

Vivint Smart Home

Vivint has embraced innovation as an early adopter of SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. Pat Kelliher, chief accounting officer of Vivint Smart Home, gives you a preview into how the company transformed its inventory tracking capabilities with SAP S/4HANA.

     
 
Daily

reporting on usage of inventory and comparison against trends

  
Adopted

cloud to free resources to focus on other needs in the business