How SNV Automated Its Everyday Financial Postings from Microsoft Excel to SAP Using Z Option s General Ledger Spreadsheet Uploader (GLSU) Tool

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2 Vendor Solutions and Services How SNV Automated Its Everyday Financial Postings from Microsoft Excel to SAP Using Z Option s General Ledger Spreadsheet Uploader (GLSU) Tool Akil Walji, SNV World Netherlands Development Organization Jim Halepaska, Z Option 2009 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

3 In This Session... Find out how SNV used Z Option s GLSU tool to create foolproof templates that enable remote users to streamline spreadsheet-based processes for SAP. Learn how SNV increased accuracy, reduced time and effort, and shortened its month-end close cycle by using automated Microsoft Excel processes to improve accounting procedures. Understand how SNV trained its users, most of whom had no professional accounting or SAP knowledge, to post hundreds of documents per day without fear of entering inaccurate data. Come away with an understanding of how the GLSU spreadsheet loading tool uses standard SAP-provided functionality to seamlessly upload G/L entries, vendor invoices, and accounts receivable (A/R) documents directly from Microsoft Excel to SAP. 2

4 What do we mean by Extreme These Are Sports These Are Extreme Sports 3

5 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 4

6 SNV at a Glance Akil Walji Economist by profession Over 20 years experience in the field of Finance, Administration, {Project} Management, Internal Control and ERP solutions Most of this in Africa and Central America Currently managing SAP FI/CO and SAP BI/BW applications, based in The Netherlands In charge of translating SNV s Business processes and needs into SAP unless solutions. 5

7 SNV at a Glance Global Presence, Local Impact Netherlands-based International Development Organisation since 1964 Up until 2003, under the umbrella of Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs After 2003, a private NGO (still 100% financed by DGIS) Annual budget of over 110 million (DGIS) and ±30 million from other bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors Our Motto: Global Presence, Local Impact Operations in 33 countries with 107 offices Over 1,600 employees and over 600 consultants Working closely with over 2,200 local partners 6

8 SNV at a Glance SAP Environment : ERP Setup Current Version: ECC 6.0 BW Enterprise Portal/Share Point Portal Time writing (in TimeTell) R/3 Modules: FI CO HR + Payroll CATS {Commitments/Funds Management} {Project System} in development {Adobe Interactive Forms} SAP BW 7

9 SNV at a Glance SAP Environment : SAP Use 6 Locations where SAP R/3 is available 107 Offices where Income and Expenditures are incurred One SAP Company One Controlling Area One Depreciation Area 33 Company Codes 200 Profit Centers 1200 Cost Centers 4000 Internal Orders 46 Currencies 5 Languages 8

10 Located in Lewisville, Texas (Near Dallas) Formed in 1998 by accountants and programmers SAP Software Partner World-class products and support for customers of all sizes and industries 9

11 Customers 10

12 Product Overview 11

13 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 12

14 SNV - Our Challenges Solo Entrepreneurs: History of individual kingdoms Non-Financial managers are in charge HQ has no or little control over who gets hired/fired End of the World locations: Country programs in remote locations Slow and unstable connectivity (high latency) Availability and quality of staff High roll-over (trained and qualified staff are heavily recruited) Finance and Administration is not our core business 13

15 SNV / Netherlands Development Organisation. SNV World Country Programs 14

16 SNV - Reasons for Modernizing In 1988 we implemented a Stand Alone Financial System on a PC (sometimes without A/C power) Our HR and PA Administration was, to put it mildly, in need of a MAJOR overhaul We were hit with the Millennium bug {scare} In 2000, Management in NL purchased SAP R/3 and it ended up on the shelves up until there was no rollout/usage. The cut-off [End of Life] of our existing loader software date was At individual (Country) level, we were doing fine, but there was no Corporate identity for our FI & HR systems Our Donor (DGIS), started to be more strict in terms of Information needs, Audit Compliance 15

17 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Problem: Why did we do this? [until ] Before SAP/GLSU: 30 Stand Alone Financial Systems At period closure, export FULL database using floppy disks Send (via snail mail 1-3 weeks), floppies to HQ Every month, 10% to 15% of the floppies are misplaced or unreadable Data is read into 30 (stand alone PCs) and Financial Statements exported to Lotus 123 / Excel (1 week) Consolidation of accounts done manually. (1 week) 16

18 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Problem: Why did we do this? [until ] Before SAP/GLSU: 30 Stand Alone Financial Systems At period closure, export FULL database using floppy disks Send (via snail mail 1-3 weeks), floppy s to HQ Every month, 10% to 15% of the floppy s are misplaced or unreadable Data is read into 30 (stand alone PC s) and Financial Statements exported to Lotus 123 / Excel (1 week) Consolidation of accounts done manually. (1 week) 17

19 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Problem: Why did we do this? [until ] Before SAP/GLSU: 30 Stand Alone Financial Systems At period closure, export FULL database using floppy disks Send (via snail mail 1-3 weeks), floppy s to HQ Every month, 10% to 15% of the floppy s are misplaced or unreadable Data is read into 30 (stand alone PC s) and Financial Statements exported to Lotus 123 / Excel (1 week) Consolidation of accounts done manually. (1 week) 18

20 Deadlines (Are STRICT and Not Negotiable!!!) Your period closure MUST be done by 1st week of every month Your Bank and Suppliers Your Office Management Reports and KPI dashboards broadcast by the 10th of every month! 19

21 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Solution : What we did [after ] We got connected! and used 2 of the world s best products! 20

22 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Problem: Why did we do this? [until ] Before SAP/GLSU: 30 Stand Alone Financial Systems At period closure, export FULL database using floppy disks Send (via snail mail 1-3 weeks), floppy s to HQ Every month, 10% to 15% of the floppy s are misplaced or unreadable Data is read into 30 (stand alone PC s) and Financial Statements exported to Lotus 123 / Excel (1 week) Consolidation of accounts done manually. (1 week) Month-end close reduced from 8 weeks to 2 weeks 21

23 SNV - Streamline Accounting with SAP and GLSU The Problem: Why did we do this? [until ] Before SAP/GLSU: 30 Stand Alone Financial Systems At period closure, export FULL database using floppy disks Send (via snail mail 1-3 weeks), floppy s to HQ Every month, 10% to 15% of the floppy s are misplaced or unreadable Data is read into 30 (stand alone PC s) and Financial Statements exported to Lotus 123 / Excel (1 week) Consolidation of accounts done manually. (1 week) Month-end close reduced from 8 weeks to 2 weeks 22

24 SNV - Deadlines (Not Negotiable!!!) SNV s Period closure MUST be done by 14 th of every month My Bank My Statements and Bills Postman of the Year My Office Management Reports and KPI dashboards broadcast by the 20 th of every month! Deadline missed only 2 times since

25 So How Do We Achieve This [Outstanding] Record: SAP <> GLSU <> SNV 107 Offices 6 Admin Centers Data Entry into GLSU Sheets 4 Standard GLSU Templates to Input Data: -GENERAL LEDGER MEMO -CASH -BANK -CHEQUES Posting GLSU sheets into SAP 2x per month 24

26 Data Entry Using the GLSU Templates Templates have been created to facilitate a standardized process for entering data No SAP (data entry) knowledge is available in our 107 offices Our GLSU Templates make data entry into SAP a breeze Some numbers: 107 x 4 x 2 x 12 = >10,000 GLSU Sheets are processed annually This covers roughly EUR 80 million which is close to 75% of our annual expenditures! Life-Cycle of the documents (Team Office > Admin Center > SAP Upload > Team Office) to date (since 2005): less than 20 sheets have been rejected due to data entry errors! We have encountered a HIGH rollover of staff in our field. Good quality is difficult to retain due to poaching! 25

27 SNV s 4 GLSU Templates Created using MS Excel (Office 2003) Our Reference to build Templates Our GLSU Users have no SAP FI/CO Knowledge SAP Transaction Data Entry Screen Layout is leading SAP Field Status Group requirement is leading Double Entry Bookkeeping = BALANCED Most functionality built using Standard Excel Some MACRO and VBA used End Users have been the main contributors for building new versions (Current = Version 8) 26

28 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 27

29 Validate Field Status Group During Data Input SAP Document Entry Screen :FB50 Excel : Our GLSU Document Entry Screen 28

30 Validate Field Status Group During Data Input - How Did We Do This? Excel Formulas: Creating the Conditional Formatting: Create a table with your Master data and Chart of Accounts as per the Field Status Requirements Create Named Ranges Use the: IF, VLOOKUP, AND, OR, statements in Conditional Formatting Limit Cell input by allowing only predefined data (in lists)! 29

31 Validate Field Status Group During Data Input - How Did We Do This? Let s go through the steps to create a Conditional Format Our Template will have 4 (visible) Worksheets: We use 5 Account Assignments in our SAP R/3 FI/CO setup: Cost Center = C Internal Order = I Personnel Number = P Asset Number = A Tax (posting allowed for Tax, Y/N) = T So we will need to mention, for each G/L account, its FS Account Assignment in our table 30

32 My Masterdata Sheet: OK-List in an Excel Table M y R a n g e We will call our Named Range OK_LIST, and will include: CELLS: From: $X$7 To: $AC$200 31

33 How to Create a Named Range in Excel In Excel, we define a Named Range using the following menu: Insert > Name > Define Give your Range a NAME, Important: NO spaces in the NAME allowed This is the Range, which the NAME refers to! Notice the worksheet name is included! Our Named Range includes CELLS: From: $X$7 To: $AC$200 and the name of the worksheet: masterdata 32

34 Using Named Ranges in Validation Lists or Conditional Formatting We now have a Named Range: OK_LIST Advantage: We can now use this Named Range in ALL worksheets in our workbook Conditional Formatting: Format > Conditional Formatting TASK: We want to assist the GLSU user to indicate: In the event the G/L account has a P requirement in the account assignment, than the CELL color should {turn} WHITE We will use the VLOOKUP function to evaluate whether or not we should change the cell color 33

35 Task Which Needs a Conditional Format: When a user enters a G/L account in CELL: J16 We want to inform the user that the G/L account entered in CELL J16 has one {or more} Account Assignment requirement (like Cost Center must be entered, or Personnel number should be mentioned). We will do this by changing the cell color of the required account assignment! 34

36 Task Which Needs a Conditional Format: When a user enters a G/L account in CELL: J16 For our task, if our VLOOKUP condition for = P is true, we will change the color of this cell: P16 to be WHITE, meaning (Personnel Number) is REQUIRED! 35

37 Excel Formula for Evaluating a Condition: We enter this Formula as the Conditional Format in CELL: P16 =VLOOKUP($J16,OK_LIST,4)="P" This function will do the following: Evaluate the value in Cell J16 In the Named Range (OK_LIST) Find a match in the 4 th column with a P If this is TRUE, We will use this to apply a Conditional Format 36

38 Conditional Formatting: 3 Conditions (max) In Excel, if the FIRST condition is satisfied (as TRUE), then the formatting will be applied, and the 2 nd or 3 rd Condition will not be evaluated correctly! Only if the 1 st condition is FALSE, will the 2 nd Condition be evaluated, etc.: 37

39 For Every Account Assignment: Create Conditional Format 38

40 Help Validate Completeness of Data Input! If our user forgets to comply with our Account Assignment requirement! We give a little help! For EACH row with incomplete data (Field Status Group = Required ), we show an Example: Check for a Missing Personnel Number (in CELL P22): X =IF(J22<>"",IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(J22,OK_LIST,4,FALSE)),"",IF(VLOOKUP(J22,OK_LIST,4,FALSE)="P",IF(P22="",ROW(),""),"")),"") 39

41 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 40

42 Tips and Tricks - Dynamic Drop Down Lists Impress end users with Dynamic Drop Down Lists? Use INDEX, MATCH, and REPT to make your Drop Down Lists dynamic Simple List: = masterdata!$o$4:$o$13 [This is also a Named Range: COUNTRIES] Instead, Use : Dynamic drop down list (Indexed and leave out all those blanks!) =masterdata!$o$4:index(masterdata!$o$4:$o$13,match(rept("z",255),masterdat a!$o$4:$o$13)) Simple List Dynamic List Bolivia Kenya Nicaragua Peru Tanzania Vietnam Bolivia Kenya Nicaragua Peru Tanzania Vietnam

43 Tips and Tricks - Feeling a Bit More Confident: With simple VBA code, auto-sort your lists: Example: To sort the Countries List With Sheets("masterdata").Range("O4:Q13").NumberFormat = "@".Sort Key1:=Range("O4"), Order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlGuess, _ OrderCustom:=1, MatchCase:=False, Orientation:=xlTopToBottom End With VBA is a very powerful tool, so try this out only if you feel comfortable, or else you may end up with unexpected outcome! 42

44 Tips and Tricks Advanced Conditional Formatting If you find that (max) 3 Conditions for Conditional Formatting are not sufficient, use the OR, AND functions to combine validation checks: =OR(AND(H16<>"Q",OR(J16>17503,J16<17501),OR(J16>17902,J16<17802), OR(J16>20106,J16<18001),OR(J16>20199,J16<20109))) =OR(AND(CDQ <> "Q", OR(Account is not between and 17501), OR(Account is not between and 17802), OR(Account is not between and 18001), OR(Account is not between and 20109))) 43

45 Tips and Tricks Advanced Conditional Formatting If you find that (max) 3 Conditions for Conditional Formatting are not sufficient, use the OR, AND functions to combine validation checks: REMEMBER: The OR and AND are LOGICAL functions, So evaluate the GREATER value or number BEFORE evaluating the LESSER! OR(J16>20199,J16<20109) OR(J16>20106,J16<18001) OR(J16>17902,J16<17802) 44

46 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 45

47 What You Will See in the GLSU Demonstration Easy user interface Leverage existing Excel skills Post directly from the spreadsheet Flexible layouts SAP Document Numbers returned Attach source workbook to posted document in SAP Pre-validation of data before posting Master Data lookups Post more than 1,000 lines Post multiple documents from 1 worksheet 双重字 (Asian character support) Free Trial Period 46

48 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 47

49 Too Many Excel Files to Open? Scenario: You wish to keep your data in ONE Workbook with many sheets! We use our workbook (all year round), and post the monthly data by referring to the month in our GLSU worksheet Excel can help you do this! Use the [ =INDIRECT ] function to refer to a worksheet name! =INDIRECT( &{my worksheet name}& '! "& {Cell Address}") {my worksheet name} can be a Cell Reference SNV uses this for posting Canteen Sales and Parking Revenue for cost recovery from external staff = Consultants = Debtors 48

50 Canteen Sales for the Month of June 2009 CELL: C2 Total = Data Entry is allowed ONLY in the Cells with a GREEN background 49

51 Posting Entry Created Automatically for June 2009 June_2009 =INDIRECT("'"&$K$10&"'!"&"C2") =IF(J16=0,0,VLOOKUP(J16,INDIRECT("'"&$K$10&"'!"&"C2:J42"),8,FALSE)) 50

52 External Payroll : FLAT File TASK: Process the FLAT File every period using a GLSU Document 51

53 Formulas to Use in Our GLSU Sheet Assign a Posting key using a formula: =IF(U16>0,40,50) Is the amount Debit or Credit? If value is Debit [<0.00], enter Amount in Column U, else 0.00 = IF( FLAT_FILE!L1<0,ABS(L1),0) If value is Credit [>0.00], enter Amount in Column V, else 0.00 = IF( FLAT_FILE!L1>0,ABS(L1),0) 52

54 What We ll Cover SNV and Z Option Information The Problem: SNV s Financial Close Process The Solution: SNV s Extreme Z Option Templates Tips and Tricks to Make Your Spreadsheet Template Work for You Demonstration of GLSU Ideas for Automating Other Accounting Processes Wrap-Up 53

55 Resources Microsoft Excel Functions Z Option Online Presentations How Kellogg Automated Processing of P-Card Accruals GLSU Presentation From SAP Financials 2009 Kellogg Automate What You Hate GLSU Presentation From SAP Financials 2008 Powell Electronics Easy Data Entry From Excel GLSU/Budget Loader Presentation From SAP Financials 2006 Rail America ECOHUB Partner Page 54

56 6 Key Points to Take Home Use Excel automation to improve accounting processes. Increase accuracy, reduce time and effort, shorten month-end close cycle. Make Excel work for you by using standard functionality. Reduce training requirements by adding business logic to your spreadsheet templates. Work with the 3rd party to provide data in an easy-to-use format. Use GLSU to enhance your SAP experience (post more than 1000 lines, post multiple documents from one worksheet, attach source documents in SAP). 55

57 Your Turn! How to Contact: Akil Walji (0) How to Contact: Jim Halepaska Financials 2009 Sponsor Booth #240 56

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