Assessing Automation Opportunities August 2017 All rights reserved Web: Toll-Free:

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1 Assessing Automation Opportunities August 2017 All rights reserved Web: Toll-Free:

2 Welcome to Assessing Automation Opportunities August 16, 2017 Sponsored by TeamNFP & Your MIP Business Partner Host: Q Johnson, Managing Member, TeamNFP Software Moderator: Jan Triplett, Marketing Director, TeamNFP Software

3 Housekeeping Items Please mute yourself Use the Chat window if you have a question or technical issue CPE attendance Certificates please provide your info Recording & Slides will be available send request Short demos after the session

4 The term Automation Opportunity A task whose cost to the organization could be lowered by the application of some automation technique It could be one you already perform or one you anticipate as a result of new compliance requirements from a funder or your board, for example.

5 Automation Opportunities: Categories Custom Output: getting something out of MIP that it won t produce out of the box Custom Input: getting data into MIP from some other source Interfaces that play one or both roles So let s look at some examples of each

6 Automation Opportunities: Examples Custom Output Custom Reports, Checks, Stubs, ACH, Wires, Positive Pay Cash Basis rendering of accrual transactions PR Benefit/Deduction info for Government Retirement System Custom Input Timesheets, Employees, Vendors Distribution Codes, Transactions Interfaces Data transfer between MIP and Medical Billing, External Payroll, Expense Trackers (Concur), Timesheets (Kronos)

7 Available Automation Tools For custom output MIP s Export might be sufficient alone, or combined with a post-processor Direct Extraction with SQL ODBC (authentication required) SafeKey sa account OLE DB SQL Bootstrapping Custom objects in MIP Org DB (tables, stored procs, views, triggers) Name them SIP

8 Available Automation Tools For custom input MIP s Import Feature provides validation protection for MIP and for YOU manually or via API if you pre-validate the data, you can ensure success Direct Data Manipulation SQL Server, Access, Excel, custom program requires write-capable authorization credentials (not available with SafeKey)

9 Assessment Principles Know the dollar value of the desired outcome Know the present cost of achieving it Know the time horizon Anticipate Workflow consequences Identify as many risks as possible and quantify their cost Let s apply these principles

10 Developing Cost Data The cost mantra How much effort and how often is it done? Manual Costs Setup/Design of system (e.g., Excel) Time required for each use Potential for errors and needed correction Technical complexity burden (can an employee become too critical?)

11 Developing Cost Data Automated Solution Costs Setup/Design (more costly than manual) Each use cost (practically free?) Will it be fragile with respect to MIP upgrades or changes in output requirements? Might it make more revenue opportunities available? Think big!

12 Developing Cost Data How to compare those costs Identify the relevant time horizon Manual cost over that time period? Cost of automated solution for same time? Include all costs (support? maintenance?) Harder question: Is the output worth as much as the cheapest alternative? (i.e., Is it worth doing at all?)

13 Developing Cost Data Automated Solution s Special Risk: How likely are there to be changes in the output requirements? How flexible will it be to meeting those changes? Will it be more cost effective to deal with such changes with a manual system?

14 Custom Interfaces Design Issues Who s a target and who s a source? MIP to Other Program (OP) OP to MIP MIP and OP both targets of third program MIP and OP both sources for third program How do we provide missing data? Improve source data, e.g. User Defined Fields Old fashioned data entry in the User Interface of our tool

15 Custom Interfaces Design Issues How do we avoid omission and duplication? How will we catch it when it happens? MIP s include unposted entries is useful here! Can we intentionally duplicate? Who s responsible for keeping it running when source or target change? Know the risk Figure out how to handle its cost Will the bad news come after an update or before?

16 Custom Interfaces Back to Costs How much and how often? Cost comparison is same as before collect as many hard and soft costs as you can find of each method over relevant time Extra feature appeal for automation! Although the interfaces are often expensive, incremental feature additions are usually a bargain, rather than multiples of cost. Let s look at cost issues of different types of Interfaces

17 Interfaces OP to MIP Type Characteristics that make them less attractive Is the source system a good subledger? provides excellent reporting detail history is maintained if so, there is little reason to bring duplicated, detailed transaction info to MIP Revenue-side systems might be poor candidates if these are true

18 Interfaces OP to MIP Type Characteristics that make them more attractive Expense-side systems High-volume and/or performed frequently Complex allocations Not repetitive in nature (so memorized transactions aren t a good solution) Out-of-house Payroll to MIP GL is a good example

19 Interfaces OP to MIP Type Characteristics that make them more attractive (cont d) Expense-side systems are even more valuable in environments with expense-based reimbursement billing Your ability to process large volumes of data with increased precision or accuracy might win you more funding of this type (and earn you MUCH more than the interface actually costs!)

20 Interfaces Does Yours Already Exist? How to research existing interfaces Ask your Business Partner Abila s Marketplace ( TeamNFP ( Microix ( Abila s Professional Services

21 TeamNFP Payroll TM8 interface between external Payroll provider and MIP GL Positive Pay TM8 produce a file for the bank Check Clearing TM8 read the bank s file Draw Down Mgt TM8 get paid and not fined AR TM8 er get paid faster and easier Multi-Lingual Checks TM8 use foreign banks International Wire TM8 faster than checks

22 Microix Requisition/Purchase Order Module Budget Preparation Module Electronic Timesheet Module (great workflow features!) Microix Integrator Inventory

23 Outside the MIP Community General Purpose Consultants Pros Lots of them Local References for their past work Cons Nonprofit expertise? MIP expertise? Does their experience match your need? Cost of their learning curve?

24 It s just too expensive! The project really makes sense, but at a lower cost. Are you really the lone ranger? Build a consortium of similar users to share risks and costs! Get in the software business!

25 Audience Exercise Evaluate These Auditors want a highly-detailed, special fixed asset listing for the annual audit OIG has the authority to exclude individuals and entities from Federally funded health care programs and maintains the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE). Anyone who hires an individual or entity on the LEIE may be subject to civil monetary penalties. Your auditors want to know how you re going to demonstrate compliance for your 450 employees by checking against each monthly update of the LEIE database.

26 How About Your Examples? Question and Answer Session Q Johnson (512)

27 3 Action Items Provide your information if you want an attendance certification for CPE credit Ask your TeamNFP Business Partner about our specially priced bank fraud prevention software bundle (Positive Pay & Check Clearing TM8) Remember, any 2 TeamNFP software products bought together ALWAYS earn you a 10% discount!

28 Thanks & Next TeamNFP/Partner Webinar Thanks to our TeamNFP Business Partners who helped get the word out. They sell and work hard to help you make the most of Abila s MIP and TeamNFP software. Next Webinar: Culture Over Skill: Getting & Keeping the Right People, Tuesday, Oct 17, p.m. CDT Presenter Dr. Jan Triplett, former Asst. Dir, Staff Dev, TX agency

29 Fraud Prevention & Productivity Improvement Software for MIP from Abila Web: Toll-Free: Thank you for joining us!