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NEWS
October/November 2013 www.esb.ie/em
FINANCE TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME (FiTP)
» Effectiveness, Efficiency and Leadership - three words that underpin everything that the Finance Transformation Programme set out to achieve.
WHEN THE PROGRAMME was set up in 2011, its purpose was to design and implement a new finance operating model across the ESB Group so that ESB Finance can carry out its role more effectively and efficiently in order to lead and deliver for the business.
As the Programme now comes to a close, we look back at how much has been delivered in that time?
EFFECTIVENESS - HIGH PERFORMING UNIFIED TEAM
One of the most significant changes that the Finance Transformation Programme implemented was the introduction of a new Finance Operating Model. Under the new model, central finance services teams act as Service Partners to their business unit customers, Corporate Centre act as Strategy Partner to ESB Group, while finance functions embedded within the business units act as Business Partners.
To deliver this, three centralised Finance Operations teams were established in the Business Service Centre, ESB Networks and Generation & Wholesale Markets. In total over 120 staff joined the Finance Operations teams located in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Dundalk, with nearly 80 physical moves to the Finance Operations area in Head Office.
“We now have the right balance of people in the right place, providing best-in-class services to our customers,” says Cathal Marley, Group Financial Controller and Chair of the FiTP Project Board. “All three strands of the model work in close cooperation with each other so that the finance function across ESB can operate as ‘one finance team’ and is refocused on the needs of the business.”
EFFICIENCY - IMPLEMENTING IMPROVEMENTS AND COST SAVINGS
As part of the Programme, existing finance processes were reviewed for inefficiencies and a new set of standardised and simplified processes were designed and consistently implemented across ESB.
Vision for Finance:
Sustain ESB financial strength and integrity through: one finance team ▪ simplified processes ▪ unlocking capability.
In total over 55 process design workshops took place with more than 100 staff contributing to the design of the new processes. In advance of the new finance processes being deployed in February of this year, almost 2,500 system tests were carried out to ensure the integrity of the new processes and 85 staff trained in the new ways of working.
Improvements to the existing financial system were also completed under the direction of the Programme in order to drive efficiency. Since April 2012, a total of 48 change requests have been agreed, tested and implemented to the existing SAP system.
LEADERSHIP - DELIVERING FOR THE BUSINESS
Delivering for the business not only involved the implementation of the new operating model, but also included the introduction of a number of new systems, which have been designed to fundamentally change ESB's approach to performance management and reporting.
In July of this year, the Programme went live with a new reporting system, which saw the introduction of new online Reporting Packs for ESB Group and each of the business units. The new system now tracks 22 key targets for the Group (Key Performance Indicators or ‘KPIs') and over 40 business unit KPIs.
Over 110 people have been trained in use of the new system, which includes staff at every level of the organisation including members of the EDT who are ultimately the end users of the new system at the monthly Business Unit Performance Management Review meetings.
In the same month, SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC) was implemented by the Programme. The new business intelligence tool supports the new approach to planning, budgeting and forecasting with quarterly
“The combination of the new Finance Operating Model, the changed approach to managing overall business performance and the introduction of supporting processes, systems and tools, means that ESB Finance can focus on providing better support to the business,” says Niall Hogan, Programme Manager.
FiTP by numbers:
Finance Operating Model
• Three Finance Operations teams established - BSC, ESB Networks and G&WM.
• Over 120 staff in total across four locations Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Dundalk.
• 80 physical moves to Finance Operations area in Head Office.
Performance management and reporting
• Two new business intelligence systems - SAP Business Planning and Consolidation and SAP Business Objects.
• 22 Group KPIs and over 40 BU KPIs being tracked by the new reporting system.
• 110 staff trained on the new reporting system.
• 95 staff trained on the new planning and forecasting system.
• Seven inbound and outbound interfaces between SAP BPC and other financial systems - FMIS, BCS and Business Objects.
• 67 input schedules and 30 reports designed for SAP BPC.
New processes and systems
• 55 Process Design Workshops with over 100 business unit contributors.
• Over 150 detailed procedures developed by Subject Matter Experts from all business units.
• 85 staff trained in the new Finance Processes.
• 48 system improvements to existing SAP financial system.
• 2,500 tests executed in advance of the implementation of the new finance processes.
• Over 1850 issues identified and resolved as part of the testing process.
• New SAP role profiles and SAP access for 140 finance staff.
• 113 SAP BPC user accounts activated.
