Order2Cash

The "Order2Cash" process links the most important stages of value creation in the company by encompassing all workflows from establishing the customer relationship to ordering and delivery through to invoicing and subsequent receivables management. Functioning workflows along this process and close interlinking of the interrelated sub-processes are therefore essential for smooth business operations from an operational perspective.

Due to the broad scope of the process, there are many stakeholders in the company, some of whom have conflicting interests. These include, for example:

Sales: This is responsible for the customer relationship and initiating business. The interest is therefore in fast and uncomplicated commissioning and ordering. At the same time, it must be ensured that all follow-up activities can be clearly and easily traced back to the commissioning and ordering process.

Legal and compliance: Responsible for compliance with legal framework conditions, the main focus in this context is on the audit-proof documentation of orders and, in particular, contractual bases. A clear contractual reference for each order is essential.

Production: This is where the customer's wishes are translated into products and deliveries. The core requirement for the Order2Cash process is therefore to automate the process steps as far as possible. Last but not least, the process must support all types of services offered by the company.

Accounting: The responsibility for internal and external accounting means that the focus here is on the correct and timely invoicing of deliveries and services. In addition, the full traceability of all invoices is essential.

Controlling: The ongoing monitoring of costs and sales requires an appropriate allocation of costs and sales to orders and customers. This allows deviations to be quickly detected and corrected by taking appropriate measures.

Customers: Ideally, the customer's points of contact with the Order2Cash process are at the start of the order and at the end of the process when it comes to payment. Transparency through clear and unambiguous allocation between the two ends ensures satisfaction and avoids overdue payments.

In order to reconcile these interests and requirements, a number of key success factors need to be taken into account:

• A harmonised data model across all process steps is the basic prerequisite for the necessary transparency. At the same time, it ensures traceability and quick remedial action if errors occur during the process.
• The greatest possible horizontal integration of the sub-processes and their supporting systems creates the basis for reducing manual work to a minimum. This is the prerequisite for fast throughput times and a high quality of the processed data, e.g. by avoiding transmission errors caused by re-entering data in later process steps.
• A modern reporting system based on the harmonised data model with self-service function creates transparency for all parties involved and a high level of customer and user satisfaction.
• Due to the wide range of stakeholders involved, it is particularly important to involve all those affected as part of change management. This applies in particular to communication during a project, but also to regular training for all user groups and user support capacities during ongoing operations.
• The high criticality of the process prohibits risky experiments during implementation. Quality assurance worthy of the name ensures broad acceptance among users and smooth processes.

We at Intero Consulting have many years of experience in optimising processes. In projects to measure or optimise processes in your company, we are happy to support you with the following tasks, for example:

• Analysing existing processes and systems (e.g. using process mining)
• Conception of target process and technical implementation
• Design of a comprehensive and harmonised data model and a reporting environment
• Definition and involvement of all relevant stakeholders from the needs assessment stage
• Support with project management and monitoring of all relevant key figures

You benefit from our expertise, proven in numerous customer projects:

• In-depth knowledge of reference implementations
• Many years of experience at the interface between the specialist department and IT
• Use of state-of-the-art technical tools, e.g. for process mining, data analytics, etc.
• Proven project management in both agile and traditional environments
• Extensive toolbox for successful change management