SBPOA, HP, survery, Finance, Accounting, Outsourcing, Transformation

SBPOA and HP survey on F&A Transformation finds shortage of skills to be biggest barrier to success

26 Oct 2005 | (Survey)

The Shared Services and Business Process Outsourcing Association (SBPOA), the world’s only independent commentator on the shared services and BPO industries, today announced availability of the results of a first-of-its-kind “Finance & Accounting (F&A) Transformation” survey.  To obtain a free copy of the report on which the survey results were based, please click here.

Produced in association with Hewlett-Packard, the key objectives of the survey were to: 1) Examine the progress of F&A transformation according to company size, location and vertical industry; 2) Assess the role of shared services and outsourcing in transforming the F&A function; 3) Evaluate the most effective measures used to monitor F&A transformation; and 4) Determine the extent to which organizations utilize external partners to assist in their transformation.

170 organizations from around the world participated in the survey.  Participants represented a broad, highly representative cross-section of: enterprise size (large, medium and small,); level within organization (“C-suite”, VP or Director, mid-management, and consultants, researchers, project managers and other supporting roles,); and industries, including Healthcare and Pharmaceutical, Transportation and Travel, Financial Services, Information Technology, Retailing, Pulp and Paper and Publishing and Media.  The report on which the survey results were based was written by Phil Searle, an SBPOA Advisory Board Member and Group VP of Finance, International Markets, Cendant Travel Distribution Services.

Said Luca Segantini, Managing Director of the SBPOA, “The results of this study underscore not only that F&A transformation is here to stay, but also that it is accelerating and evolving.  This means transformation initiatives not only fall under the ‘traditional’ shared services or outsourcing umbrellas, but also encompass what are frequently considered to be sub-sets of shared services or outsourcing, such as technological enhancements, automation, organizational realignment, centralization, process improvement and possible relocation to lower cost regions.  The bottom line from the results of our survey is that F&A transformation will by no means remain stagnant.”

Sample key findings from the report include:
· More than 44 percent of respondents noted that the biggest barrier to F&A transformation was a shortage of appropriate skills among staff
· 75 percent of respondents stated they were either in the process of planning, implementing or had completed F&A transformation
· Nearly 98 percent of participants said that support of senior management was “important” or “very important”  to the success of F&A transformation
· Nearly 75 percent of respondents claimed cost reduction as the number one reason for transforming F&A
· Shared services remains the alternative of choice for F&A transformation (as cited by 62 percent of respondents)
· Most respondents advocated a more staggered approach to F&A roll-out, as opposed to the “big bang” method of doing everything at once

For more information on the SBPOA/Hewlett-Packard F&A Transformation survey, please contact:  (in the U.S.):  Jolie Newman, +1 407 677 0042; jolie@sharedxpertise.org; and (rest of world):  Andre Rampat, +32 2 777 9675; andre@sharedxpertise.org.

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