Streamlining T&E Accounting Processes Through Consulting and Talent Acquisition

Business Challenge

Plan and Implement New T&E Process Adoption Under Challenging Conditions

Our client is a leading global chemical product supplier that specializes in manufacturing environmentally friendly alternatives for raw materials — across a variety of products and a variety of industries, from the construction industry to the beauty industry.

The accounts payable team was using an outdated SAP system for their travel and expense process, which had proven inefficient for a corporation with around 1,500 employees. Recognizing the need for improvement, the company decided to implement Concur as their global travel and expense tool to work in conjunction with their SAP enterprise resourcing software (ERP).

However, due to the client’s limited IT resources and a lack of staff expertise with Concur, they recognized the importance of hiring a functional project manager with proficiency in both accounting and technical aspects to lead this project. This individual would need the skills to complete implementation within a three-month timeline, and as a global organization, they would ultimately need to train employees across four continents, which would add an extra layer of complexity given that employees were spread across different time zones and used a variety of currencies.

Drawing on our established relationship with the client as a trusted staffing partner, the client’s treasurer approached Aston Carter to help secure a project manager who could meet these challenges and ensure the successful implementation of Concur.

Our Solution

Consulted and Established a Project Roadmap and Placed Highly Qualified Talent

Through collaboration with our client, we determined the timelines and deliverables required to form a clear roadmap for the project, which enabled us to set expectations when onboarding the project manager.

During the planning stage, we consulted with the client to establish clear goals:

1. Integrate both U.S. and U.K. team members by the end of 2022.
2. Formalize standardized operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure users adapt to the new system.
3. Expand use of the system to employees across Europe and South America by September 2023.
4. Support training for new and existing users.

To ensure the implementation of Concur was completed on time, we leveraged our extensive talent networks to source a highly knowledgeable project manager with deep expertise in Concur and travel and expense accounting. The project manager would be responsible for effectively assessing the project plan, executing the tasks to complete the project and creating SOPs for the travel and expense process to ensure a streamlined and efficient project flow, enhancing productivity and overall integration success within the timeline provided.