A leading provider of marketing, loyalty, and credit solutions sought to improve its expenditure request process.
Our Client’s Needs
Their existing Capital Expenditure Request (CER) process had a number of shortcomings. The level at which a CER must be approved varies based on the associated dollar amount, and some CERs were being approved at improper levels. Since the process was not self-contained, CERs were exchanged via email or hard copy.
As a result, the process was opaque, inefficient, and slow, with approval times dragging into months. Due to the process’s isolation, CERs could not be tied back to the yearly budgets with which they were associated, nor was there a way to track actual expenditures relative to the approved amount or to flag over-budget projects.
Our Solution
We created an automated approval process that specifies approval requirements according to business rules and disallows improper approval attempts. By automating it within a single system, we created a streamlined, cohesive process that we anticipated would reduce approval times from months to days.
Because the client is a holding company with three separate lines of business, certain process steps are required across all three lines, while others are unique to a particular line. We designed and implemented the system accordingly: common requirements are “baked in” while the system’s flexibility accommodates both LOB-specific process features and future process modifications.
Through robust integration with their existing systems, we enabled the linkage of CERs to budgets.Integration further more enabled tracking of projects’ actual versus approved expenditures, as well as the capability to flag projects that have exceeded their approved budget.
How We Helped
All CERs are now approved at the level required by company policy, assuring SOX compliance. Due to increased process visibility, both before and after approval, as well linkage to the associated budgets, the client has greater understanding and control of their CERs and has seen a significant reduction in approval times.
Because the system enables them to track actual project costs relative to the originally approved amount and to flag over-budget projects, the client has been able to enhance their bottom line through better cost control.
The use of business rules to control process flow enables our client to adapt the process to future policy or product changes, making them more agile and more adaptable.
Optimizing their Capital Expenditure Request process has made our client a more capable and efficient digital enterprise, better equipped for ongoing customer engagement in the dynamic digital marketplace.
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