Best Practices in Meeting Expense Management
Session: 3B
Presented By:
Doreen Trottier-Arena
Global Supplier Relationship
Manager
Waters Corporation
Product Focus: T&E
Technology Edge 2008
Collaborating for Success
Background
Role in Organization: Global Supplier Relationship
Manager
• Indirect Spend
• Reports into the Finance Organization
Industry:
Laboratory Analytical Instruments
Number of Employees:
4700
• Five Manufacturing Sites
• 100+ Countries Served by Field Sales and Service
Revenue:
$1.47 billion
Waters Corporation provides instruments, software and service to
laboratory dependent organizations within health care delivery, drug
discovery & manufacturing, food safety and environmental testing
3
The Business Challenge
Overview of Situation: Directive from Senior Management
• Centralize a Decentralized Off Site Meeting Process • Reduce Overall Meeting Spend
• Evaluate ROI
• Note: WW Travel & Meeting Spend 2007 $56.3m (US only $13.9m) 25%
Key Objectives:
• Develop New Department • Write Policy
• Set Guidelines and Create a Process
• Enforce Compliance – ex. Centralized Contract Signing • Build Database to Track Meeting Details and Spend • Build Partnerships – Primary and Secondary
• Leverage Negotiations
• Assigned Ownership of Meeting and Approval
• Centralize Payment – Mandated AMEX Meeting Cards • Educate, Train and Communicate
Watchouts and Considerations
Organizational Barriers:
• Resistance to Change • Obtaining Senior Buy-In • Limited Resources• No Existing Meeting Data • Policing Compliance to Policy
MI/Technology Barriers:
• No Detailed Reporting • Limited Resources
Other things to consider:
• Advance Meeting Planning • Budget and Spend Setting• ROI – Internal vs. External Meeting Needs
• Include Key Employees in Creating and Changing Process • Drive Compliance to Meeting Policy
• Sr. VP Approval When Outside Policy
5
Maximizing Synergies
Phase 1
•Assessed Situation •Educated Sr.Management •Published Policy •Centralized Meeting Planning Process •Developed Database •Implemented Electronic Meeting Request Form •Implemented Hotel Brands •Created RFP Process • Rolled Out Amex Meeting CardPhase 2
•Used Phase One data to increase Buying Power •Implemented CAR for Meeting Card
•Redeemed Business Rewards / Points to Reduce Costs
•Built Relationships with Major Suppliers (Repeat Properties)
•Maximized Concessions
Phase 3
•Tie Meeting Location to Airline and Hotel
Contracts
•Grow Market Share with Major Suppliers
•Increase Staffing to Complete Centralization •Implement Process Globally
•Compare Year over Year Spend to ROI and Reduce Cost
Reinventing the Back Office
Reviewed Current Workflow
Reviewed Approvals for Compliance
Eliminate the Situations that Create Late Charges
Improved Communications
Implement the AMEX CAR Tool
Educate – Provided Training and Quick Reference Guides
Accountability
Managing the Supporting Documentation for SOX 404
Post Audit
7
Collaborating for Success
Decentralized
Aligned
Categorized
Success Achieved – US Meeting Policy Rollout
Reduced U.S. Meeting Spend by 6% in Year One
Established Data Collection
Centralized & Streamlined Process
Drove Compliance
Leveraged Spend with Air & Hotel – Increased Buying Power
• Marriott Ranking Improved
• American Airlines – Moved Market Share
Key Learnings:
• Balance and Pace the Execution of Change • Employ Key Organizational Support
Session: 3B
Presented By:
Kathy Daas,
Manager, Expense Express
Medtronic
Product Focus: T&E
Technology Edge 2008
Collaborating for Success
Background
Medtronic, Inc. is the world’s leading medical technology company
specializing in implantable and interventional therapies. The company
creates innovative solutions for health care needs of medical
professionals and their patients. Operations are primarily focused on
providing therapeutic, diagnostic and monitoring systems for the cardiac
rhythm management, cardiovascular and neurological markets.
Worldwide Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Employees worldwide - 38,000
Cards In Force – 12,000+
Conducting business in 120 countries
Revenue - $12,299 (000) millions
11
The Business Challenge
Overview of Situation: Meeting Card
Reconciliation and payment process was
very resource and process intensive.
Meetings-related expenses were not
submitted in a timely fashion, resulting in
significant late fees.
Key Objectives: Utilize technology to
streamline reconciliation process and
procedures while meeting internal
compliance requirements and eliminating
late fees and manual checks.
Solutions
Provide Corporate Meeting Card holders with a consistent payment and
reconciliation tool for Meeting Card expenses:
Utilize best practices realized through Corporate Account Reconciliation (CAR) with P-Card to provide Meeting Planners with an online reconciliation tool resulting in the elimination of spread sheets with detailed breakout of charges to appropriate cost centers and general ledgers
Eliminate the need for AP to manually key each expense report and issue individual checks for each Meeting Card account
Timely payment of Meeting Card accounts would result in more productive management of program, elimination of delinquency fees and/or suspension of accounts
Utilize reports to increase compliance of reconciliation, receipt submissions, monitor
limits and terminations
Use email functionality within CAR
Match Post Reconciliation Report against Receipt report to identify out of compliance Cardmembers
13
Watchouts and Considerations
Organizational Barriers:
• Resources were stretched
• Decentralized Meetings program
• Internal audit and SOX requirements were changing and becoming more stringent • Learning curve needed to be accelerated due to
unfamiliarity with the CAR tool
• Limited step-by-step descriptions/check lists in place to replicate current process
• No mandate in place
MI/Technology Barriers:
• Tracking of receipt envelopes was antiquated • Manual verification of charge volume approvals
Other Considerations:
• Be creative when possible….doing things the same way just because they have always been that way might not be the best
• Utilize best practices from other processes
Maximizing Synergies
Introduced Corporate Account Reconciliation (CAR) tool for Meeting Card
• Leveraged existing familiarity with CAR tool for P-card among meeting card users • Held several demo sessions with Meeting Planners to gain an understanding of
challenges
• Issued new card accounts to provide a clean break from the old process and allowed two months of overlap to clean up old accounts
• Conducted several training sessions for users with follow up training and reminders to ensure compliance
• Utilized internal resources to promote program, i.e.; Meeting Planners, AP, etc
Utilized technology
• Using department resource merged American Express CM Listing and Post
Reconciliation Reports with Medtronic Meeting Card Receipt report to identify missing receipt envelopes
• Through CAR email functionality sent reminders to cardmembers advising of policy • Out of compliance cardmembers are suspended after 1 month out-of-policy through
Amex@Work Program Management until reconciliation is completed and receipts are received
15
Success Achieved
Meeting Card program through CAR
• Reduced payments to once a month for entire Meeting Card program vs over 1400 individual check payments with manual reconciliation delivering $135,000 in process saves for Medtronic • All Meeting Card charges are paid monthly resulting in the elimination of delinquency fees
and/or suspension of accounts resulting in savings of $30K+ annually
• Achieved 100 percent approval and reconciliation of all meeting card transactions • Check requests through AP for meeting related invoices are forwarded to Program
Administrator to identify additional meeting card opportunities
Multiple Invoices
Data uploads to customer’s A/P system
Customer reviews, confirms and reallocates meeting expenses online to appropriate budget, department, GL
code, etc.
AXP File
