My Firm has implemented an Expense Reimbursement system 2 years ago. The Firm has 450 lawyers located in 5 offices (4 in Canada and 1 in USA). I’ve been wanting to implement such system for a few years so I was very excited when I finally got the approval. The implementation was not as smooth as I envisioned and took much longer than anticipated. Listed below is a short ‘story’ about our implementation, what you need to keep in mind when implementing system like this and the lessons learned from the implementation.
Pre-Implementation
Spend time to map out your current process and review your approval structure. Here is the perfect time to make any changes to make it simpler. If your process is not straight forward and has a lot of exceptions, you will pay a huge price during the implementation. Not just during the creation of the rules in the system but also during the testing phase.
Implementation & Testing
Assign a dedicated Project Manager within your Firm. Build a team that consists of Accounting and IT people. Have weekly progress meetings. When you plan for the testing phase, double or triple the amount of time you think it will take. You will run into issues! Our biggest issue related to tax calculations as Canadian taxes are quite complicated. We also implemented a French version of the system which required an extensive testing. Start your testing from simple scenarios and gradually build more complicated ones.
Pre-Roll out
Select a pilot group that has people with the right attitude so that they can positively speak about the new system to their colleagues. Since the pilot group will be putting transactions into the production environment, you need to think of training the Approvers first. We decided to use one of our smaller offices as our pilot office. When first trained all the Department Heads so that they know how to approve an reimbursement when it comes to them for approval. We then trained the entire pilot office. The pilot ran for about 6 weeks. When the pilot was completed, we sent out a survey to that office to comment on their experience. The survey actually revealed some frustrations with the system so we went back and ‘rebuilt’ certain pieces to make it simpler. We then let the pilot office use it for another couple of weeks and received very positive comments. It was only then we decided to roll it out to the entire Firm.
Roll out & Training
Our Firm decided to roll it out gradually, office by office. We involved the local trainer in each office to be part of the roll out and training. We had a team of 3 people doing the training – 2 people from the implementation team (who flew into the other offices) and the local trainer. Our training was not hands-on but involved giving them sample receipts and letting them watch how they would be entered into the system. We then had ‘drop-in sessions’ for about a month so that people can come and ask questions. We also built a training material that was handed out during the training and posted on our intranet site.
Lessons Learned & Recommendations
As mentioned above, our implementation took much longer than anticipated and here are some of the lessons we learned and a few recommendations:
- Have a dedicated project manager who does not have too many other responsibilities.In our case, I was the project manager and that caused delay as I have huge responsibilities during the budget and the year-end season.This limited us from moving forward faster.
- Map out your process and your approval structure well before you start the implementation.If there are any changes you want to make, make them during the pre-implementation phase and not while you are implementing.
- Be prepared for resistance.Secretaries will see this system as more work for them so focus your training and communication on how this system can help them and save them time.Show them the benefits and be prepared for the toughest questions/comments.
- Make the new process simpler for the End User.
- Focus on the benefits of the system, not its limitations.
- Think as the End User, not as an Accountant.
- Test, test and then test some more.
- Don’t build too many warnings or rules that would stop the user from entering a reimbursement.This will really annoy them and the adoption of the system will greatly suffer.
Now that the system has been in place for 2 years, everyone is used to it, the benefits are now quite clear and I cannot imagine not having such system in place.
If you require more information, do not hesitate to contact me.
Jarmila Pencikova, CPA, CMA | Director, Finance
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP | www.osler.com
Tel: (416) 862-5891 | jpencikova@osler.com