Client
The client is one of the top ten custodians in the world, managing over $4 trillion in assets under custody and serving over 140 customers worldwide in private banking, investment management, and investor services. Operating from over 15 locations in North America, Europe, and Asia, the client also partners with other custodians (sub-custodians) to serve global customers in regions where they don’t have operations.
Challenge
In 2019, Hexaware took over business process operations for the client with over 400 full-time equivalents (FTEs) supporting several operational projects and processes (for example, client invoicing, expense administration, trade management, accounting, etc.) from its Pune, Mumbai, and Chennai locations. Based on the initial due diligence, Hexaware committed an upfront FTE reduction as part of the transformation benefit to the customer.
The problem faced by the client:
Invoice management is a non-core but critical process for every organization. Every month, the client had over 30,000 invoices being generated across 790 billing classes. These invoices were packaged with detailed reports, as per the client’s requirements, for regulatory compliance, etc.
Some of the business challenges were:
Process inefficiency
- Siloed applications
- Manual setup, data loading, and invoice and report generation
- Manual handover of work-in-progress tickets/items between teams handling the US and the UK shifts
- Manual reconciliation of payments
- Absence of a unified dashboard for tracking processes
- Manual tracking of daily invoices
Risk
- Possibility of missing invoice data during the loading or processing stages
- Incomplete packages with missing reports
- Incorrect invoices or reports being sent to unintended clients
- Errors in the manual payments reconciliation process
Cost and impact
- Disputes regarding invoices leading to additional work and escalation
- Delays in the invoice processing system and payments
- Revenue loss due to leakage
- Negative impact on client expense budgeting
- Dissatisfaction among clients resulting in loss of business and damage to reputation
What the client needed:
The client had standard operating procedures documented for each sub-process. Hexaware’s process excellence group examined these processes, identified breaks in them, and fixed them.
The client’s invoicing process was managed by 22 FTEs. Following the process transformation, which involved deploying a client invoice tracking system, Hexaware expected to reduce the FTEs by 30%. The transformation approach also aimed to improve straight-through processing (STP) by 30-40% and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by a whopping $4 million.
Solution
This transformation journey commenced with the billing and invoicing process receiving a 360-degree makeover using the Client Invoice Tracking System (CITS) solution.
Hexaware proposed using a business process transformation framework for IT and operations synergy. The framework provided for:
- Early identification and mitigation of persona-based behavioral challenges for strategic change management
- Outcome-driven holistic transformation approach using design thinking principles to provide the highest STP with required checks and balances
- Near accurate prediction of dollar savings using time-tested platforms
Hexaware’s Outcome-driven Holistic Transformation Approach
Cumbersome and time-consuming manual tasks, such as periodic data loads, invoice generation, and manual report generation, characterized the client’s invoicing process. Hexaware implemented an outcome-driven, systematic 360-degree transformation approach to streamline and improve the client’s processes. It began by identifying the challenges, guiding the client through the invoice transformation journey, navigating the complexities through continuous improvement, and vigilant business processes.
Hexaware’s business process transformation framework for IT and operations synergy covered various steps of the client’s invoicing process, such as:
| Account setup: Involves creating a new account altogether or cloning the existing account in the invoicing system. |
| Fee schedule set up: Involves fee calculation setup and invoicing schedules for different services opted by the customer in the invoicing system. |
| Invoice generation: Once the data is loaded, invoice generation is triggered to generate invoices in the system for reconciliation. |
| Invoice validation: Invoices are verified for tolerance breaches and data reconciliation rules. |
| Invoice packaging: An invoice package is created for each client as per schedule, which includes invoice/s and required reports. |
| Dispatch: The invoice package is dispatched to the respective client contact with a defined template based on a repository for contacts and mailers. |
| Account receivables: On invoice generation, accruals are created in the accounting system (general ledger) for accounts receivables, i.e., the accounting system. It can be direct debits or periodic payments, and the account receivables are recognized. |
| Reconciliation: Payment reconciliation is done daily to verify the amounts received against billed services. After reconciliation, an exception is created on the dashboard. |
Hexaware’s Invoice Process Transformation Roadmap
| 0–6 Months | 6–12 Months | 12–18 Months | 18 Months Onwards | |
| Start | Onboard | Stabilize and Prepare | Transform | Operating Model |
| Operations transition – Ensure no disruption to business as usual (BAU) – Prepare a well-defined transition plan – Prepare a training plan as per requirements – Deploy the existing subject matter experts from day-1 Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 0 – Gather the requirements for undertaking the transformation, validate the findings from direct debit, and realign the solution – Rationalization of the client’s existing invoice tracking systems | – Smooth transfer of operations from the client’s incumbent vendor and stabilizing operations and IT support – Implement managed services for client invoicing Ops + IT – Implement unit-based pricing (i.e., pricing based on each invoice) – Implement process improvement based on Lean and Six Sigma principles – Cross-train teams for efficient resource management Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 0 – Go Live – Operations team transition – Begin data setup for all workflow events Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 1 – Develop account/fee setup, invoice management, and data management systems | Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 1-Go Live – Operations team transitions to CITS for account/fee setup, invoice management and data management Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 2 – Undertake development for invoice management (quality control file preparation), accounts receivable – direct debit, non-DD – house accounts – Prepare a unified dashboard that provides a consolidated view across all CI processes – Integrate smart capture and automatic reconciliation process for data sourcing | Client Invoicing Tracking System (CITS) – Phase 2-Go Live – Operations team transitions to CITS for account receivables Seamless, scalable managed service model leveraging CITS – Managing IT + Ops services delivery with Hexaware at Pune – Stationing a small team at Boston/Krakow to handle specific tasks and perform activity checks – Implementing a simplified workflow for efficient operations – Adopting a pay-per-invoice model for processing and dispatching |
Hexaware Value Proposition
Hexaware combined technology and operational excellence to execute the transformation process. The journey began by prioritizing the elimination of existing business challenges, including process inefficiencies, risks, and cost and impact factors, as a crucial step in the transformation process.
| Enhanced Process Efficiency | Mitigated Risks | Reduced Costs and Minimized Impact on Business |
| – Integrated previously siloed applications – Implemented automation for setup, data loading, and invoice and report generation – Utilized API-based handover – Implemented rule-based reconciliation processes – Developed a unified tracking dashboard – Automated daily invoice tracking | – Automated invoice data loading to eliminate human errors – Implemented data-driven processing to prevent incomplete packages and missing reports – Utilized the maker-checker functionality to ensure correct invoices and reports are sent to the intended clients – Automated reconciliation process to eliminate verification errors | – Implementing a data-driven approach to eliminate rework and escalation, thereby reducing disputes – Automating invoice generation, dispatch, and payments, resulting in error-free invoice processing and preventing revenue leakage – Transparent and predictable invoice amounts to minimize the impact on expense budgeting – Business process transformation |
Benefits
Automation played a significant role in this transformation as it swiftly validated and synced the substantial chunk of customer and invoice data by identifying gaps and eliminating errors.
- $4 million: Savings in total cost of ownership (TCO) over five years
- 30%: Improvement in STP
Other Benefits
Process transparency: The transformation process ensured complete transparency at every stage of the client invoice tracking system, providing visibility and clarity.
Reusable component factory: The implementation of reusable components allowed for the efficient utilization of standardized components across similar projects, such as API management, workflows, event-based triggers, and scheduled jobs, among others.
Analytics: The CITS process transformation helped to establish a comprehensive data repository, enabling the categorization of clients based on their specific needs and the services they have opted for. This information would be valuable to facilitate cross-selling of services to clients.
Decoupled architecture: The adoption of a decoupled architecture enables seamless replacement of the invoicing system at any time while the rest of the system continues to function through API integration. The workflow or CITS remains unaffected, minimizing the impact on the underlying application system.
Summary
Hexaware undertook a comprehensive invoice process transformation journey for the client – one of the top ten custodians globally. The client faced issues concerning process inefficiencies, risks, and cost and impact factors. Hexaware implemented an outcome-driven holistic transformation approach. The transformation involved integrating siloed applications, automating manual tasks such as setup, data loading, invoice, and report generation, and implementing API-based handover and rule-based reconciliation processes. Hexaware also developed a unified tracking dashboard and automated invoice processing system for daily invoice tracking. We mitigated risks through automated invoice data loading, data-driven processing, and maker-checker functionality.
The transformation resulted in several key benefits. Automation played a significant role in validating and synchronizing customer and invoice data, eliminating errors, and improving efficiency. The client experienced savings of $4 million in total cost of ownership (TCO) over five years and a 30% improvement in straight-through processing (STP). Other benefits included process transparency, utilization of reusable components, analytics-driven insights for cross-selling services, and a decoupled architecture for easy system replacement.
Overall, Hexaware’s transformation journey helped the client to streamline its invoicing processes, reduce costs, minimize risks, and improve operational efficiency, ultimately driving significant business benefits.
