Shared Service Centre / Outsourced / Consolidated Finance Teams For Singapore Companies
For companies looking to structure their finance team and it’s operations for larger scale, SGA can help to create, set up and manage a “Shared Service Centre (SSC)” that can consolidate finance teams across business units or geographies. This can also involve centralizing teams with a large part of the team housed in one geography, servicing other markets.
Scope of Work for Service Centre (SSC) Design & Management
SSC Design Services:
- SSC Strategy Development: Designing the overall strategy for the SSC, including identifying which functions will be centralized, the service delivery model (onshore, offshore, or hybrid), and the technology infrastructure.
- Process Mapping & Optimization: Conducting a detailed analysis of the existing processes (e.g., financial reporting, accounts payable/receivable, payroll, procurement) and mapping them into the SSC framework while optimizing them for efficiency.
- System & Technology Integration: Implementing or integrating financial and operational systems (ERP, payroll systems, CRM) into the SSC framework, ensuring seamless data flow and process automation.
- Location Strategy: Advising on the best location for the SSC, whether in Singapore or a regional hub, considering factors like labor cost, talent availability, and regulatory environment.
- Change Management: Managing the transition from decentralized to centralized operations, including communication, staff retraining, and minimizing disruptions during the migration.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: Conducting financial analysis to assess the potential cost savings, efficiencies, and ROI from establishing the SSC.
- Talent Management & HR Support: Designing the organizational structure for the SSC, including defining roles, hiring strategy, and training requirements for the SSC staff.
- Compliance & Risk Management: Ensuring the SSC design complies with local and international regulations, including tax, payroll, and data security laws.
SSC Management Services:
- Day-to-Day Operations Management: Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the SSC, ensuring all centralized functions are delivered efficiently and to a high standard.
- Performance Monitoring: Implementing performance metrics and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) for each service delivered by the SSC (e.g., invoice processing time, payroll accuracy).
- Process Standardization: Ensuring standardized and consistent processes are applied across the entire business, improving consistency and compliance.
- Service Delivery & SLA Management: Managing service delivery across business units, ensuring that the SSC meets or exceeds agreed SLAs.
- Technology & System Maintenance: Managing the ongoing maintenance, updates, and enhancements to the financial systems and technologies used by the SSC.
- Continuous Improvement & Innovation: Driving continuous improvement initiatives to enhance SSC performance, including introducing automation, AI-driven analytics, and further process optimization.
- Stakeholder Management: Liaising with business unit leaders to ensure the SSC continues to meet their needs and addressing any service gaps or feedback.
Key Responsibilities For Shared Service Centre
SSC Design Responsibilities:
- SSC Strategy & Blueprint: Developing a detailed SSC blueprint that outlines the scope of services, technology requirements, staffing needs, and timeline for implementation.
- Process Reengineering: Redesigning existing processes to optimize efficiency and aligning them with the SSC framework.
- Change Management & Training: Leading change management efforts to support a smooth transition to the SSC, including communication with stakeholders and training for staff on new systems and processes.
- Technology Selection & Integration: Identifying and implementing the necessary software and systems to support SSC operations, ensuring integration with existing business systems.
- Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating any risks related to the centralization of services, including compliance, data security, and service continuity risks.
SSC Management Responsibilities:
- Operational Oversight: Managing all SSC functions on a day-to-day basis, ensuring high levels of service delivery across all centralized processes.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Monitoring: Continuously tracking and measuring performance against SLAs to ensure timely and accurate delivery of services.
- Cost Management: Ensuring the SSC operates within budget and achieves the expected cost savings and efficiencies.
- Continuous Improvement: Driving innovation and improvement within the SSC, such as through process automation, workforce optimization, or service enhancements.
- Performance Reporting: Providing regular reports on SSC performance, including financial savings, efficiency gains, and service delivery metrics.
- Compliance Management: Ensuring ongoing compliance with all relevant regulations, including tax, payroll, and data security laws, both locally and for any offshore operations.
KPIs For SSC Design & Management Projects
Design Phase KPIs:
- Project Delivery on Time & Budget: Completion of SSC design and implementation on schedule and within budget, with a target of 100% adherence.
- Process Standardization: The percentage of business processes successfully standardized and optimized during the SSC design, targeting 90%-100% standardization.
- Technology Implementation Success: Successful integration and deployment of financial systems into the SSC, targeting a 100% system readiness at go-live.
- Change Management Success: Employee adoption rates and satisfaction scores during the transition to the SSC, aiming for high satisfaction (e.g., 80% or above) and minimal disruption.
- Cost-Benefit Achievement: Meeting or exceeding expected cost savings from centralizing services, with a target of realizing 80%-100% of projected savings.
Management Phase KPIs:
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Compliance: The percentage of services meeting or exceeding SLA targets, such as processing time for invoices or payroll accuracy, aiming for 95%-100% SLA compliance.
- Process Efficiency: Time taken to complete core processes (e.g., month-end close, payroll processing, invoice approvals), with a target of reducing processing time by 20%-30% from pre-SSC levels.
- Cost Savings Realization: The actual cost savings achieved through the SSC compared to pre-SSC operations, with a target of achieving projected savings (e.g., reducing operational costs by 15%-30%).
- Error Rate Reduction: Reduction in errors across centralized processes (e.g., invoice errors, payroll errors), targeting an error rate of less than 1%.
- Automation Rate: Percentage of processes that have been automated within the SSC, aiming for 60%-80% of repeatable tasks to be automated.
- Customer Satisfaction: Feedback from internal stakeholders (e.g., department heads, managers) on the quality of SSC services, targeting high satisfaction scores (e.g., 8/10 or higher).
- Employee Productivity: Improvement in productivity metrics for SSC staff, such as the number of transactions processed per employee, aiming for a significant productivity boost (e.g., 20%-30% increase).
- Compliance Rate: Ensuring 100% compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., tax filings, payroll deductions) and internal control standards.