Issue

Syenqso run a global buyers team from Belgium which makes a cross charge to the global businesses. This charge is  based on the calculated benefit that this team brings to the global businesses.

Currently this cross charge is approx 20M EUR per year. As this cross charge reduces the tax payable in the global businesses the figure and the calculation of it is audited by local tax authorities to ensure its fair and realistic. 

Currently the performance of buyers is tracked using data entered into and manually maintained in the Convergence system.

This is used to calculate:

• the benefit to the business of the global purchasing team
• the associated recharges to global divisions
• the performance related pay of the procurement teams

Convergence is a standalone tool and only holds manually-entered estimated savings from discounts on the contracts, rather than looking at actual supplier performance based on actual transactions in the ERP system.

This document evaluates the opportunities for improving the measurement of buyer performance including use of actual data and integrated tools to improve Buyer Performance tracking.

Recommendation

The project recommends the organization expands the scope of the reporting and utilises S/4HANA Standard Reporting tools to add other factors beyond simple contract price reduction into the Buyer Performance Calculations, as well as tracking actual transactional data. 

Background & Context

There is a Purchasing Team in Belgium that provides Procurement services across the rest the company. Their performance is currently measured on how much discount they have achieved on their contracts that will be active for the coming year. No other metrics, such as actual performance, OTIF (In Time, In Full) delivery by suppliers against contracts, off-contract spend, etc. are tracked. 

This performance calculation is used to do two things

• The reduction is used to prove the business value that the Procurement Team are bringing to the global divisions and calculate a value to charge the divisions for the provisions of this service. This charge therefore has tax implications and may have to be justified to tax authorities.
• To calculate the Buyer Performance related pay to be paid to Buyer teams.

This data is stored in Convergence which has some weaknesses

• Its a standalone tool where the data has to be entered manually 
• It only estimates the value of the discounts by projecting the estimated savings from the new contracts rather than the actual savings achieved.
• Its does not take into account supplier performance (on time deliveries, correct quantities, quality adherence
• It cannot extend its coverage and track future supplier performance on things like sustainability.

Source of data and validity

The data that is entered into Convergence based on the contracts that they have setup for the coming year; this is purely forecast data looking ahead for the expected discount, and does not look at the lowered prices on the POs created against the contract.

The data is entered manually by Procurement staff but is verified by Finance staff checking the expected discounts.

The current approach evaluates supplier performance on a single metric - how much they were able to save on the contracts they negotiated in the current year - and neglects other metrics which could provide a more comprehensive view of performance. 

ERP Rebuild creates an opportunity to widen the information used on the performance evaluation

There is other data available that could be used to widen the criteria of the performance measuring adding in factors such as 

• The SAP S/4HANA system holds data on actual Supplier Performance - on time deliveries, correct quantities, quality of materials
• The SAP S/4HANA system holds data on actual prices paid
• The wider market can be used to provide benchmark data on inflation and other factors that may cause price decreases 
• Future requirements - sustainability ratings of suppliers, adherence to EHS standards 

This would tie the benefit calculation/recharge and the buyer performance pay to wider organisational goals.

Assumptions

• The Recharge Calculation to the Divisions will continue to be required, will have a tax impact, and thus need to be justifiable if questioned by tax authorities.
• The Recharge Calculation to the Divisions will continue to be used to drive performance-related pay of Buyers. 
• Other reporting tools (eg tools like the Procurement Overview Fiori App) can replace the data used in the Convergence tool using live data from the S/4HANA system based on actual transactions against the contracts. 
• We can adjust the calculation used to provide a more holistic view – including supplier performance (eg. quality & reliability of deliveries, accuracy of Invoicing etc.)

Constraints

The calculations generated from this process are used and have impact outside of the basic Procurement process and this needs to be planned for.

Changing the Buyer Performance calculation will potentially impact Buyers performance-related pay and the amount of tax paid by the global division (as its may change the cross charge back to Belgium)

Impacts

Process Changes

We aim to replace the manual calculation and entry of discounts achieved in an non-integrated system with actual data coming from SAP S/4HANA Reports/KPIs.

Ideally we would like to be able to use the supplier performance as well as simple discounts to work out the Buyer Performance.

This would necessitate a change away from the current project model. 

Change Management

Changing the mechanics of performance related pay could result in change management effort required within the organisation to change this approach to performance related pay .

Changes to the Cross Charge to Belgium from the global divisions may trigger queries from the local tax authorities.

Business Rules

If implemented then the calculation, the factors included and their weighting would need to be clearly published and adhered to.

Options considered

SAP S/4HANA can provide this information based on transaction data – including wider supplier performance. Should we use this information to expand the remit of the report/process?

Option 1: Maintain the current process on Convergence

Maintain this As Is process on the current system – as its manually entered data that does not get integrated anywhere else it could have no impact on the S4 HANA implementation..

Advantages:

• No disruption to current operations or need for process changes.
• No potential conflict with staff re performance related pay changes.
• Consistent data approach for Tax Authorities with questions.

Disadvantages:

• Have to continue to maintain Convergence system.
• The performance data is not coming directly from system - so can be inaccurate.
• No monitoring expected performance against real performance data from actual transactions 
• Continued effort of manual entry and validation

Option 2: Maintain the current process off system

Maintain this As Is process on spreadsheets to other tools  – its manually entered data that does not get integrated anywhere and allows the retirement of Convergence..

Advantages:

• No disruption to current operations or need for process changes.
• No potential conflict with staff re performance related pay changes.
• Consistent data approach for Tax Authorities with questions.

Disadvantages:

• Have to maintain an off system process.
• The performance data is not coming directly from system - so can be inaccurate.
• No monitoring expected performance against real performance data from actual transactions 
• Continued effort of manual entry and validation

Option 3: Use SAP Standard tools/KPIs/transactions to generate the report and calculations

Examples of metrics to include based on industry best practices could be

• Prices actually paid as per the transactional data in the backend ERP system
• OTIF (In Time, In Full)
• % of deliveries failing quality checks
• Price changes against wider market conditions - eg inflation rates faced by benchmark competitors
• Adherence to EHS Requirements
• Sustainability factors - eg amount of waste/packaging recycled, CO2 emissions targets, traceability of recycling/waste

Advantages:

• Links Buyer performance and value of buyers to the company to company goals, suppler effectiveness and real pricing achieved not predicted
• Allows for expansion of factors for Buyer performance into new areas in the future (eg  supplier policies for DEI, reduction in master data errors, performance in cost reduction against industry benchmarks)
• Could leverage better reporting tools in and integration with S/4HANA  to drive business benefits
• No need for manual entry and validation of data

Disadvantages:

• Some disruption to current operations or need for process changes.
• Changing the calculation for performance related pay could be controversial and may change management input.
• Changing the Cross Charge/Tax Calculation may trigger questions from local Tax Authorities.

Evaluation

Based on the evaluation of the options, it is recommended that the organization utilise improved reporting tools that integrate with the ERP system to add actual transaction data and other factors beyond simple contract price reduction into the Buyer Performance Calculations. 

The change and effort will be in the change management area as this has the capacity to affect Buyers performance related pay – particularly the change from a forwarding looking approach running on Predicted Savings from Contract engagement to a backward looking approach looking at Actual Savings and real-world performance.

Next Steps

• Work with the business to assess impact and buy-in needed to gat acceptance on change to performance related pay
• Review standard reporting options in S/4HANA and other areas then share with business to identify the need for enhancement.

See also

There are other KDDs related to the use of the Convergence tool and the possible options to improve the processes using other tools

Change log

Workflow history