THE CHALLENGE
Back office services such as accounting, banking and tax preparation, were completely outsourced until 2007, when the European home office decided that the Japan office needed to comply with global standards and implement the PeopleSoft Accounting Module. This presented two major challenges:
- The project manager, assigned from Australia in mid-2008, had only a few months to meet the October 1 rollout deadline.
- The complexity of the project meant that external support from a partner familiar with Japanese accounting and tax requirements would be needed to ensure completion on schedule.
OUR APPROACH
Upon understanding the client’s needs, Ascendant set out to provide a full range of coordinated services. We brought our extensive Japanese accounting, tax, system integration, and project management experience to the task of supporting the client’s own efforts. A team consisting of a project manager, integration lead, and Japanese accounting and tax experts began scoping the project and developed a fit/gap analysis for the implementation. From that analysis, three specific areas were identified as being critical to the project, and to the overall system’s success. The team worked closely with the Japan and European offices, while also managing a group of engineers based in India, to develop the Japan-specific customizations.
- Deliverable: EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer)
Japanese banks require a very specific file format for EFT, which allows PeopleSoft to submit one file to the bank for electronic payments (vendor, payroll, and tax-related). Data analysis was done on the data fields and a requirements document was created for the developers. - Value:
The fit/gap analysis identified core functions that had to be refitted to meet Japanese EFT requirements. Our experience in IT integration, combined with our business accounting knowledge, helped to ensure a successful implementation.
- Deliverable: Tax Filing
Japanese tax reporting requires that journal entries from the general ledger be formatted so that the tax owed by the company can be properly calculated. In this case, the client needed to be able to export its accounting data from PeopleSoft in an acceptable format for the tax accountants to begin filing procedures. Again, a requirements document was created which specified the format type and data fields needed to accomplish this. - Value:
Ascendant's detailed understanding of Japanese tax law helped ensure that this key requirements document reflected country-specific needs.
- Deliverable: Data Reconciliation
Due diligence was conducted on the balances generated by the previous accounting system. The data then needed to be reconciled and imported into PeopleSoft to ensure a smooth transition. - Value:
Project management provided by Ascendant helped to reduce errors and quickly resolve issues as they arose, saving the client valuable time in its transition to a new system.
