You need to consider the needs of people beyond just your in-house users; especially the auditors.

Bramasol is participating in a series of informative RevRec Summits, co-hosted by EY and SAP, with the next two sessions coming up in Dallas on August 12 and Houston on August 20.

The first step to success is revenue accounting.

It’s a joint effort – Part 3 - Using a Structured and Phased Approach

Revenue recognition projects will only succeed if they follow a solidly structured approach. At Bramasol, we have found that one of the aspects causing confusion – in addition to the already complex subject matter – is lack of understanding how to best introduce the SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting module to an organization, how to prepare good decisions, and when to take those decisions.

Both for consultants, as well as for customers, it is necessary to develop, coordinate, and manage expectations to the benefit of the project.

On July 21^st, 2015, my colleague and I were in Walldorf at SAP’s World Headquarters for the announcement of version 1.1 of the Revenue Accounting and Reporting (RAR) solution. 

Bill was right.  When I joined SAP, then head of the US Sales Bill McDermott used to tell us preparation begets the event.  He was right.  The more we prepare the better ready we are to execute.  

Whether it is a foul shot, a three pointer to win the game, or a penalty shot shoot out at the end of World Cup or putting to win, or lose, the US Open… preparation is crucial. 

But in the world of sales and consulting, I would argue preparation is not enough.   Winning is about three things:  Preparation, Execution and Follow-Through.  

Time is your enemy.

It’s a joint effort – Part 2 - Stakeholders

Part 1 of this blog series outlined the key elements for success with the new SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting Application.  This post focuses on the importance of bringing together all of the stakeholders.

The multitude of projects our consultants at Bramasol have been working on in the area of SAP revenue recognition have made it very clear to us that projects run only well if all major stakeholders are engaged and work together.

The new guidelines are mandatory for all entities reporting under them – so they are all facing the same deadline. Still, we have discussions with customers where it becomes obvious that in some cases, only a single interested party in an organization seems to really drive the project - with others abstaining or worse yet, impeding progress.

We also have discussions where it is clear that the whole organization has realized the importance of close coordination between all stakeholders – these projects sometimes bring together managers and specialists for the first time, but they pull together as one. The difference is not whether a project will be completed – it has to, there is no alternative -, the difference lies in how painful the process will be, what time and effort it will have cost to complete.