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01/10/2019
Solution
Monitored, processed and analysed – periodic work activities automated in SAP®
The complexity of periodic tasks lies mainly in the number of questions that must be answered on a daily basis relating to them. In which interval must the task be performed? Which steps does it involve and who is responsible for them? What should be done in the case of an error? To say nothing of the analytical evaluation and documented traceability of the concluded tasks.
This constantly recurring manual effort was a thorn in the side for PROMOS. In the age of digitisation, it simply had to be possible to develop an automated method to handle core business processes. This was the impetus for the project team’s vision to centralise all work steps involved in periodic tasks and provide an administrative overview to a set group of participants. For this purpose, they created a control dialogue which bundles all of the complexities entailed by periodic work and navigates them using easysquare workflow processes. The solution was implemented based on the example of the periodic rental debit position and the accompanying rent collection.
Technical implementation – the automatic navigator
The control dialogue is the technical basis for implementing automation. In a central initial customising step, it allows the employee to see all upcoming tasks in one place where they can also be simply and conveniently managed. Three-step customising guarantees automated execution of the upcoming tasks down to the lowest level (Figure 1).
- A monitoring process encompasses the periodic tasks and defines their completion cycles.
- The next level down contains the individual work packages, which are completed in a certain sequence using easysquare workflow processes – monitored at all times by the central monitoring process.
- At the lowest and most granular level come the core tasks, namely which reports are to be executed when and with which variations.
To summarise, the control dialogue is the guiding element of the drafted solution. This is where one determines which tasks and sub-activities must be completed by when and in which variations. The underlying easysquare workflow processes contain information on the responsible parties.
Figure 1: Three-step customising enables controlling of complex periodic tasks.
 Figure 1: Three-step customising enables controlling of complex periodic tasks. |
Periodic rental debit position and rent collection automated from A to Z
We can present the implemented solution for the periodic rental debit position and rent collection as an example (Figure 2). We find ourselves in the month of September 2019 and would like to carry out the debit position for the month of October. This task is divided into various steps. A status update is first sent to a set group of participants by e-mail to inform them of the commencing process. Then come the various substeps, known as completion processes. First, the system automatically posts all previous periods that are still open. Potential errors, such as a contract that is locked because it is currently being accessed by a user, are reported to the relevant person(s) by the workflow. For such cases, the workflow contains loops to ensure that every contract with open planned records is processed. The subsequent posting for the month of October is significantly more comprehensive. For example, the inventory is simulated and the mass runs in the contracts are synchronised. If, for example, there are substitutions in the contracts which call for certain information in the lease to be updated, this is conducted automatically. Then comes the actual posting run. Special checking mechanisms have been installed for this which recognise error messages and forward them to a predefined group of people in a targeted manner. In this way the system can, for example, notify accounting of a message regarding a posting period that is still closed. However, it can also concretely assign a lease to specific employees when such errors occur. Once all contracts have been checked and, if necessary, corrected, the posting run for the affected inventory is posted once more. A final check at the end determines whether all posting documents were actually created and whether all planned records were processed. Once the debit position for the previous period of September and the current period of October have been completed, the document updates are conducted. This step entails, for example, the transfer of certain contract information such as the payment method and house bank via workflow into the open contract items so that this information can be taken into account in the context of a payment run. The final automatic collection comprises the creation of a payment proposal to be sent to the relevant employees for release and the posting of the payment run. At this point, an additional security mechanism can be installed to check the plausibility of the posting amount against an equivalent posting from past posting periods. The final step issues a concluding status update on the successful posting and the collection of rents within the ongoing monthly workflow.
Figure 2: The individual steps of periodic rent collection are extensively monitored and centrally controlled.
 Figure 2: The individual steps of periodic rent collection are extensively monitored and centrally controlled. |
Periodic tasks with recurring advantages
The solution created here represents a highly automated process accompanied by overarching job monitoring. In this way, employees are able to check the progress of tasks at all times. Intelligent, iteratively designed error handling additionally ensures that problems are processed in loops until they are resolved. A welcome secondary effect of this method is the resulting gradual master data correction. The data quality is improved with each run which will ideally eliminate the need for correction steps in the future. The possibility to create KPIs also helps reduce potential sources of error. This monthly process thus evaluates the expected rent collection and notifies a certain group of employees if there is a deviation above a defined percentage that represents a significant change over the previous period. The entire process is archived in an audit-proof manner in SAP® through systematic controlling. No matter which periodic work is mapped using the control dialogue, all steps can be individually adjusted, and special releases can be implemented upon request.
The solution created here represents a highly automated process accompanied by overarching job monitoring. In this way, employees are able to check the progress of tasks at all times.
One solution for many cases
The control dialogue developed here is applicable to virtually any imaginable kind of periodic work, including vendor contracts – from vacancy posting and dunning processes to operating cost statements and rental adjustments. This method ultimately creates extraordinary transparency regarding which tasks must be completed how often and who is responsible for them. True to the PROMOS motto of “make good even better”, the solution will also be mappable in SAP Fiori® in the future. Information from periodic tasks can then be displayed granularly at the highest level through KPIs in tiles to immediately signal progress and required actions without having to continue deeper into the process.
Author:
Stefanie Karg
Senior Consultant Real Estate
PROMOS consult
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