Simons Foundation Transforms Its Entire AP Operation With .

SAP Concur Case StudyConcur Expense Concur Travel Concur Invoice Consultative Intelligence 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.Simons Foundation Transforms Its Entire APOperation with SAP Concur SolutionsMoving from a paper-based to an electronic invoice and expenseprocess improves efficiency, accuracy and the user experience.1/8

Quick FactsCompany NameCompany SizeSimons Foundation450 –––New York, NYConcur ExpenseConcur TravelConcur InvoiceConcur TripLinkConsultative IntelligenceExpense PayExpenseItInvoice ProcessingPurchase Requests for InvoiceServices Admin for Travel and ExpenseService Administration for Invoice ProcessingWhy SAP Concur?The Simons Foundation funds researchers takingon some of the world’s most complex challenges– however, when it comes to internal operations,the organization strives to keep expense andinvoice processes, reduce manual touch points,and provide an excellent user experience foremployees, guests and suppliers alike.IndustryNonprofit/PhilanthropicABOUT SIMONS FOUNDATIONEstabilshed in 1994 by Marilyn and James Harris Simons, and headquartered in New York, the SimonsFoundation is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences.The foundation is a world leader in supporting initiatives in autism research. The foundation supportsthese efforts by providing grants to individuals and their projects through academic institutions, as wellas supporting teams of computational scientists throught its own Flatiron Institute.2/8 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

The Challenge: To Streamline Every Aspect of ItsFinance OperationThe Simons Foundation is a non-profit organization with a passion for giving, and a missionto actively support math, basic science and autism research. When this New York-basedfoundation first opened its doors in 1994, its entire team consisted of the two founders andone accounting employee. Today, with over 400 employees, and its own institute for theadvancement of computational science, the foundation continues to fulfill its mission andmake an impact every day.Because it is a non-profit organization, its leadership is vigilant about keeping overhead lowand efficiency high—streamlining operations and simplifying processes wherever possible.Although the organization had successfully transformed its travel and expense operationyears earlier, until recently, its invoice process was still paper-based. The accounts payableteam had to pick up the mail, scan it, code it, get approvals, print out checks, then, get themsigned and mailed out. As a result, it took about three days to process and pay the 125invoices the team received every week.Something had to change.“We wanted a cloud-based invoice automationsystem that would allow users to submit and viewinvoices electroncially, automate approval workflow,and pay via ACH. Although we looked at otheroptions, we were impressed at how much thesolution delivered to the Foundation in terms of thevalue proposition and overall functionality. Weknew that they had the technology and insight tohelp us get the job done.”Nick Sanghvi, Accounts Payable Manager, Simons Foundation3/8 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

An Engaging, Inclusive ChangeManagement StrategyThe transformation journey began in April of 2019 and wascompleted in just six months, thanks to a well-plannedimplementation and the support of SAP Concur Express.“We decided to do everything we could to simplify the process,starting with our three-person project team driving the bus,”Sanghvi explains. “I led the project and the functional side of it. I’mlucky to have someone on my team who is a technology person,who handled that aspect; and a third person on our team, who isexcellent at handling the communications and setting up meetings,and who coordinated all of those logistics.”The goal? Go from a 100 percent paper-based process to ConcurInvoice, a completely integrated, electronic process with automatedworkflows and total transparency. Sanghvi and team set the toneearly by engaging all stakeholders up front. This approach not onlybuilt trust; but ensured that these key users had input into thenew process.“We started off by inviting about 50 stakeholders to a kickoff meetingwhere we demonstrated the SAP Concur product and clearlycommunicated the message that the goal of the change was toeliminate work—not add it,” shares Sanghvi. “This was the perfectopportunity to get buy-in and demonstrate that although our teamwould lead the project, their voices would be heard.”From here, Sanghvi and staff organized a team of 22 keystakeholders, one representing each of the business groups. Thesestakeholders participated in monthly meetings where they learnedimplementation status, what had been accomplished and whatwould be happening next. In addition, these stakeholders attendedtwo workshops to fine-tune the design of key process flows.“We kept people engaged and informed every step of the way, and itpaid off very well in adoptions,” Sanghvi says.4/8 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Building on Past Success“We reached out to our 1200-plus suppliers, toldSanghvi had employed this same changemanagement strategy three years prior, when hethem what we were doing, and asked them tomoved thousands of sponsored guests—scholarssubmit their update requests, and electronicfrom different universities who the foundationpayment/bank account information on a forminvites to speak or conduct reasearch—from athrough the portal,” explains Sanghvi. “After theypaper-based expense process to Concur Expense.got used to that, we instructed them to startsubmitting their invoices electronically to ourcentralized AP mailbox.”“Many of those same stakeholders who wereinvolved in that transition were also involved in thisone. Because it was so successful, there wasOne of the reasons the implementation was soalready a high level of trust established,” says“textbook flawless,” even on an acceleratedSanghvi. “So, it was a very easy sell to our userschedule, is because Sanghvi and team didn’t trycommunity. We had zero pushback.”to reinvent everything. “We set the frameworkday one—what we did today, we will do tomorrowThe fact that the Simons Foundation was alreadyin electronic form,” Sanghvi says. “We didn’t try toan SAP Concur customer made making the moveoverkill it.”to Concur Invoice much easier, too.The team did add functionality on the back end toincrease the overall benefits of the change. “We“Fifty percent of the work was done when thesoftware was already up and running. Ourworked with the SAP Concur team to add apeople were familiar with SAP Concur, theygeneral ledger validation table within Concurknew how it worked, how to approve, how to useInvoice for account validation,” explains Sanghvi.“This eliminates the potential for suspenseemail notifications—everything. All of thisentries continuing on to the ERP.” If possible, thishelped get people on board very quickly.”is highly recommended for small businesses.Nick Sanghvi, Accounts Payable Manager, Simons FoundationAdditionally, they are able to connect their GoogleNEW PORTAL, STREAMLINED PROCESS ANDSheets and Wipfli, an SAP Concur App CenterTHE END OF PAPER INVOICESpartner that integrates vendor and invoice data.“With all of these extras, and the acceleratedTo eliminate the existing decentralized andinconsistent supplier setup process, the Simonsimplementation timeline, our implementation costFoundation AP team developed a supplier portalfor Concur Invoice was very low,” shares Sanghvi.“I can’t imagine why anyone would not want tousing an inexpensive form builder and datatake advantage of this expertise. The value is(banking, W9, etc.) collection tool (FormStack.)much higher than the cost.5/8 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Faster. Easier. Better—for EveryoneIMPROVED PRODUCTIVITYNow, the AP team has the visibility to payIn the past, the AP department had to stamp, codesuppliers on the payment terms.and manually process each invoice, which oftensat in queues, and on approvers’ desks waiting forENHANCED CONTROLapprovals. The process was slow, cumbersomeWorking with SAP Concur consultants, the teamand time-consuming.developed one, comprehensive report with reportwriting services, can be sliced, diced and used bymultiple leaders throughout the organization.“There were about 16 touch points for every singleinvoice from the time it left the vendor house to“They can pull data by supplier, by cost center orwhen we sent out the check. Now, there are four—it goes through coding, it goes through approval,the approver. Our accounting team can seethe CFO signs off and the payment is made byinvoices submitted in 2020 that should actuallyACH,” Sanghvi says. “Our OCR accuracy is 95have been posted in 2019, and see whether thosepercent, so, we have very few exceptions orfunds have been accrued or not,” Sanghvi explains.issues.”“It’s a report, but it functions more like a datamining and analytical tool.”It’s a fast process for users, as well. “Now ourusers can receive, approve and submit theirTHE FLEXIBILITY TO PIVOTe-invoice, without getting up from their desks,”At the time of this writing, Sanghvi and team — likeSanghvi says. “Based on our last user survey,most of the world — are working remotely due toeveryone loves the change.”the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the SimonsFoundation’s electronic workflows, the APINCREASED VISIBILITYdepartment is “business as usual.”By moving to Concur Invoice, as happened withExpense, the Simons Foundation leaders gain near“If we did not have Concur Invoice implementedreal-time visibility into the organization’stoday, I don’t know how we would pay ourfinancial data.suppliers. They would either have to wait forpayment, or I’d have to purchase a printer or go toa copy shop, the get checks to our CFO or COO for“The visibility into the data we now have is mindblowing,” says Sanghvi. “The more we see, theapproval. It would have been a nightmare,” saysbetter we can update policies, adjust guidelines,Sanghvi. “Because we have SAP Concureducate users or make business decisions.”solutions, everything is running as smoothly asit would if we all were in the office. We’re feelingno pain whatsoever.”For example, prior to launching Concur Invoice,the foundation paid every supplier, every week.6/8 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Long-Term Relationship with Lasting ResultsWhat began as a journey to simplify and eliminate paper processes has evolved into a partnership builtupon mutual respect and consistent results.“We were impressed at how much the solution delivered to the Foundation in terms of the value propositionand overall functionality. Every tool we’ve implemented, from travel bookings to mobile expense submissionsto Invoice, has saved us time, save our users time and has enabled us to effectively scale,” Sanghvi says.“In the last five years, we have grown from 100 employees to 450 employees, the foundation has added a fewmore divisions and have not added AP headcount.”Using SAP Concur applications, it was easy to scale and we can do even more with less. Sanghvi’s small, butmighty, four-people staff processes all payments, reimbursements and business transactions, includinggrants. And they never miss a beat.“Today, we are close to 98 percent electronic. If we didn’t have our SAP Concur tools, we would have had tohire two more people to handle the volume,” explains Sanghvi.But, don’t think for a moment that Sanghvi’s work is done. He is continually looking for ways t

Invoice for account validation,” explains Sanghvi. “This eliminates the potential for suspense entries continuing on to the ERP.” If possible, this is highly recommended for small businesses. Additionally, they are able to connect their Google Sheets and Wipfli, an SAP Concur App Center partner