business breakfast Finance Transformation Sponsored by AmCham members During a fnancial crisis, most companies undergo increased pressure for cost effciency and performance excellence and therefore look for possible cost reductions and optimization. The AmCham Business Breakfast, held on May 10, 2012, at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Bratislava, offered its mem- bers an overview on the Finance Transformation, including Expert Insights on Shared Services and Outsourcing. Alica Pavkova, Partner at PwC, and Ale Fojtk, Manager at PwC, presented key fndings of the Shared Service Centers (SSCs) Survey Evaluation of the Shared Service Center Life Cycle. The objective of the survey was to determine the performance level of existing SSCs in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and classify SSCs using the SSC assessment model developed by PwC (the SSC Life Cycle Model). Important key sur- vey outcomes: Customers are generally satis- fed with SSC services, which is verifed via customer surveys at least annually by a majority of SSCs. Cost reduction still remains a key objective of SSCs, although quality and transparency improvement objectives have risen signifcantly in importance. A majority of SSCs report im- portant cost savings as a result of SSC implementation. SSCs focus on continuous improvement, although the use of special tools is rather rare. Working conditions in SSCs are seen as good or very good by a vast majority of employees, which results in relatively low staff turnover ratios. The education ratio proves that SSC staff are highly qualifed and aim to achieve professional certifcation in due course dur- ing their employment. 88% of SSCs will continue to operate and do not plan to scale down processes; 92% of survey participants are planning to or are already consolidating their SSC. Among preferred criteria for SSCs are workforce availability and acceptable labor costs. Marcela Torokov, Head of the Business Development Depart- ment of SARIO, introduced the Business Friendly Slovakia project and highlighted the decisive factors for investors who choose Slovakia as a business location, specifcally in the sector of SSCs. During the presentation, Ms. Torok- ova underlined the importance of SSC for FDI infow to the Slovak Republic. At the moment, there are 34 SSCs/ ICTs altogether, employ- ing more than 20,000 profession- als in Slovakia. SARIO currently registers six new SSC projects of potential investors. A crucial factor for any SSC is the quality of its employees. Slovakias high edu- cational level provides a very good pool of quality employees. For this reason SSCs in Slovakia are used as regional centers, which are able to operate in various markets. The next speaker was Katerina Beneov, who introduced the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certifed Accountants) survey on Finance Transformation, which was conducted in 2011 in cooperation with over 20 multinational com- panies operating in the SSC/BPO model. The nine features of the outsourcing concept are defned as follows: 1. There is no turning back from shared services and outsourcing. 2. Different approaches to fnance transformation are evident. 3. Correlations between transfor- mation ambition and sourcing strategy are evident. 4. Cost remains the starting point 5. Finance leaders differentiate between provider capabilities. 6. Finance transformation success rests on change management. 7. Retained function capability is the prime driver of value, yet it is still a missed opportunity. 8. The client-provider relationship continues to be misaligned. 9. Service and service delivery Another interesting case study was presented by Wade Baze, Ex- ecutive Director of Finance at Dell Slovakia. He explained why Dell chose Bratislava 10 years ago and the development Dell Slovakia has gone through since then. Mr. Baze underlined the important role of qualifed talent that enabled the site to develop from a call center to a multi-task site with global functions operating in 16 languages. Mr. Baze stressed that development is still at the heart of Dells agenda to ensure the balance of the best cost value and high value-added services at the center in Bratislava. The last speaker of the morning was Nick Butt, BPO CEE Lead at Accenture. He spoke about the importance of meeting current challenges such as outsourcing, which is now an option being considered by many CFOs as they seek to make a positive impact on their organizations. Apart from cost savings, BPO leaders are achieving measurable business outcomes, such as reduced speed to market, increased revenue and improved customer satisfaction. Mr. Butt also acknowledged the CEE location as a place for innova- tive development of outsourcing, where more advanced tasks are replacing transactional work. Photo: Andrej Klian Marcela Torokov Head of Business Development, FDI Section of SARIO Kateina Beneov Head of ACCA Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary Wade Baze Executive Director of Finance Dell Ale Fojtk Manager PwC Nick Butt BPO CEE Lead Accenture Alica Pavkov Partner PwC