Future-Proof Invoicing Solution for Plopsa

emma40040
21 mei 2024
3 minuten om te lezen

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The Belgian leisure company is about to migrate to SAP S/4HANA.

Thanks to its new xSuite invoice workflow, Plopsa is ready to upgrade with a software solution that supports any SAP deployment model.

Website xSuite

Plopsa, the theme park division within the Belgian Studio 100 media company, operates 9 theme and water parks which on average account for 3.5 million visitors a year. Belgium is home to 5 theme parks and 2 water parks. The other 2 theme parks can be found in the Netherlands and Germany. In August 2023, the Plopsa Group started to process its incoming invoices, which currently amount to 24,000 documents per year, using xSuite’s SAP-integrated accounts payable invoice automation solution. The documents are captured from the cloud with the xSuite capture module. The system is installed in Belgium, but it also handles two German company codes.

Implementation started in June 2023, and the system went live after a record time of just two months, right in the middle of the company’s peak holiday season, which is naturally particularly busy at Plopsa. The more guests are in the theme park, the more bills are generated for all the drinks, food, merchandising articles etc. the company purchases.

“xSuite implemented the project reliably and incredibly quickly. All issues were resolved on the spot without any communication hurdles.”

Geordi Storms, CFO of Plopsa

Case Study

Plopsa & xSuite

The company previously sent incoming invoices on a release and approval odyssey based on a fully manual workflow – with all the disadvantages this entails: processing delays, documents that were left lying around for a long time or even got lost, zero transparency regarding the status of individual invoices, payment of dunning fees instead of securing cash discounts, etc.

The paper documents arrived at the central office and were forwarded internally for release and approval. Even invoices that had been received as PDFs by e-mail were printed out again. After every department involved in the process had manually signed the invoice, the accounting department generated a payment order, which was then approved by the CEO. As a result, the top manager had to spend a lot of time reviewing numerous invoices week after week.

The company was looking for a modern, sustainable solution

Plopsa’s ERP partner Flexso recommended that the company should introduce a digital incoming invoice processing solution. Four systems made it on the shortlist.

While Plopsa was still using SAP ECC at the time the workflow was introduced, the company was already in the middle of planning for their upcoming migration to S/4HANA. The invoice processing system therefore had to support any SAP environment without fail.

“When selecting the software, we were not only interested in its current functionality, but also in its viability for many years to come.”

Geordi Storms, CFO of Plopsa

Plopsa has been using its ECC system since 2015, and the change to S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition is on the agenda for 2024. The other workflow solutions evaluated either did not run on this platform or cost a lot more than xSuite.

Everyone in the company who releases invoices, around 25 people in total, is now connected to the workflow. Geordi Storms issues the final approval in the workflow.

“You can’t install something that only runs in the public cloud

if you are currently still working with ECC.

xSuite offered us the greatest possible freedom

on our journey towards S/4HANA,”

Geordi Storms, CFO of Plopsa

Transparency and no need for filing cabinets

The way the CFO sees it, the biggest advantage of the new electronic solution is that it eliminates all paper across the entire invoice processing workflow. Paperless working delivers increased transparency and speeds up the release and approval process.

Another thing that has become obsolete at Plopsa is the use of cumbersome filing cabinets for archiving – thanks to xSuite. Instead, invoices are now stored in the integrated electronic archiving system.

“With xSuite, we now know where an open invoice is at any time,

and we are always aware of its processing status.”

Geordi Storms, CFO of Plopsa

All payment terms are being met

Once an invoice has been captured, the release process starts immediately, which results in happy suppliers.

“The suppliers get much faster paid than in the past“

Geordi Storms, CFO of Plopsa

In addition to invoices, goods receipts are another important document type processed at Plopsa, and capturing these digitally in xSuite results in faster payment. Every goods receipt is recorded in SAP using this type of document, which is essential for posting an invoice for any such transaction. The xSuite Monitor immediately shows whether it is necessary to send a reminder to a specific department to ensure they document the goods receipt. Thanks to these functions, xSuite creates a new level of transparency for invoices and incoming goods at the Belgian leisure company.