Streamlining Wolters Kluwer’s systems integration after major acquisition
Overview
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company that provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors. With customers in 180 countries and operations in over 40 countries, the company employs approximately 19,800+ people worldwide and generated a revenue of €4.8 billion in 2021.
The challenge
Modernizing legacy ERP applications with Oracle NetSuite
Wolters Kluwer needed a strong solution to implement and modernize standard operating procedures (SOPs) and integrate the new acquisition into their business. For this complex endeavor, they partnered with HCLTech to optimize their acquisition and enhance their ERP within stringent deadlines. The challenge began with replacing the acquired entity’s legacy ERP application with NetSuite. Wolters Kluwer needed to implement this new system within just four months, with parallel runs for two months.
They also needed to institute complex invoicing and customer-specific pricing models, and upgrade NetSuite to the mid-market edition for OneWorld enablement.
Acquiring this company introduced several unknown and hard-to-decipher elements in the form of legacy data structures and processes to Wolters Kluwer. In addition, they had to manage the timelines of the acquired company’s in-flight projects with their main initiative, which meant imminent multi-vendor coordination with Vertex’s tax technology and Ernst & Young’s taxation services, among others.
The objective
Implementation of Oracle NetSuite via HCLTech-enriched delivery accelerators to enhance ERP
Inspired by years of successful collaboration and their track record as an ecosystem enabler for connected enterprises, Wolters Kluwer partnered with HCLTech for this project. After several rounds of in-person and virtual technical discussions, it was discovered that most of the features and functionalities required in the client’s IT environment aligned seamlessly with Oracle NetSuite. As an end-to-end, cloud-based and easy-to-integrate solution, NetSuite would create a future-proof, digital environment capable of not only integrating invoicing processes to improve ERP but also provide curated price points to enhance customer delight.
The solution
Leveraging HCLTech’s Oracle NetSuite practice for seamless data migration, customized pricing, and consolidated invoicing
The solution was implemented through four distinct phases:
- First, we a new subsidiary was created to enable P2P, O2C and record R2R processes. Data was migrated for the newly acquired entity and the acquired legacy systems were replaced with NetSuite.
- At the evolution stage, invoice integration from flat files generated by legacy applications was supported through SFTP.
- In the next phase of pre-planning, a OneWorld-enabled sandbox was introduced and the implementation plan with the Vertex bundle deployment was aligned.
- In the subsequent “drive and enable” phase, the OneWorld enablement of all three subsidiaries hierarchically was supported to offer customer-specific pricing list customization and workflow additions. The team also supported sales invoice PDF generation, sandbox testing for financials with manual imports and two SFTP invoice run cycles.
HCLTech’s Oracle NetSuite Practice streamlined Wolters Kluwer’s acquisition processes with a migration toolkit and a template-based approach for post-merger standardization, and the engagement soon went beyond a month-long, migration exercise. Our solution offerings included:
- Support for SFTP-routed flat file conversion to NetSuite invoice: The flat file generated by the legacy invoicing tool was stored on an SFTP server with limited data on item attributes and client ID. The data was then ported into custom records in NetSuite. A series of subsequent complex lookups revealed that data on customer information, item records, quantities and pricing charged customer.
- Minimum value charging rule in invoicing: If the customer’s invoiced amount fell below the monthly minimum, an additional invoice was generated to make up the difference. This was needed to close off the custom record as quantity-based pricing works on monthly generated invoices. The project team also leveraged their capabilities to run multiple files and avoid data collisions.
- Implemented the scheduled run of invoicing processes: This was done to accommodate manual operations by spacing out complex operations. This meant maximizing business team flexibility for file uploads to the SFTP folder. Time allowances for script run times and error handling were also provided. The solution also involved closing the day with submissions or sending emails to customers with custom HTML invoices.
- Invoice HTML modification: HTML invoices needed to be modified to show information from both the invoice and the source custom records. The team installed a custom script to run a query, compile information and generate an HTML block. The block could be seamlessly pulled into the PDF with the invoice emailing process.
- OneWorld enablement and the subsidiary hierarchy: The OneWorld mid-market edition was activated, with the creation of multiple legal entities as a functionality. The subsidiary structure edition was also installed, and data reclassification took place with a cut-off date.
- Customer-specific pricing list creation: The team filled up white space in the NetSuite implementation by creating a custom extension to address customer-specific pricing lists. This was tackled with a custom record for a combination of items, customers and pricing tiers. The team also completed a one-time data migration of 70,000 records.
- Alignment with Vertex tax deployment models: The team collaborated with the EY Vertex tax deployment team to seamlessly align UAT and additional workflows and establish the Vertex tax deployment configuration.
- Consolidated invoicing, HTML print and emailing: NetSuite was customized to drill down line-level details of consolidated invoices from custom records. The line-level details were then stored as HTML details in a custom text body. Later, these line details along with values in the “Detailed HTML” custom field were printed together in enhanced PDFs when required. These were sent along with automatically triggered emails via a workflow during business hours only.
The impact
Accurate invoicing with customized pricing to boost customer satisfaction
With an efficient, error-free implementation that combined Oracle NetSuite-delivered industry best practices and the power of our vast industry experience, Wolters Kluwer enjoyed the following benefits:
- Accurate invoicing calculations based on well-defined business logic
- Elimination of error-prone manual processes
- Improved customer satisfaction through timely and accurate pricing and detailed invoicing
- Adoption of a legal structure that met statutory and reporting requirements
- Prevention of revenue leakage by enforcing customer-specific minimum invoice value
- Management of taxation details and reporting through Vertex SuiteApp
- Implementation of system-driven approval workflows for journals and invoice emails which reduced follow-up effort
- Reduction of period close cycle times
- Streamlined dunning activity for pending receivables
- Automated invoicing to enable early period closures
Deeply satisfied with the implementation and impact of our solution, Wolters Kluwer has continued its strategic partnership with HCLTech to supercharge progress for their future business.
