"Dielectric cable systems". Implementation of intercorporate financial and accounting document flow

JSC Dielektricheskiye kabelnye sistemy (DKS Group) is among the largest producers of the cable systems and the low-voltage equipment in Russia and Europe.

The group is founded in 1998. The product range makes more than 26,000 components and accessories. From the basis DKS Group cooperates with 80 distributors provided by 500 sales offices in Russia.

Background of the project

DKS group constantly expands product assortment, increases warehousing and production capacities, opens new regional branches, expands a partner and distributor network.

Development of holding demanded the organization of exchange of electronic primary finance documents. The innovation had to lower direct costs on printing and delivery of papers to partners, to provide their storage and destruction and to reduce quantity of cases of their loss and repeated preparation. Besides, at the time of start of the project in the company waiting of originals of documents often dragged on, and it conducted to additional costs.

The management of DKS Group decided to pass to legally significant electronic document management to reduce costs for preparation to tax and to audits, to reduce risks of additional accrual of the VAT and income tax which are connected with possible loss of paper documents and long term of providing originals in the company.

The choice of the platform for creation of intercorporate financial and accounting document flow was based on the concept of systematic development of the information solutions which are available for the company.

In 2012 processes of internal document flow, contract work, work with meetings and business trips of employees were automated based on DIRECTUM.

Argument for benefit of the choice of the platform was also the fact that in composition there were already standard connectors to accounting systems and exchange.

Project Tasks

Specialists of DKS Group and Akelon company, the general partner of DIRECTUM who together with the management designated project tasks were a part of the working group on implementation:

• Automate process of approval and signing, accounting and the subsequent archive storage of financial and accounting documents in the DIRECTUM system.
• Provide legally significant exchange of financial and accounting documents between five legal persons of DKS Group and partners using service of exchange
• Organize the center of processing responsible for the translation of all arriving paper financial and accounting documents in an electronic form and accomplishment of functions of archive storage.

As the project covered work with primary documentation on shipment or receipt of inventory items and receiving or rendering services, the working group selected the following business processes for automation:

• work with the proceeding and entering papers;
• interaction with the proceeding and entering electronic documents;
• transactions with documents in territorial and remote branches;
• archive storage of financial and accounting documents, search and selection for checks;
• control of the fact of return or providing originals by partners.

Project solutions

Integration of 1C, SAP and DIRECTUM

At the time of start of the project DKS Group used two accounting systems - "1C:Enterprise 8.3" and SAP ERP. DIRECTUM had to become uniform storage and point of entry and a release of electronic documents therefore it was necessary to connect all three systems among themselves.

General scheme of integration of 1C systems, SAP and DIRECTUM

Because partners are brought in 1C and SAP separately, it was required to join records in two accounting systems and DIRECTUM. For information transfer between them one-sided synchronization of data was configured.

As integration tools were used:

• between SAP ERP and DIRECTUM – web services of integration;
• between "1C:Enterprise 8.3" and DIRECTUM – the standard connector to 1C.

In SAP ERP for data storage about partners two reference books – Debtors and Creditors, in 1C – Partners are used. Information from all these reference books is unloaded in DIRECTUM. The uniqueness of partners is checked on a TIN, the check point and the name. At the same time in DIRECTUM in the hidden fields of a card of the reference book of Organization remains the identifiers of the partner used in all accounting systems.

Matrix of responsible persons of MFUD

For determination of responsible users whose participation in process depends on several criteria in the DIRECTUM system the reference book "Responsible Persons of MFUD" is implemented.

In it the contractor of a certain role in process depending on parameters is set:

• document type;
• balance sheet unit;
• division (branch);
• partner.

Reference book "Responsible Persons of MFUD"

Reference book "Sets of PFD"

The reference book "Sets of PFD" was developed for consolidation of documents in sets. With its help it is controlled:

• completeness. The Incomplete Set field is autocompleted if there is no minimum necessary set of documents:
  • for transactions including VAT: the consignment note or the act of the performed works + the Invoice or UPD;
  • for transactions excluding VAT: the consignment note or the act of the performed works.

• existence of the original or copy of the paper document in the organization – if on minimum necessary set of documents only copies are returned, that field "Originals are returned" it will not be filled;
• control of need of sending originals of the entering paper documents signed from DKS Group, to the partner. If the tick in the field "The Copy Is Transferred to the Partner" is not set, then within a standard route the task to the partner, responsible on transfer of documents, will be created.

Barcodes of financial and accounting documents

In DKS Group for identification of a document type, balance sheet unit, division and the accounting system several formats of barcodes for foreign trade activities Consignment note, "The act of the performed works", Invoice, "Other documents MFUD" were implemented.

So, when scanning the service of input and the DIRECTUM conversion will recognize barcodes and finds outgoing documents (brings the scan image in the form of the new version) in a system, or creates electronic entering with the corresponding details.

The worker of a data processing center or the office manager of DKS Group branch print stickers with barcodes using the special scenario.

Window of the scenario "Printing of Barcodes"

Business processes

13 standard routes when which using the following transactions are executed were developed for processing of financial and accounting documents in DKS Group:

• verification of presence of minimum necessary set of documents depending on a tax regime (including VAT 18%, including VAT 0%, excluding VAT) and a document type (Consignment note / "The act of the performed works" + Invoice or "UPD" /" UKD");
• automatic filling of case depending on a document type, the organization and document date;
• vising of documents;
• replacement of the Full Name of the signer in the formalized documents before putting of the EDS for documents;
• signing of documents (vising, the claiming EDS);
• check of a set of documents before sending to the system of exchange, etc. functions.

Unloading of documents from the accounting systems in DIRECTUM

Outgoing financial and accounting documents form in the accounting systems SAP ERP and "1C:Enterprise 8.3". For review and signings they are unloaded in the workflow system.

From SAP ERP – using web services of integration DIRECTUM, from 1C – via the connector in the formalized type.

Mark about return of originals of documents

According to outgoing documents it is necessary to control return of the original from the partner. Therefore after receiving the answer about signing of documents within a task of a standard route DIRECTUM transfers information on return of originals to the accounting systems.

Field with the mark "The Original Is Returned" in SAP ERP

Accounting of the incoming document in 1C and SAP of ERP

Within processing of incoming documents the accountant enters data in the accounting system of SAP ERP or "1C:Enterprise 8.3". Information on in what of them the subsidiary company works, is stored in a card of the reference book of DIRECTUM "Our Organizations". Respectively, at task performance with Consider in US option the functionality of accounting of the document in SAP ERP or "1C:Enterprise 8.3" is caused.

The document can be created in SAP ERP before scanning and entering in DIRECTUM, in this case responsible pastes the barcode on the paper original, enters data into the system (manually or using the scanner). Only after that it can save the document. At the same time in DIRECTUM information on the created document will in parallel be unloaded and the card with an empty body in which the barcode brought in SAP ERP is specified will be created.

After accounting of the document in SAP ERP its creation in this system is checked. If the document for any reasons was not brought, then to the executive in charge (to the one who performed a task in DIRECTUM) the repeated task for accounting of the document with an initial set of options of accomplishment comes.

In a case with 1C the accounting is carried out using the standard connector which was finished for creation of a certain document type depending on an applicable tax rate.

Also within the project transition between documents in the DIRECTUM system and in the accounting systems SAP ERP and "1C:Enterprise 8.3" was implemented, work with requests for refining on electronic invoices is carried out – now during the checking and acceptance the responsible can request information, having performed a task with the corresponding option and having specified heart of the matter.

Features, results and perspectives

The project lasted nearly a year. During this time joint efforts of DKS Group and the contractor (Akelon company) achieved the planned result – the customer received the solution which allows to exchange primary financial and accounting documents in electronic form. Development significantly reduces time of their delivery and consideration, provides absolute existence of originals of documents and reduces direct costs on printing and sending papers to partners.

Within the project in DKS Group the center of document handling (CDH) – uniform point of entry and storages of all paper primary accounting documents of each balance sheet unit of an olding was organized. The risk of loss or damage of documents in the organization decreased. The implemented marking by barcodes allowed to identify, open quickly the document for viewing and to get acquainted with the history of its processing.

Due to a large number of variations of new processes and document types 9 user instructions were prepared. Training more than 100 employees was provided in the seminar mode.

Start of the solution MFUD in trial operation took place on stages: in October-November, 2016 – between two balance sheet units and one branch, in December of the 2016th – between other three balance sheet units, also this month three more branches were connected.

In the current year connection to MFUD of external partners – first of all the main partners with whom at the company the most intensive exchange of documents is adjusted is planned.