Trusted Shops: Also sets new standards in the back office with SAP Business ByDesign

SAP partner all4cloud is introducing the cloud-based ERP software SAP Business ByDesign at Trusted Shops, the leading Cologne-based seal of approval provider for online shops

Customers who see the Trusted Shops seal of approval on an online shop know that “I can shop safely here”. This is how Günay Edgü, team leader IT project management finance, describes the seal of approval for secure online shopping throughout Europe.

In addition to Trusted Shops, there are other seals that attract store customers, but the company, founded in Cologne in 1999, is the most successful in Europe. Over 30,000 certified shops recruit with the mark of Trusted Shops, a small “e” in blue color on golden background. At the edge it says white on black “Trusted Shops Guarantee.”

Besides to the seal, there is now a whole range of products and services: a separate buyer protection procedure for customers and a system of customer ratings for online and offline shops. The affiliated merchants also receive assistance in protecting themselves against warnings.

Secure shopping experience

“We want to ensure a safe shopping experience for customers,” says Edgü,” Our buyer protection is a second safeguard for buyers in the store; if something happens, Trusted Shops is there for the customer.

To ensure that the success story continues, Trusted Shops has now joined forces with SAP and, together with SAP partner all4cloud from Viernheim, Germany, has implemented the cloud-based ERP software SAP Business ByDesign:

• Implementation of a state of the art busienss tool in only a few months
• Support of the core processes in accounting
• Improvement of the creditor workflow
• Scalable platform for international growth
• Work anywhere, anytime in the cloud

An Exemplary Project

Daniel Schulz (Director Accounting) and Günay Edgü (Team Leader IT Project Management Finance) together set up a task force and, with the support of the entire finance department and management, handled both the selection and the implementation.

The promise: In just a few months, a state-of-the-art business tool will be implemented that focuses not only on the core processes in accounting but also on the accounts payable workflow.

The Cologne-based e-commerce specialists wanted to push ahead with digitization. Because: “Many of our system-supported processes in the accounts payable area ran analog and/or only semi-automated”, says Edgü. Very important and almost classic: “The pre-system of the accounting software had announced the end of maintenance and support”. But when making their decision, IT also had international growth in mind.

Better workflow with ERP system

Edgü: “Two years ago, we introduced a Subscription Management Tool on the accounts receivable side to ensure more flexible and significantly automated invoicing. Our goal was to use the ERP system to improve the creditor workflow as well”. Previously, paper invoices and manual processes such as printing and manual archiving were the order of the day.

Previously, with an older product that was strongly tailored to Trusted Shops, there were some things that paralyzed the workflow. “Even in IT-influenced companies, there are often still some old-fashioned products used in the back end,” reveals Edgü.

“In comparison, with SAP it is now a clear professionalization,” the IT expert praises. “In the past, you had to leave your computer on standby for half an hour and were not allowed to work elsewhere to create a supplier payment run file for export,” the employees reported in a survey conducted specifically for the IT changeover.

Today, with SAP Business ByDesign, the same process only takes a few minutes – and the computer can be used in parallel. Previously, payment runs were only created every two weeks because of this fact, but today this is possible on an ad hoc basis. “Regardless of this, with SAP Business ByDesign we are now in the cloud, which makes working during COVID-19 independent of location, device and time, especially in the current situation.”

In the past, you had to leave your computer on standby for half an hour and were not allowed to work elsewhere to create a supplier payment run file for export. Today, the same process only takes a few minutes – and the computer can be used in parallel.

In addition to the Finance Business ByDesign standard, Trusted Shops now also uses the directly connected ticket system care4cloud with service and support, as application management for users, through all4cloud. This guarantees fast response times and a transparent, traceable history of each individual support request. In addition, there are interfaces to third-party systems such as software for consolidated financial statements.

SAP Business ByDesign comes with German booking logic

Through the digitalization and automation of the creditor workflow with the state-of-the-art solution, there is now a 1:1 mapping of the current processes.

These processes are supported by the functions of Kendox Cloud Solutions for Business ByDesign. The processing of incoming invoices has thus been automated as far as possible. In detail this means:

• Automatic monitoring of mailboxes for incoming invoices with immediate, legally compliant archiving of all enclosing invoice documents
• Forwarding to automated document recognition (Kendox Document Capture) with subsequent transfer to the multi-stage review and release process
• Including account assignment of the invoices by the employees (Kendox invoices approval) for the final transfer of the “finished” booking to the ByDesign booking interface

The subsequent access to the invoices stored in Kendox is either directly from the ByDesign work center or through the Kendox client integrated via mashup. Already 90 percent of all invoices reach the company digitally, and the goal for the coming year is to achieve almost complete paperlessness for incoming invoices.

SAP Business ByDesign, in contrast to other large ERP providers, automatically brings the German accounting logic with it, which means a different horizon for booking and reporting.

However, the most important advantage of SAP is that “SAP Business ByDesign, in contrast to other large ERP providers, automatically brings the German accounting logic with it, which means a different horizon for booking and reporting,” says Edgü. The important international accounting standard IFRS is also automatically supported.

Advantages of digitalization

All this was different in the past. Before the introduction, account statements were typed manually. With the new standard, the statement files are now imported. Soon there will be an integration with the existing electronic banking tool so that the statements are imported automatically. The advantages of digitalization are also noticeable here. Edgü sums up the new working world as follows:

Efficiency, speed and smooth workflows.

Everything runs digitally – including collaboration with the consultants from all4cloud. Response times are very fast thanks to the use of the care4cloud service offering, and clarity has increased significantly. Handling is simple and transparent via the ticket system. “Nothing is left unsorted in the mail inbox,” says Edgü.

If you want to follow Trusted Shops in the direction of SAP Business ByDesign, Teamlead IT Project Management has important tips and hacks for you: “You should not underestimate analysis and planning. The more detailed both are, the fewer problems there are with go-live. And: “Good and close, transparent cooperation between project management and the specialist department have contributed to the successful implementation.

In addition, talks with other customers are very useful to gain further insights for your own decision. Last but not least, Edgü continues, one should pay attention to the intrinsic motivation in the team. The most important thing is:

have fun with the project!

eTrusted is the trust mark for Europe. The pertinent Trusted Shops quality seal is expressly recommended by consumer advisors and national places for secure buying in the internet, e.g. by Stiftung Warentest and the Federal Ministry of Justice. With SAP Business ByDesign, the company is setting new standards in the back office.