Biller Direct
Streamline Cash Processing and
Enhance the Customer Experience
Monsanto
What We’ll Cover …
• Business drivers behind Monsanto’s implementation
• Our implementation timeline
• Review standard and customization options available through
Biller Direct
• Identifying business requirements
• Understanding application challenges
• Key learnings
• Demo
1
Business Drivers
• Increase customer satisfaction
⬧ Access to financial status
⬧ Online delivery of Invoices, Reports and Statements
⬧ Customer expectations
• Inefficient order-to-cash process
⬧ Payment processing efficiencies
⬧ Large volume of paper invoices and statements
⬧ Cost of invoicing and reconciliation
• Significant online application use by our customers
• Customers expect online payment capability
• Global solution
2
Return on Investment
• Reduce order-to-cash cycle time
⬧ Access to invoices
▶ Next day access following order fulfillment
⬧ Increase working capital
▶ Opportunity to reduce delay in cash receipts up to five days
• Cost savings
⬧ Lockbox cost reductions
⬧ Limits staff requirements
▶ Online payments significantly limit exception processing
⬧ Print and mailing opportunities
▶ Enables online-only receipt of documents and reports
3
Timeline – Biller Direct
2019 2020 2021
MAR OCT MAY OCT JAN MAR
Development to
Pilot Launch
Phase 2 to
Company-wide
launch
Canada
launch
SAP S/4
HANA
Upgrade
French language for
Canada
4
Standard Biller Direct Functionality
• Open bills
⬧ Display/download
⬧ Pay (partial or full)
⬧ Clear credits/debits
• Paid bills
⬧ Display/download
▶ In process
▶ Processed
▪ 30 days/12 months/5 years/ Unlimited (Response time impact)
⬧ Cancel Payment
⬧ View bills associated with payment
• Create Payment Advice/Display Payment Advice
5
Standard Biller Direct Functionality (cont.)
• Balances and line items
⬧ Download
⬧ Monthly balances (Debit/Credit/Balance/Sales)
• Administrative data
⬧ Update address
⬧ Create/Change/Delete Bank Details
⬧ Change/Withdraw direct debit authorization
⬧ Notification preferences (Email/SMS)
• Switch account
⬧ Multiple SAP payer accounts can be assigned to single user id
• FAQ
• Logoff
6
Our Must-Haves for the Design
• Open Items-Payment (standard Biller Direct-Open Bills)
⬧ Filter document types
⬧ Flag future due credits as “Non-Payable”
⬧ Add line item data
▶ Delivery Number/Purchase Order Number/Child customer
name/Line item description (reason code)
• Prepayment-On Account Payment (custom screen)
⬧ Allows payments in excess of account balance
⬧ Payments not specific to an invoice
• Payment History (standard Biller Direct-Payment)
⬧ Limit increment of time available for visibility
▶ 30 Days/90 Days/1 Year/2 Years
7
Our Must-Haves for the Design (cont.)
• Statements (custom screen)
⬧ Provide ability to receive electronic-only statements
⬧ Statements archived and accessible for 12 months
⬧ Custom reports available through archive
• Bank Accounts (custom screen based on administrative data)
⬧ Limits ability to Add and Edit bank information only
• Switch Account (standard Biller Direct)
• Contact Us (custom screen)
• FAQ (standard Biller Direct)
8
Application Challenges – Data Fields and Filters
• Functionality available to Add and Filter data
⬧ Addition of Delivery Number, Purchase & Order Number
⬧ Filter Document type, Reason code, Down Payment requests
⬧ SubObjects selection flexibility
▶ assignment field values or partner type
⬧ Delete cancelled prepayments from appearing on the open items
screen
⬧ Prevent selection of future dated credits
⬧ Display PDF icon for invoices ONLY if document exists in the
archiving system
⬧ Add additional fields to the open items and CSV
download file
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Open Items-Payment View
10
Open Items-Payment View (cont.)
11
Challenges – Prepayment-On Account
• Custom screen development using Web Dynpro
• Generate customer down payment request
• Update Event log
• Modification to include down payment requests in payment
history and exclude from open bills
• Updates to payment proposal
• Parameter ID modification required for visibility on FBL5N
⬧ Prepayment utilizes Special GL
12
Prepayment-On Account View
13
Statements
• Implemented custom design using object type DRAW–SAP
⬧ Document is not linked and requires further development
⬧ Define the object_id on the linkage table and require a means to
extract the list of statements through the Web site
• Design can be utilized to store any ABAP, Smartform, or
SAPScript generated report in the archive
• Provides customer the ability to elect Online only
14
Statement Archive Design
Customer Document
Statement Received
is generated and by Documentum
indicator set to Security Certificate using HTTP
Statement
Send to Security Certificate
Converted to
Documentum
OTF format Processing
sent
to archive by
FMs in
program
Documentum
Content
Repository
15
Statement View
16
Bank Accounts
• Modification of screen utilizing standard RFC to update
Customer Master to eliminate the Delete function
⬧ Function allows for edits but NOT deletions
17
Switch Accounts
• Provides ability to have multiple accounts per User ID
• Modified to to arrange the object hierarchy
• Implemented functionality to assign text/label to a SubObject
18
Other Challenges
• Creating custom screens Web Dynpro Java development (SAP
NetWeaver® Development Infrastructure)
• Implementing a foreign language
• Supporting SAP ERP Central Component 6.0 Upgrade
• No user exits to enhance Biller Direct Java Web application
⬧ Modification is the only option
• Implementation of SAP Enterprise Portal
⬧ Single Sign-On (Portal to Biller Direct)
• Integration of custom functionality “Prepayment-On Account” with
standard Biller Direct
⬧ Example: Payment history, cancellation, payment proposal,
payment run, audit log, etc.
19
User Management Engine configuration limits and flexibility
• Multiple accounts accessible through single User ID
• Establishing User Access utilizing Pooled reference user
⬧ fscm_refuser – authorization profiles for ECC access
⬧ objtype_0 – BUS3007 customer identifier
⬧ objkey_0 – company code + customer number
▶ Standard row limitation of ten (four accounts)
▪ Enhanced to 30 lines, see SAP Note 869852
20
User Management Engine (cont.)
• Utilizing SubObjects enables filtering capability
⬧ SubObjects available for Branch accounts filtering
▶ Display Only due to conflict with Head Office
bank accounts
• Pooled reference user setup
⬧ objtype ebpp_spart
⬧ objkeyCompany code + customer number +
“unique qualifier”
21
Key Learnings
• Performance issues
⬧ Large volume of Open Items
▶ SAP claims resolution version 6.02 (Pagination)
▶ Custom approach through use of Summary and Invoice
Query
22
Key Learnings (cont.)
• Performance Issues (cont.)
⬧ Payment history screen for five years and unlimited selection
▶ Addressed through two-year limit
• Reversal issue
⬧ FBRA does not remove Payment Method at time of
reversal
⬧ Capture by subsequent proposal will result in a double debit of
customer bank account
▶ Created new transaction code for reversals that removes
payment method
• Select all/deselect all
⬧ Not available through standard Open Bills (display view)
▶ SAP modified standard Biller Direct screen
23
Key Learnings (cont.)
• Payment Proposal Limitations
⬧ No error messages or flag
▶ Lock/posting failure
• SAP Notes
⬧ Correction for SubObject processing in R/3 4.6c
▶ Apply SAP Note 1152361
⬧ User Management Engine limitation of 10 lines
▶ Apply SAP Note 869852 to increase from 10 to 30 lines
⬧ SAP R/3 EBPP Log truncates the Portal User ID to 12 characters
▶ SAP recognizes this issue but there are no plans yet for an
upcoming release
⬧ JSP modification to handle CSV download delimiters (“,”
instead of “;”) so properly formatted by Excel
▶ Apply SAP Note 1086466
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Key Learnings (cont.)
• Involve SAP before making changes
• Use SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure to deploy Biller
Direct Web application modifications
• Roll out application in a pilot program to limited customers
• Perform thorough testing
• Reconciliation report
⬧ Payment proposal, payment run, and 820 confirmation
• Call center
⬧ SubObjects are not supported
• Knowledge Management (Portal)
⬧ On-the-fly updates for Pure HTML pages
▶ Home, FAQ, and Outages
25
Resources
• SAP Guides
⬧ Configuration Guide
⬧ Modification Guide
⬧ Security Guide
⬧ Installation Guide
▶ http://help.sap.com/erp2005_ehp_04/helpdata/en/43/72fc28e1
356fcae10000000a1553f6/frameset.htm
• SAP Financials Expert – April 2007, Volume 6/Number 4
• SAP Building Blocks (W22: FSCM Biller Direct)
⬧ http://help.sap.com/bp_bblibrary/600/BBlibrary_start.htm
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Key Points
• Understand the full extent of your business user requirements
• Engage companies that have implemented Biller Direct
⬧ SAP User Groups/SAP Financial Customer Value Network
• Identify pilot group of customers to test and for initial launch
• Develop with business growth in mind and utilize tables and avoid
hard coding
• Prototype out-of-the-box solution and compare with requirements
• Build appropriate back-end monitoring
• Establish clear expectations with your financial institution for ACH
debit requests and confirmations
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