More on SG&A in software companies. This time a glimpse in to the A part at SAP and Oracle. (Note to my marketing friends in both organizations - this has nothing to do with your generosity.)
So I get my expense check from Sapphire from SAP. Took 6 pages of vendor set up forms, 65 days of processing, 2 reminders. They tried an electronic remittance - did not work so sent me a check.
Last year, Oracle took 70 days for a similar expense reimbursement. Fewer forms but an internal admin did the heavy lifting getting AP to cut the check.
Both wanted original, paper receipts. Scanned ones not acceptable.
Each payment was for less than $ 1,000.
In the mean time, my clients one using SAP, another Oracle and another Microsoft AP software cut me checks like clockwork with average pay cycle of 30 days with few reminders needed - and they are for much larger amounts. And they all take scanned receipts.
Ok, so my sample size is real small, and hopefully their revenue, payroll and other admin is more efficient. But these vendors are in the business of selling administrative efficiency. Is it unreasonable to expect them to be better and more electronic than their customers?
Update: A consultant who works with SAP on a regular basis confirms the initial vendor set up process is very manual and extensive. But on an on-going basis he says their payment process is fairly streamlined. When I did expert witness work for PeopleSoft, their payment process was pretty efficient. Not sure how Oracle has adapted that.
