— Reference

LISA Implementation at VARTA

Lease Accounting - fast, secure and transparent

Initial Situation

When Excel reaches its limits

VARTA previously used an Excel-based solution to account for their leasing contracts according to IFRS 16. A separate file was created and periodically updated for each company code and contract type as part of this solution. To correctly manage, calculate and post hundreds of contracts from companies in 30 different countries, the responsible departments had to keep track of more than 50 Excel tables. Due to the high volume of data, loading times increased and it was nearly impossible to deal with contract changes and modifications. Correspondingly manual errors increased, reducing the department’s productivity and costing resources to manage it. Therefore, the previous solution was replaced by an automated, SAP-integrated tool.

Challenges

Heterogeneous system landscape and complex, regulatory requirements

The SAP system landscape presented a particular challenge for the implementation: The subsidiaries VARTA Consumer Batteries and VARTA Microbattery each use independent SAP systems. Concurrently, the timeframe for a changeover to SAP S/4 HANA is already known and potential implications had to be considered directly in the system configuration. In addition, the VARTA companies did not manage all company codes with IFRS 16-relevant contracts on the respective SAP systems. As a result, additional external data sources had to be integrated. The financial reporting in some countries brought additional requirements: For the subsidiaries in the USA, Singapore, Indonesia and some Eastern European countries, local accounting regulations had to be implemented as well.

LISA was able to overcome all the difficulties of the Excel solution. The communication with the regional colleagues has improved a lot. We can rely on the validity of the postings and the IFRS 16 reporting. The processes are automated, at the push of a button, and compliant at the same time. The bottom line is that we get better quality than before, audits have become easier - and we save time.

Maik Soldner | Specialist Finance Projects

Major Successes

Complete replacement of the prior Excel solution with an SAP-add-on

IFRS 16 notes reporting at the push of a button

Automatische Berechnung und Buchung von Vertragsänderungen

Gesicherte Datenqualität durch automatisierte Plausibilitätsprüfungen und standardisierte, dezentrale Bearbeitung von Vertragsdaten

Solution

Different systems but an automated and globally standardized process

The different characteristics of both SAP systems did not bring any difficulties: LISA can be adapted to a wide variety of SAP system configurations with just a few custom settings. External data sources were integrated into LISA as statistical company codes.

LISA calculates and posts line items on the RoU and liability side, automatically and directly in SAP - without interfaces, based on the contract data, which can now be maintained decentrally. At the same time, the solution meets the different requirements of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) and local accounting regulations with the help of flexible calculation methods, individual LISA transaction types and differentiated account and posting controls.

LISA enables departments to work efficiently and directly in SAP following a globally standardized process. As a result, information distribution and communication between departments and regions are automated and sustainably improved

David Schneider is Chief Discipline Manager at IKOR Products GmbH

Outlook

Laying the foundation for the SAP S/4 HANA implementation

The go-live of LISA was followed not only by a transition to productive support but also by a follow-up project at VARTA Microbattery. In 2021, the VARTA company upgraded its financial accounting to SAP New GL. It was possible to adjust LISA to the new system conditions with just a few customizations during this project. Thus, from LISA's point of view, nothing stands in the way of the planned SAP S/4 HANA implementation.

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