Odfjell nr 3 - 2006.indd

eVA – a challenging ‘lady’
Electronic Voucher Approval implemented at Odfjell ASA
By Svein Engum
This autumn and winter,
all departments at
Odfjell HQ, and later
on also many of the
subsidiaries in our
group, will be introduced
to a nice
‘lady’:eVA. To lower
any expectations;
eVA is an abbreviation for Electronic
Voucher Approval. The implementation
of this modern system will give easy
access to all invoices and all other vouchers
within the accounting system, at any
time. One click, and an invoice with all
details will be available on the screen.
Introduction
After several years of considerations and
demand evaluations, Odfjell this spring
started a project named eVA. Our main
objective with this project is to have an
electronic storage and management
of all accounting transactions. This
includes purchase invoices, other incoming
invoices and general accounting
transactions. However, we have left out
transactions going through OTIS, Odfjell
Seachem’s operational system.
The demands for efficient voucher
management and the ability to report
on a timely basis have grown and will
continue to increase within the Odfjell
group. This has necessitated the implementation
of an IT system to support an
efficient workflow and overview. Some
potential key benefits of the eVA system
are:
Status
The Finance/Accounts department in Bergen will be among the eVA users
• Faster, more accurate management of
vouchers in Odfjell ASA
• Simplified and improved overview of
all invoices and other vouchers at any
time
• Freeing up of the resources currently
applied on transaction management
• More effective reporting
• Streamlining of the processes, and
elimination of non-value-added
operations.
Once the system is implemented,
invoices will be authorised on the screen.
Purchase invoices matching order confirmations
will be directly updated to the
accounting system. Other invoices must
Status
Plateau II
Oct ‘06
Plateau III
Jan ‘07
Plateau IV
Jun '07
be electronically authorised. Storage of
all invoices and vouchers will then be
electronic and thus, no paper back-up
is needed. And maybe best off all; the
system is extremely simple and userfriendly.
Odfjell ASA has hired two external consultants
from KPMG to do the implementation
at Minde. The software and
technical installation will be from
Basware. During 3-4 weeks in September
2006, an appointed pilot group will
thoroughly test and evaluate the new
system. We plan to deploy in November,
and at the same time we will commence
training for involved personnel.
More info will come on the intranet.
During the first phase we will concentrate
on implementing eVA at the Odfjell
headquarter at Minde. The next phase,
probably starting early spring 2007, will
involve Rotterdam, Houston, Manila and
Singapore.
Project leader for Odfjell is Frode
Midtun of the Finance/Accounts department,
and the steering committee consists
of Kjell E. Revheim (Purchasing), Tor
Jürgensen (ICT) and Svein Engum
(Finance/Accounts).
Plateau I
Sep ‘06
May’06
The development of the eVA project
ODFJELL Quarterly September 2006 21