Poland as the destination for Shared Services Centers

30 Poland as the destination for Shared Services Centers
4 .2 .1 Avon
Company overview
Year of establishment 1886
Headquarters New York City, USA
Operations Top global brand selling cosmetics, perfumes, jewelry and clothing
– world’s leader in lipsticks, fragrances, anti-aging skincare
Area of operations More than 100 countries world-wide
Annual revenues Approx. USD 10 billion
Employment Over 42,000 worldwide, plus a sales force of 5.4 million independent Avon
Sales Representatives
In Poland, Avon operates four independent companies: Avon Cosmetics Polska – support in
distributing Avon products in Poland, Avon Operations Polska – one of Europe’s biggest and
most modern cosmetics factories and distribution centers, Avon EMEA Finance Service Centre
– processing Avon’s financial and accounting operations throughout Europe, the Middle East
and Africa, and Avon Mobile – managing the mobile telephony brand myAvon.
Avon EMEA Finance Service Centre (FSC)
The Avon EMEA FSC located in Warsaw has been operational since November 2005.
In February 2009 it employed 96 people – for the most part accounting specialists. The target
employment level is expected to increase up to 130. Currently, the FSC provides financial and
accounting services for Avon entities in Germany, Austria, Poland, the UK, Ireland, Italy, France,
Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The next wave of countries transferred to the FSC is scheduled
for July 2009 and will include Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia.
The company’s operations are divided between five interdependent teams: Accounts Payable
for CEE and WEMEA regions, General Ledger 1 and 2, Migration and Operations, additionally
supported by an Administration team and a dedicated Business Applications unit responsible
for the development and maintenance of applications such as workflow system, expense
management and communication portal.
Paweł Pietruszewski
Managing Director
of Avon EMEA FSC
Did locating the SSC in Poland / Warsaw influence
the implementation of your company’s strategy,
and if so how?
The creation of the SSC was an important part of the
transformation of the finance function in the EMEA region.
Locating the center in Poland enabled us to achieve
financial benefits that combine efficiency improvements
with cost arbitrage.
We chose Warsaw for a number of reasons, including
cost attractiveness, availability of qualified workforce
and expected synergies with other AVON companies
in Poland concentrated around Warsaw.
© 2009 KPMG Sp. z o.o. a Polish limited liability company and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International,
a Swiss cooperative. All rights reserved.