Accelerated Financial Closing with SAP

Your course is set and the light is green. Enable your business to navigate the hairpin turns of the financial close process with this end-to-end overview. Guided by practical workflow scenarios and customer examples, learn how to maximize the potential of SAP’s financial close solutions. From start to finish, manage data integrity issues, optimize your financial close processes, and handle system integration. Close your books in record time with this one-stop resource for all your financial closing needs!1. Streamlined Financial Close WorkflowAlign your business workflows to support a streamlined financial close process. 2. A Financial Close Action PlanLearn how to build a business case, create a clear action plan for your financial close process, and avoid the common barriers.3. ReportingProactively address disclosure management and weather regulatory change with finesse and flexibility. 4. Real-Time VisibilityVisualize your financial close success and identify issues with real time analysis and the Financial Closing Cockpit.5. Practical Case Studies and ExamplesLearn how industry peers have improved their financial close processes and reduced risk.Highlights include:

• General Ledger close
• Controlling close
• Inventory management
• Entity close management
• Intercompany reconciliation
• Information management
• Process governance
• Financial consolidation
• Disclosure management
• Financial reporting

James Fisher is Vice President of Product Marketing for Analytics at SAP, where he is a key stakeholder in solution strategy and is responsible for go-to-market strategy, positioning and messaging, demand generation and events, and roadmap communications. He has more than 16 years of experience in the analytics, performance management, and finance industry. Prior to his current role, James was responsible for solution marketing for SAP’s entire portfolio of finance solutions, including Enterprise Performance Management and SAP ERP Financials, and he played a key role in the expansion of SAP’s portfolio of financial close solutions. He joined SAP with its 2008 acquisition of Business Objects, where he lead EPM solution marketing, and he held solution marketing, global communications, and EMEA field marketing positions with Cartesis, a Paris-based EPM company subsequently acquired by Business Objects in 2007, which specialized in the consolidation and reporting market. Previously, James held marketing and consulting positions with PwC, in its Enterprise Group Reporting Services team, where he supported a number of global fast-close projects, and at KPMG, where he was a tax consultant. James has a business and finance degree from Kingston University in the UK and a Professional Qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Elizabeth Milne has over 14 years of experience improving the software solutions for multi-national, multi-billion dollar organizations. Her finance career began working at Walt Disney then Warner Bros in the areas of consolidation, budgeting, and financial reporting. She subsequently moved to the software industry and has held positions including implementation consultant & manager, account executive, pre-sales consultant & working as part of the solution management team at SAP, Business Objects and Cartesis. In 2008 she graduated with an Executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Birgit Starmanns is Senior Director of Marketing for Finance solutions at SAP, and is currently responsible for the end-to-end positioning and messaging of Finance solutions across different SAP portfolios, including SAP ERP Financials, SAP solutions for enterprise performance management (EPM), and SAP solutions for governance, risk and compliance (GRC). She is also focused on launching new finance solutions leveraging innovative SAP technologies, including mobile, SAP HANA, and Cloud. Birgit has over 23 years of experience across solution marketing, solution management, strategic customer communities and consulting. Prior to her current role, she was in solution management of SAP CRM (customer relationship management), and was responsible for the Partner Channel Management capabilities, and prior to that for the E-Commerce applications. Her functional experience in finance, including core SAP ERP and enterprise performance management, plus customer relationship management, has allowed her to focus on the integration of cross-functional business processes. Prior to joining SAP in 1999, Birgit was a principal in management consulting organizations, including Price Waterhouse as well as smaller boutique firms, where she was responsible for managing project teams, redesigning business processes, and implementing SAP R/3 and SAP R/2 for numerous Fortune 500 and mid-size companies, with a focus on management accounting. Birgit holds a BA and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.