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© 2011 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

Upload SAP Financial Data Easily with GLSU: Z Option Customers

Share Their Experiences

Tim Curtin – Heritage Propane

Amy Broadway – Avocent

Ken Meyer – ConAgra Foods

Sponsored Educational Session

Moderated by

Jim Halepaska and Trish Woods – Z Option

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In This Session ...

Find out how Z Option customers leverage the GLSU (FI Spreadsheet Uploader) solution to streamline everyday accounting tasks.

Learn how the use of GLSU can improve the efficiency of financial data entry functions, everything from importing cutover data to everyday FI postings to processing vendor invoices.

Understand how GLSU complements standard SAP® functionality by using Microsoft Excel to validate and post more than 1,000 lines, attach source documents, utilize pick lists, create flexible user-defined templates, etc.

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

Audience Poll

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

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• Located in Lewisville, Texas

(Near Dallas, TX – U.S.)

• Formed in 1998 by accountants

and programmers

• SAP software solutions partner

• World-class products and

support for customers of all

sizes and industries

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Product Overview

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GLSU (FI Spreadsheet Uploader for GL, AP, and AR)

• Easy user interface

• Leverage existing Excel™ skills

• Directly posts from the spreadsheet

• Flexible layouts

• Pre-validation of data before loading

• Post more than 1000 line-items

• Attach source documents

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Partial List of Customers

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

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Customer’s Point of View – Tim Curtin – Heritage Propane

Tim Curtin – Project Manager

• Tim Curtin has been with Heritage Propane for the past 18 years,

serving in many different roles. In addition to his current

position, Tim has also served as a Budget Analyst, Regional

Accounting Manager, and Manager of Operational Partnership

Accounting.

• Heritage Propane is the 3rd largest retail propane company in the United States. Along with its sister company, Energy Transfer Company, Heritage spans both the natural gas industry and retail propane industry. The company was founded in 1989 and is traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ETP.

• As Project Manager, Tim manages both the IT and functional needs of Heritage as it relates to SAP and overall business process improvement.

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Customer’s Point of View – Amy Broadway – Avocent

Amy Broadway – Senior Accountant

• Amy Broadway has been with Avocent Corporation since 2007 in

the General Ledger Accounting Group. As a Senior Accountant,

Amy works primarily in general accounting with a focus in

intercompany transactions and report painter.

• Avocent is a US company offering IT solutions that provide a

single interface to manage IT infrastructure.

• Avocent was acquired by Emerson, a Manufacturing &

Technology company, in late 2009 and now offers a more robust

portfolio of data center infrastructure management solutions.

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Customer’s Point of View – Ken Meyer – ConAgra Foods

Ken Meyer – Manager Finance

• Ken Meyer has held both IT and business positions in his 19+

years with ConAgra Foods. Ken currently holds a position with

the Corporate Finance Group’s Business Services Center where

he manages a Systems Support team.

• ConAgra Foods, Inc (NYSE: CAG) is one of North America’s

leading food companies with brands in 97 percent of America’s

households.

• ConAgra Foods also holds the distinction of being the first SAP

customer in the Americas to achieve SAP’s Customer Center of

Expertise Advanced Certification.

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

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Customers - SAP Environment & Process Before GLSU

Customer: Heritage Propane – Tim Curtin

• First implemented SAP R/3: 2004

• Current SAP version: SAP ECC 6.0

• SAP Modules: FI/ CO/ SD/ MM/ PM

• GLSU Customer since: 2007

• Process Before GLSU: Manual process of journal entry

via transaction FB50, error discover upon posting.

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Customers - SAP Environment & Process Before GLSU

Customer: Avocent – Amy Broadway

• First implemented SAP R/3: 2004

• Current SAP version: SAP ECC 6.0

• SAP Modules: SD/ FI/ CO/ PR/ PO/ IC/ WM

• GLSU Customer since: 2006

• Process Before GLSU: Avocent manually input each

journal entry individually.

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Customers - SAP Environment & Process Before GLSU

Customer: ConAgra Foods – Ken Meyer

• First implemented SAP R/3: 2004

• Current SAP version: SAP ECC 6.0

• SAP Modules: FI/ CO/ TR/ SD/ MM/ BW/ PS/ BPC & More

• GLSU Customer since: 2007

• Process Before GLSU: When ConAgra implemented

SAP, they realized that due to the volume of manual

entries each period, it was necessary that they have a

solution for uploading these entries.

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Customer Point of View - Typical Uses of GLSU

• Customer: Heritage Propane – Tim Curtin

Users post all general ledger entries through GLSU.

Quote: “We require that users attach any supporting

documentation to that template and store it within the ERP

system.” – Tim Curtin

• Customer: Avocent – Amy Broadway

Journal uploads/ mass data uploads

Quote: “With GLSU, there are so many checks and balances so

you don’t waste time” – Amy Broadway

• Customer: ConAgra Foods – Ken Meyer

The finance team routinely uploads GLSU journal entries.

Quote: “It’s sort of the best of both worlds. We get the

functionality of SAP software and the user-friendliness of the

Microsoft Excel front-end.” – Ken Meyer

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Customer Point of View – Favorite Benefits of GLSU

• Customer: Heritage Propane – Tim Curtin End-user satisfaction

Consistent journal entries

Attached documentation

Pre-validation of journal entries

• Customer: Avocent – Amy Broadway

Mass data uploads

Pre-validation of data

Customer support

Attached source workbook feature

• Customer: ConAgra Foods– Ken Meyer

Excel-based front end

Easy to modify templates to meet ad-hoc business needs

SAP file upload/document attachment feature

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

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Top 10 Customer Favorites About GLSU

1. Easy end-user

interface

2. Post directly from

the spreadsheet

3. Flexible layouts

4. SAP Document

Numbers returned

5. Attach source

workbook to posted

document in SAP

6. Pre-validation of data

before posting

7. Master Data lookups

8. Post more than

1,000 lines

9. Post multiple

documents from

one worksheet

10. Free Trial Period

Customer Comments Regarding GLSU

• “With GLSU, we save time and money.” – FI Project Manager

• “We’ll have been using GLSU for two years and I cannot tell you what

a positive impact it has had on our finance users.” – Director

• “Since implementing GLSU, we’ve managed to achieve our goal of a

14-day monthly closing, down from 8 weeks.” – ICT Officer, FI Unit

• “There is simply no limit to how you can use GLSU if you’re familiar

with Excel.” – SAP Business Analyst

• “We use GLSU to improve overall productivity.” – Senior Accountant

• “SAP is dynamic, my clients’ businesses are dynamic, and they need

dynamic tools like GLSU.” – Independent SAP Consultant

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What We’ll Cover …

• Z Option Information

• Panel Participants – Information

• Panel Discussion – Q&A Session

• GLSU Information

• Wrap-Up

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Resources

• Microsoft Excel™ Functions

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP052042111033.aspx

• Z Option Online Presentations & Customer Success Stories

http://www.zoption.com/myfilesform.aspx Download Presentations & Success Stories From Our Customers Including:

Kellogg

Powell Electronics

Rail America

SNV

Catalyst Paper

Visit our website for more!

• ECOHUB Partner Page

https://ecohub.sdn.sap.com/

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7 Key Points to Take Home

1) Use Excel™ and Z Option’s GLSU to automate manual accounting

processes.

2) Work with 3rd party to provide data in an easy-to-use format.

3) Streamline FI document posting process. Does your process take

hours or minutes?

4) Make Excel™ work for you by using standard functionality.

5) Increase accuracy, reduce time and effort, shorten month-end close

cycle.

6) Use Excel™ automation to improve other accounting processes.

7) Use GLSU to enhance your SAP experience (post more than 1000

lines, post multiple documents from one worksheet, attach source

documents in SAP).

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Looking For More Information – Here’s Your Next Step!

Visit the Z Option Booth

Financials 2011 Premier Sponsor

Booth #635

Schedule a No-Obligation

WebEx Demo

Set Up Your Free 30-day Trial

Contact Z Option

www.zoption.com

877-653-7215 (US & Canada)

972-315-8800 (Outside US)

GLSU - Travel & Expense Form

Additional Resources – GLSU Templates

GLSU - Journal Entry Form

Additional Resources – GLSU Templates (cont.)

*Dropped Header feature may be used on most header fields of supported transactions

GLSU - Multiple Misc. Vendor Invoices*

Additional Resources – GLSU Templates (cont.)

Simple GL Entry

Additional Resources – GLSU Templates (cont.)

Disclaimer

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver®, Duet™, PartnerEdge, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as

well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All

other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Wellesley Information Services is neither owned nor

controlled by SAP.


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