By Nathan Dukes
A little know SAP application, which has the ability to capture finance and logistics transactions without any stock implications, is finding its way into some of Australia’s larger SAP implementations.
The solution, SAP Agency Business, allows the user to facilitate a transaction between a vendor and a customer without the need for the user to pass the goods or services from one party to the other.
The vendor simply supplies the goods or services directly to the customer, and as the facilitator, SAP Agency Business controls the invoicing.
Australian companies like Metcash have recognised the potential benefits of products like SAP Agency Business in their implementations.
In fact, SAP and Fujitsu winning the Metcash contract was to some degree reliant on the inclusion of SAP Agency Business in the implementation.
Metcash will use the product to control the flow on invoices, and apply vendor specific deductions and discounts outside the existing product rebates.
Joel Stehr, SAP Agency Business Consultant on the Metcash implementation, said nothing compares to the simplicity of this product.
“Other SAP implementers are suggesting the use of third party purchase orders, perhaps in combination with third party sales orders to achieve the same end, but none of that is required,” he said.
“It’s a single transaction- a single screen. You can pull all your data relating to your vendor and your customer, and from there you can generate your vendor accounting document, and your customer accounting document. You’re doing them both in a single step”.
The product began life as a narrow solution for wholesale distribution companies to simplify logistics processes, but since then the product has evolved to serve purposes for any business which facilitates a transaction between two external parties.
Joel said the solution could have uses in industries as far reaching as recruitment, accounting and real estate.
“It really has a broad range of applications now,” Joel said.
“Not only does it excel and the charge through type transaction, but you can also now post just one sided documents.”
Joel is also working with a new company to raise the profile of Agency Business in the ANZ market.
Launching early next year, Stream Consulting Services will offer SAP Agency Business, amongst other pre-configured solutions, complementary to the offerings of sister company Stream Technologies.
