Key takeaways
- The success of a shared services transition is decided before the move: in documentation, interfaces and making local knowledge visible.
- During preparation, capture all processes and special cases, and clear open items before the handover.
- Transfer knowledge using real cases from day-to-day business and name fixed contacts on both sides.
- Do not withdraw local contacts before the hub is running stably, and review key figures regularly.
Contents
When accounts payable, accounts receivable or the general ledger move to a shared service centre, success is decided before the move: in the documentation, in the interfaces and in whether local knowledge is made visible. This checklist sums up what matters in each of the three phases.
01Phase 1: Preparation
- Map every process that is moving: steps, owners, systems, deadlines.
- Document special cases – down payments, project billing, credit notes, manual corrections.
- Record the interfaces with procurement, supply chain, sales and controlling.
- Clear open items and unreconciled accounts before the handover.
- Define authorisations, approval limits and controls.
- Decide which tasks stay local – and who takes them on.
02Phase 2: Handover
- Name fixed contacts on both sides.
- Transfer knowledge using real cases from day-to-day business rather than just slides.
- Carry out the first payment runs and closes together.
- Agree escalation paths and response times.
- Take language and time zones into account if the hub is abroad.
Practical tip
Transfer knowledge using real cases from day-to-day business rather than slides alone – anything not written down is lost in the move.
03Phase 3: Stabilisation
- Define KPIs and review them regularly – such as cycle times, backlogs and error rates.
- Answer queries from the hub quickly so that no backlog builds up.
- Keep the documentation up to date.
- Review the remaining local roles and controls after a few months.
04The most common mistakes
Anything that isn't written down gets lost in the move – and resurfaces later as errors.
Local contacts are withdrawn before the hub is running smoothly.
Unresolved items and messy master data move across too and weigh on the start.
The local team finds out too late what is changing – and motivation and knowledge are lost.
05In practice
For Element Materials Technology, Loretta Schneiders took over accounts payable for five German sites, fully documented all processes and supported the transition to the Global Business Center in Edinburgh – while day-to-day business carried on.
Loretta Schneiders
Senior interim finance leadership with an international outlook. Clarity in numbers. Structure in processes. Leadership with impact.