Project - Amalgamating Legal Entities in ERP

There were multiple legal entities working out of the same physical location, which had been set up in one (company) instance in the ERP. At the time of setup it had been thought that overall data processing efforts would be minimized through this approach, and while financial reporting was accurate, individuals had to perform a number of manual GL entries to adjust financials between the legal entities in the ERP instance, complicating reporting.  The company amalgamated some of the legal entities, and consolidated the remaining - thereby reducing the overall count.

From the standpoint of the ERP: I worked with Accounting and our ERP consultant to determine what efforts and procedure changes would be required, examining such things as: general data processing efforts, EDI system, reports, General Ledger integration and GL Coding, Product Class Integration, Warehouses, Work Centers, Branch configuration, Item costing, Inter-company Sales Transactions, and overall ERP settings.  

It was determined that we could maximize the results of this effort by creating a new (company) instance in the ERP, and then importing all of the relevant data into it.  It was also decided that we would simplify the GL Coding definitions, and translate GL codes into the newer codes while importing the older transactions into the new (company) instance.  The existing (company) instance would remain, as there were still a few legal entities remaining in it.  In doing this, we would reduce overall processing efforts, eliminate unused GL codes, work centers, etc., eliminate the need to perform manual entries (GL), simplify double-entry coding, and reduce reporting complexities.

After gaining approvals, I modified a database script provided by our ERP provider (used for other conversions) and reviewed the necessary procedure changes with Accounting. I worked to ensure that the Global Data Warehouse team was kept abreast of all necessary changes.  After extensive testing in the ERP test environment (ensuring that item costs, warehouses, GL Codes, etc., all met with requirements) we successfully executed the plan after performing a month end. The database script created the new company, and successfully migrated all of the necessary information to the new (company) instance in the ERP, while retaining the Inventory Movements history. I then adjusted the financial reports and database scripts that fed the Global Data Warehouse.

Overall the project was both completed on time and viewed as successful by all involved.  Data processing efforts were reduced, double-entry procedures were simplified, and new reports were made as required.  Significant time spends were returned to the department - especially with month end procedures.