From Restaurants to Retailers, Shared Services are a Value Add to Front and Back Offices

Across industries, consolidation is key in today’s business market.

As such, shared services application has become a trend within several spaces and amongst various verticals.

Shared services reduce repetitive tasks in HR departments, sales divisions, financial back offices, and other areas of corporate. Industry application includes the following segments:

     • Grocery

     • Hospitality

     • Retail

     • Convenience Store

     • Fuel and Service Centers

     • Theatres

     • Casinos

     • Restaurants

     • Water Parks

     • Universities

     • Airports

Over the years, shared services capabilities continue to evolve (GE and Baxter Healthcare first applied shared services in the mid-1980s).

Today, shared services are basically mainstream.

According to Deloitte research, it’s estimated that more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies leverage shared services. Plus, 44% of respondents in a 2017 Deloitte research survey, say that an increased focus on robotics and automation caused them to consider implementing shared services.

Ultimately, when approached correctly, shared service implementation facilitates growth.

     • Shared services function particularly well as change drivers in environments with the following characteristics:

     • Marked by multiple, scattered locations

     • Lack standard processes

     • Non value-add administrative presence

     • Task duplication in multiple areas

     • Employ information systems that are incompatible across locations

     • Limited technology access

     • Reliance on disparate best practices

     • Growing support costs

     • Scattered solutions that differ from site to site

     • Service level struggle amongst sites

Ultimately, such characteristics serve as roadblocks to efficiency and effectiveness.

Acting as the antidote to these hurdles, shared services create economies of scale, lower labor costs, and enhance customer service from a front office and service level agreement perspective. Shared services also promote a higher tech ROI, better decision making, and improved standardization.

Shared services are particularly important in the financial back office. According to Deloitte, finance ranks first amongst divisions that integrate shared services into their business practices.

Financial professionals’ confidence in automation to reduce error is significant. 73% of CFOs trust the cloud to provide accurate accounting.

Evention’s cloud-based solutions provide back office automation designed for shared services.

Evention’s automated solution suite offers total cash control, complete credit card reconciliation, full gratuity management, and streamlined group billing. Retail, restaurant, hospitality, grocery, convenience store, and other industries rely on such solutions to streamline their financial operations.

Repetitive tasks are cumbersome and certainly not cost effective. Is it time to rethink your back office?