Full-Service Real Estate Company with 11M sq ft of Class A Commercial Real Estate Property – System Implementation Coaching
The Challenge
A full-service, Real Estate Company with 11 million square feet of office space and 800 building staff employees was in the process of implementing a “Culture of Excellence” and wanted to upgrade their accounting system as part of this new company-wide program. They also needed a more sophisticated reporting solution as they were planning to double in size.
The Client asked Teel StratVisor Group (StratVisor) to complete an IT System Direction plan for accounting that included a system upgrade and module add-ons, resource recommendations and macro process improvements.
What We Did
Prior to the start of the project, Teel StratVisor Group completed an Operational Excellence Strategy for the Client. This strategy was the company’s guide to develop a “Culture of Excellence.” Based upon feedback from the Operational Excellence Strategy, an upgraded, more robust accounting system was necessary to properly support the company’s growing portfolio.
The first step was to understand the Client’s current state. This was done by conducting one-on-one interviews with 11 Client team members and an in-depth analysis of Client tools, processes and systems. Once the current state was documented, the StratVisor team developed a plan for the implementation, including environment planning and set-up; provided a list of recommendations from the IT system vendor that would ensure smooth completion of the implementation; and identified reporting requirements and customization of the accounting system modules as well as critical accounting areas that the Client wanted to address during the accounting upgrade.
As the project manager, StratVisor created a detailed timeline for the implementation, with clearly-defined roles and responsibilities for the Client team members, the third-party provider handling the technical aspects of the implementation, and the StratVisor team. StratVisor oversaw all aspects of the implementation, ensuring completion of all tasks and maintaining communication between all team members via weekly status meetings.
StratVisor was also responsible for coordinating training for all Client team members, once implementation was complete. As part of the training development, StratVisor developed detailed documentation on how to use the system, including text and screen shots. This 200-page document included the following modules:
- Tenant Billing / Charge Procedures
- Bank Reconciliation
- General Ledger / Journal Entry Procedures
- Accounts Payable – Check Processing
- Accounts Payable
- Vendor Procedures
- Receipts Procedures
- Commercial Tenant Procedures / Lease Abstracting
- Commercial Lease Charges
- Work Orders
The Result
As a result of working with Teel StratVisor Group, the Client received the following:
- Upgrade Project Management
- Evaluation of current state of upgrade
- Project management of remaining upgrade tasks
- Review of existing custom report library and extent those reports would be supported in upgrade as well as new system
- Training
- Detailed training for essential personnel
- Detailed documentation for individuals modules which can be used for future new hire training
Timing: 16 weeks
