The competitive edge
Smart software and cloud migration have helped specialist advisory and restructuring firm McGrathNicol reduce admin processes by up to 30 per cent. And that’s just the beginning...
Founded in 2004, McGrathNicol has built a reputation for exceeding client expectations across all industry sectors and business sizes, consistently delivering results. Chief operating officer Paul Sweeney explains how streamlining McGrathNicol’s own processes has paid off for the fast-growing business and its clients.
What sets McGrathNicol apart from its competitors?
Our focus is on delivering exceptional service to our clients. Whether that’s by helping companies improve performance or restore stability, our clients trust us with the most important aspects of their businesses.
How have the needs of McGrathNicol changed over the past 18 years?
Our specialist advisory business has grown rapidly in the past three years and is now half our firm. As our business grew we needed to better use technology to be more efficient and ensure our staff could focus on client outcomes. Our older technologies had clunky processes, especially for time sheets and expenses, which were slowing us down.
How did SAP’s technology help?
We needed to move to the cloud and get away from traditional on-premises software, which takes two years to implement and then starts going out of date after five years. We chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud function for finance, billing and project management. Moving to the cloud aligned with our cybersecurity strategy, as we could leverage the organisational might of SAP, and it gave us mobile access, which is important given our hybrid working model.
What does this mean for McGrathNicol and its clients?
Time sheets and project initiation are more streamlined. We are saving 15 to 20 minutes on each project initiation – a reduction of 25 per cent – and if you can deliver minutes back to people, that adds up. Expense claims using SAP Concur are mobile. Accounts payable leverages SAP Concur Invoice automation and entry to approval is now 30 per cent faster. This has been essential as the firm grows. Our headcount has grown 40 to 50 per cent to about 350 staff since the SAP deployment – but the finance team hasn’t increased. Our SAP solutions have scaled with the firm.
What’s next?
The first wave was making the project life cycle more efficient. Now the second wave is leveraging SAP’s Business Technology Platform for data management and analytics to give us real-time insights into our business.
The third wave will be robotic process automation of mundane tasks and the benefits this can deliver to our people and clients – and we’ve only scratched the surface.
How would you describe working with SAP?
SAP’s level of engagement and interest in our business and what we are trying to achieve has made our relationship a genuine partnership.
Run your personal best with SAP. Find out more at
sap.com/australia/personalbest