Financial services giant BP extends its business process outsourcing (BPO) partnership with Accenture, signing a significant agreement for continued collaboration in essential financial management tasks.
BP, the global energy company, has announced a new multi-year deal with Accenture for outsourced Finance and Accounting (F&A) services. This partnership, which started in 1991, has been a significant part of BP's operations for over 20 years.
Accenture, initially contracted in 2021, has been providing F&A services from four global locations since 2007: Aberdeen, Houston, Bangalore, and Shanghai. The services will now complement BP's captive business process delivery centres around the world, aiming to improve efficiency and standardization.
Brian Puffer, group controller at BP, noted that this partnership is an important milestone in driving standardization in BP's finance and accounting processes. He emphasized the need for continuous improvement and standardization, stating that Accenture, with its broad view and visibility across many business units, has the ability to identify opportunities for standardization and continuous improvement.
The engagement between BP and Accenture began in 1991, with Accenture setting up a shared services centre in Aberdeen to provide BP departments with finance and accounting processes and SAP development services. Over the years, the partnership has evolved, with Accenture providing F&A services from multiple locations.
The new contract will involve standardizing several finance and accounting processes for BP, including 'record to report, order to cash, procure-to-pay, and production revenue accounting service'. Centralization, standardization, and optimization are the most powerful transformation levers for achieving efficient back-offices, according to Leslie Wilcocks and Mary Lacity, authors of the research paper 'Mastering High Performance BPO: Strategic F&A Partnering at BP'.
BP, being a very decentralized organization, has faced challenges in standardizing processes across its operations. One of the problems with decentralization is that it may miss opportunities to standardize the way things are done across the organization. However, having an incumbent outsourcing provider, in this case Accenture, has allowed BP to drive standardization through outsourcing.
The partnership between Accenture and BP has been celebrated as a success by BP's leadership. In 2002, the CFO of BP stated that the partnership with Accenture may be the 'most successful deal that BP has ever done - in any function, anywhere.' The research paper by Wilcocks and Lacity further discusses the partnership, highlighting its strategic value in driving efficiency and standardization in BP's operations.
In conclusion, the extended partnership between BP and Accenture signifies a commitment to continued improvement and standardization in BP's finance and accounting processes. This partnership will help BP navigate its complex sourcing environment, centralize, standardize, and integrate its operations, ultimately leading to a more efficient back-office.
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