Parker DiNardo, lead ERP analyst at Baylor University — a Texas institution with over 20,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff — recently presented an insightful session titled “A Configuration Case Study on a Travel Expense Rapid Improvement Event.” He shared the university’s journey in transforming its expense management process, driven by two key goals: to simplify the expense report process and to get reimbursements to employees more quickly.

What is a Rapid Improvement Event?

A rapid improvement event is an accelerated effort designed to help an organization quickly achieve its goals. Baylor’s event spanned three days:

• Day 1: Gap Analysis — Identifying the current state and pinpointing obstacles preventing progress.
• Day 2: Experimentation — Conducting a root cause analysis and testing potential solutions.
• Day 3: Implementation Planning — Developing an actionable project plan with ambitious, forward-thinking strategies.

Keys to Success: Focus and Stakeholder Involvement

Throughout the event, the team maintained a sharp focus on a well-defined scope: developing a new travel expense template to streamline processes and improve financial outcomes. They also ensured the involvement of the right stakeholders — including the change management team, the operational excellence team, and the accounts payable team.

Defining the Project Process

DiNardo emphasized the importance of a structured project process, consisting of:

• Regular Check-ins: Weekly meetings for core team members and monthly meetings with broader stakeholders.
• Testing: Continuous testing at all stages, including User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Training: Early and comprehensive employee training with job aids and guided learning.

Oracle Cloud Expense Configuration: Key Changes

The presentation detailed Baylor’s shift to a new per diem policy based on GSA rates. The new policy, which replaced the previous $59 daily cap, aligns reimbursement rates with the cost of living in various locations and adjusts the first and last day reimbursements to 75%. As a result, employees traveling to high-cost areas like New York City receive significantly higher reimbursements, with increases of up to $100 for a four-day trip.

Addressing Challenges

While the new system brought benefits, it also presented challenges. For instance, employees needed to enter detailed travel information (city, county, state, country) accurately, or the system might assign the wrong per diem rate. Guided learning was implemented to help staff navigate these complexities. Other challenges included adapting the system for multi-city travel and refining communication — replacing phrases like “report rejected” with “report returned” to be more user-friendly.

Deciding on Key Configuration Elements

DiNardo guided participants through critical decisions for both the new expense templates and types:

• Expense Templates: Decisions included card expense type mapping, receipt requirements, and expense field settings.
• Expense Types: Choices involved selecting categories, default accounts, itemization rules, and defining policies and settings.

Measuring Success: Key Performance Metrics

The primary goal was to reduce the number of templates and expense types, streamlining the process and saving time. DiNardo shared these metrics:

• Expense Templates: Reduced from seven to two (travel and non-travel).
• Expense Types: Cut down from 33 to 20.
• Fields in Expense Reports: Decreased from 12 to 11.
• Per Diem Rates: Increased from a flat $59 to varied rates in 373 cities.

Five Factors Behind the Project’s Success

DiNardo concluded by highlighting five critical elements that drove the success of Baylor’s rapid improvement event:

1. Clear Project Scope: Avoiding scope creep.
2. Strong Stakeholder Team: Engaging leaders to drive meaningful change.
3. Comprehensive Impact Analysis: Evaluating both technical and business perspectives.
4. Rigorous Testing: Utilizing skilled teams to test the feasibility of proposed changes.
5. Effective User Preparation: Communicating clearly and implementing a thorough training plan.

By focusing on these core principles, Baylor University successfully transformed its travel expense process, benefiting both employees and the organization.

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