Case study 03 · Healthcare business
Ocean Healthcare
ERP and financial intelligence
Business process analysis and financial-systems requirements for an ERP with a financial-intelligence layer: ledger, receivables, payables, inventory, cash, profitability and liquidity.
1 · Context
The client and the project
Ocean Healthcare manages stock, sales, suppliers and cash across its operations. As the business grows, management needs both reliable accounting records and a clear understanding of what those records say about profitability, liquidity and performance.
2 · Challenge
The operational challenge
Transactions are recorded, but turning them into timely answers about margins, cash position and the profitability of products or activities requires manual analysis. Approvals and controls depend on individuals rather than on the system.
3 · Our role
What HornBridge is responsible for
- Business process analysis
- Financial-systems requirements and solution design
- Design of the financial-intelligence layer
- Control and approval-workflow design
- Management reporting and recommendation framework
4 · Approach
How the solution works
The design covers the transactional core of the business — general ledger, revenue and receivables, payables, inventory and cost of goods sold, cash and bank — with approval workflows and operational controls built in.
Above that core sits a financial-intelligence layer: profitability and margin analysis, liquidity and cash-flow visibility, and performance dashboards that highlight what management should look at and what action may be needed.
Recording
A traditional ERP records the transactions: what was sold, bought, paid and held.
Understanding
HornBridge’s design adds the next step: what those transactions mean for margin, cash and performance, and what management may need to do about it.
Architecture
Designed architecture: from transactions to decisions
Solution design. The transactional core records what happened; the intelligence layer explains what it means.
Control point
- 1
Transactions
What happened
- General ledger
- Receivables and payables
- Inventory and cost of goods sold
- Cash and bank
- 2
Controls
Whether it is right
- Approval workflows (control point)
- Reconciliations (control point)
- Audit trail (control point)
- 3
Intelligence
What it means
- Profitability and margin
- Liquidity and cash flow
- Performance against plan
- 4
Management
What to do
- Performance dashboards
- Reporting and recommendations
- Actions for review
Traditional ERP records transactions. This design helps management understand them and act.
Original diagram of the system’s structure. Screenshots are not shown, to protect client and patient information.
5 · Components
Key system components
- General ledger and accounting workflows
- Posting rules and period routines that keep the accounts consistent.
- Revenue, receivables and payables
- Customer and supplier balances with ageing and follow-up.
- Inventory and cost of goods sold
- Stock valued consistently and matched to the sales it supports.
- Cash and bank balances
- Current cash position across accounts.
- Profitability and margin analysis
- Where margin is earned and where it is lost.
- Liquidity and cash-flow visibility
- Short-term obligations against expected receipts.
- Financial performance dashboards
- Management views of performance against expectations.
- Management recommendations
- Reporting that points to the decisions the figures call for.
6 · Controls
Technical and financial controls
- Approval workflows for purchasing, payments and adjustments
- Segregation of duties in the accounting cycle
- Bank and stock reconciliation routines
- Audit trail on postings and changes
7 · Status
Where the project stands
This engagement is at the requirements and solution-design stage. The capabilities described are designed, not built, unless stated otherwise.
8 · Benefits
Intended benefits
These are the benefits the system is designed to deliver. They are not reported results.
- management understands margin, liquidity and performance without manual analysis.
- controls rest on the system rather than on individuals.
- monthly reporting that leads to specific management actions.
Practices
Practices involved
Next step
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