UniCredit's invoice mgt now on Accenture's desk

MILAN: Accenture and UniCredit have signed an agreement under which Accenture will help optimize the bank's invoice management operations, including all activities related to UniCredit's accounts-receivable, accounts-payable, asset-management and expense-payments functions.

The service will be delivered through a jointly owned entity - named Accenture Back Office and Administration Services S.p.A. - that Accenture and UniCredit have formed to manage, streamline and enhance the bank's invoice-management processes. These processes were previously managed by the bank's global service company, UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions S.C.p.A.

The focus of the new entity is to help UniCredit optimize its invoice-management operations through greater process efficiencies, enabling the bank to meet the highest industry standards, as the announcement explained. Accenture will manage the joint entity, which combines the skilled professionals and processes from UniCredit's existing invoice-management branch of business with Accenture's finance and accounting, management consulting and IT capabilities.

The agreement is part of the bank's broader "Newton" program announced in November 2011, which is designed to transform the bank's operations for higher efficiencies. A key element of the Newton program is to combine UniCredit's process expertise and technology assets with those of leading international companies to accelerate its operational transformation.

As per Massimo Schiattarella, General Manager of UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions. "By forming this new company with Accenture, we intend to bring new levels of efficiency to our operations, leading-edge support to our internal finance functions, and faster invoice response times to our business partners and clients."