The NRJ Group is the leader in the private radio market (NRJ, Chérie FM, Nostalgie, Rire et Chansons) and one of the new players in the television market (NRJ12, NRJ Hits, etc.). The group has trusted Notilus to manage its expense reports since 2010.
NRJ Group has since then shifted from an Excel-based expense report management system to the Notilus solution. The software was “on-premise” at the time, i.e., stored on the company’s servers. In April 2021, the group will migrate to the new in SaaS (Software as a Service, on the Cloud) version of Notilus that is accessible from anywhere, and easily benefit from the latest updates.
Mrs LE COZ is at the helm of the migration project to the new version of Notilus, at the beginning of 2021. As a project manager in the IT department since 2013, her work consists in finding new solutions and new business tools for employees, particularly in the HR, accounting, and finance departments.
What is the scope of the Notilus solution within NRJ Group?
Within the company, Notilus is used solely for managing expense reports. The group has even adopted the function of archiving with probative value, which makes it possible to dematerialize its receipts and discard the original paper. The company employs more than 1,800 people, and Notilus users account for around 800 of them (as not all employees travel for business purposes).
What were the initial issues and needs?
Before this upgrade, our Notilus tool dated back to 2010. Since then, employees have changed. Different needs have emerged, such as mobility or being paperless. The pandemic was the last straw, as the old processes had become too laborious to keep up with the increase in teleworking.
Mrs LE COZ recalls how things used to be, before 2010:
“Employees had to scan their receipts and then mail them to headquarters. This process was not infallible, as receipts frequently went missing since they were only verified by the accounting department. Paper invoices were often lost and duplicates were sometimes submitted several times.”
How did the project go?
The need for it was expressed at the end of 2020 and the production was launched in April 2021. The group first carried out an expression of need and consulted other solutions in the market. At the end of the day, Notilus stood out for its simplicity and the fact that internal users were already familiar with the solution. The price-performance ratio of the investment was also a factor.
Internal deployment
Internal training only involved the administrators in the various divisions (Lyon, Paris, etc.). Subsequently, internal documentation and user guides were sent to employees, as well as explanatory videos provided by the Notilus teams. This is what helped employees adopt the software.
Customer relationship with Notilus teams
“We have a very good relationship with our account manager. During the deployment, we were accompanied by the consulting department, especially for the configuration phase. The Notilus teams knew our problems because they were already present during the implementation in 2010. On the back-office side, with the Notilus technical consultants, we had to redo the interfaces with our HR and ERP systems. Now that the tool is in place, a ticket is sent to DIMO Support in case of a problem. The response time is very short and the problem is often solved within a day. Support can take over our remote workstation and help employees directly.”
What are the most important Notilus features for NRJ Group?
- Being able to instantly find the receipts in an expense report at the time of its validation.
- Archiving with probative value for the accounting departments: the fact that there is no more paper is such a time saver and a relief for all departments, and everything is available in case of a URSSAF audit for example.
- Greater autonomy for employees at all levels of the hierarchy and as an administrator, being able to easily control reports.
What is the return on investment of the project?
Of course, six months after going live, it is still a little early to really measure the benefits of this new version. However, NRJ Group has already noticed a significant reduction in the number of errors and duplicates.
The final word to sum up the experience with Notilus?
“We have a very good experience with Notilus. In terms of project management, all deadlines were met. We upgraded our Notilus software in less than four months. From now on, employees who have to validate expenses can easily access receipts. The accounting departments do not need to hold on to the papers, nor do the employees, thanks to archiving with probative value. When in a mobile situation, having Notilus on your phone is a time saver for everyone.”
Summary of NRJ Group’s testimony in 2012
NRJ group had already produced a feedback report in 2012 following the adoption of Notilus. In the interest of transparency and because it may contain interesting information, we have decided to summarize it below:
The implementation of an automated expense report solution was considered at the time to:
- Ensure proper application of reimbursement rules
- Improve employees’ visibility into their bill status, variances, and reimbursements
- Ensure reimbursement of expense reports in a shorter time
- Manage expenses through reporting.
The solution had to meet several criteria, namely:
- Fit a multi-company organization, integrate several accounting departments.
- Manage caps (on a type of expense or specific populations).
- Integrate a complex validation workflow (multi-branched, with validation of expenses by people from different companies), which can be easily modified.
- Interface with tools such as SAP and HYPERVISION (ADP GSI)
- Be accessible in intranet mode.
Notilus was the solution chosen for its:
- Ergonomics, simplicity; no individual training was required
- Extreme flexibility of configuration, being adaptable to a multi-company context
- Autonomy on the parameter setting, in particular over the updates of the workflow.
The group had seen some returns on investment, including:
- The correct application of the reimbursement rules, the conformity of the validation workflow, and the accuracy of the nature of the expenses.
- Saved time for the administrative department, which no longer had to enter data manually, thus avoiding errors.
- Employees could now track the status of their expense reports and reimbursement (follow-up and history).
- The process was accelerated, especially for managers and the financial department. Refunds were made in a shorter time frame.
- Finally, reporting and auditing were facilitated for internal and external auditors.
Our solution is dedicated to the moblity management. In addition to the expense reports management you can plan, book and track your business trips. It is also possible to manage your car fleet.
