Establishing a Service Level Agreement (SLA) Process

Why Should You Attend:

A service-level agreement (SLA) is a negotiated agreement between two parties where one is the customer and the other is the actual service provider. This can be a legally binding formal or informal contract. An SLA should contain operating norms, which describe how the process is governed, managing, and controlled. An SLA should also include a set of operating metrics that are reported on a monthly or basis.

SLAs are needed to measure the success of any service provider. SLAs establish a mutually agreed upon level of service and performance metrics. The Shared Service and Outsourcing Network (SSON) recommends that the following items are included in the SLA process.

1. The processes to be included and the products and services of those processes
2. A list of the processes which are out of scope at this point – to manage customer expectations
3. Conditions of service availability - hours of opening, days of operation
4. Service standards – times for delivery of services should be recorded in number of working days (rather than say 24 or 48 hours) to manage expectations and be clear about closures of operations for bank-holidays or weekends
5. A R-A-C-I matrix – to show who is Responsible, Accountable, needs to be Consulted and Informed, regarding process steps. This ensures role clarity in completion of tasks
6. Cost versus service trade-offs, to manage expectations about “work arounds” or “just as a favor” requests
7. Clear escalation procedures and timelines so that when something goes wrong it can be resolved by the right person, in the right role, at the right time

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• What is an SLA Process?
• When should I use an SLA Process?
• How do I Establish Valuable and Meaningful SLA Metrics?
• What are some SLA Examples?
• What are Ten Tips for Implementing and Managing My SLA Process?
• The Bigger Picture: Considering a Supplier Management Process(SMP)
• Taking Action: Establishing the Service Level Reporting (SLR) Process
• Questions and Discussion

Who Will Benefit:

• Financial Officers
• Controllers
• Procurement Professionals
• Shared Service Center Executives
• Risk Officers
• Internal Auditors

Chris Doxey
Consultant, ChrisDoxey

Chris has been the owner and president of Doxey, Inc. since 2012. She provides management consulting services to clients such as NACHA, Oracle and Mastercard. She advises her clients on how to implement leading edge best practices and automation in the areas of internal controls, risk management and metrics for financial operations. She specializes in the procure to pay (P2P), order to cash (O2C) and record to report (R2R) processes.

Chris held senior finance and controller positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard and MCI which allowed her to develop and implement standards of internal control and leading practices for all aspects of financial operations. She was recruited to lead WorldCom (MCI) in the implementation of SOX 404, internal controls, and corporate governance policies and procedures.

Chris also held senior management positions at accounts payable recovery firms which included APEX and Business Strategy, Inc. (BSI). As a consultant, she worked with PRGX to implement a self-audit tool for the accounts payable payment process.

She holds a bachelor's degree in English, a bachelor's in accounting, a master's in business administration, and has a graduate certificate in project management. She is a Certified Accounts Payable Professional (CAPP) and holds a Certification in Controls Self-Assessment (CCSA). Chris is also a Certified Internal Controls Auditor (CICA), and a Certified Professional Controller (CPC).

Chris is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Institute for Internal Controls (The IIC), and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). She is also a member of the advisory board for The IIC and The Exchange Summit.

Chris a sought after speaker at global conferences and presents several webinars each year. As a published author, she writes numerous blogs and whitepapers. Her books, “The Internal Controls Toolkit” and “The Fast Close Toolkit” will be published by Wiley later in 2019.

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