The Total Economic Impact™ Of Cegid XRP Flex
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Cegid XRP Flex
A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned By Cegid, February 2024
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are at the core of any organization. They act as a centralized platform that integrates and automates various business processes. Cloud-native ERPs like Cegid XRP Flex enable decision-making based on accurate real-time information, which can lead to improved efficiency and cost savings while providing scalability, flexibility, and accessibility. This can allow organizations to adapt to changing environments and work seamlessly across multiple locations and devices.
Cegid XRP Flex is a cloud-native ERP solution particularly aimed at helping small and medium organizations run and navigate their finances, accounting, purchases, sales, production, and inventory. With cloud capabilities and a modular structure, it runs the different functions in real time, and users can easily access the system from anywhere. Cegid XRP Flex also allows for customization of different modules and fields to meet an organization’s specific needs. In addition, it allows for integration with third-party solutions, banking interfaces, and other relevant solutions.
Cegid commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Cegid XRP Flex.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Cegid XRP Flex on their organizations.
Return on investment (ROI)
116%
Net present value (NPV)
€170K
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five representatives with experience using Cegid XRP Flex. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization that is a retail/wholesale distributor with annual revenue of €10 million and 10,000 sales orders and 1,833 purchase orders.
Interviewees mentioned that prior to implementing Cegid XRP Flex, their organizations relied on outdated on premise solutions that were no longer maintained or updated, were lacking in terms of mobile and remote access capabilities, and did not meet their needs. Interviewees said that as a result of their obsolescence and limited functionalities, these solutions imposed multiple limitations on users and required them to rely on time-consuming manual tasks to access, share, and process information. Ultimately, the organizations perceived these legacy solutions as obstacles.
After the investment in Cegid XRP Flex, the interviewees’ organizations obtained a financial solution that provides a fully digitalized, integrated, and automated experience. The scalability of the solution also allows for processing of significant volumes of data and the addition of extra modules to meet the organizations’ specific requirements while integration with third-party solutions further enhances its capabilities.
Key results from the investment include improved efficiencies for the accounting team, reduced errors in sales and purchase orders, increased sales, and reduced reliance on printing.
Key Findings
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
- Accounting efficiency improvements equal to one FTE per year. Cegid XRP Flex provides the composite organization with a centralized solution for key data in which processes and insights are automated, digitalized, and accessible to all users. As a result, the organization’s accounting team experiences a gain in efficiencies equivalent to one FTE per year by reducing manual efforts. The resulting efficiency improvements lead to savings of €80,000 over three years after productivity conversion.
- Decreased number of errors for sales and purchase orders. Because Cegid XRP Flex integrates with third-party platforms like marketplaces, provides automated flows of information across the solution and its modules, and offers real-time visibility over key data, the composite organization experiences a reduction in errors for both sales and purchase orders. The avoided cost from the reduction in errors is worth €104,000 to the composite organization over three years.
- An increase in sales from gaining access to direct-to-consumer segment. Because Cegid XRP Flex allows for direct integration with marketplaces, the composite organization is able to sell its products directly to end customers, which is a segment it could not access before. This results in increased sales worth €125,000 to the composite organization over three years.
- Avoidance of 54,083 printed pages in Year 1. With Cegid XRP Flex, the composite organization digitalizes invoices, financial operations, and accounting books and reports. In addition, all of its users gain direct access to and visibility of financial flows and information. As a result, employees no longer have to print an extensive number of copies to exchange information and archive financial transactions and accounting books. This results in a reduction in pages printed for the composite organization worth €7,000.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
- Improved employee experience. Because Cegid XRP Flex enables full digitalization and automation of financial processes and operations, it equips the composite organization with a modern tool adapted to its employees’ needs. This leads to improved employee experience.
- Improved compliance with authorities. Cegid XRP Flex provides the composite organization with digital files that are now required by certain authorities.
- Improved access. Because Cegid XRP Flex is cloud-native, it enables easy and remote access to all of the composite’s internal users as well as external partners like auditors and external accounting firms.
- Improved relations with partner organizations. Cegid XRP Flex helps the composite organization reduce the number of errors, and it facilitates information sharing. This helps improve relations with its partner organizations and auditors.
- Improved predictability. With Cegid XRP Flex, the composite organization has access to real-time critical information on its finances and activity.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
- Implementation and deployment cost of €52,000. The cost of implementing Cegid XRP Flex for the composite organization includes the setup fee for deploying the solution and the cost of internal efforts to test and train on the solution.
- Ongoing costs of €14,000 over three years. The composite’s ongoing costs for Cegid XRP Flex include those for relationship management as well as ticket submissions and reporting for one staff employee on the accounting team who dedicates 12 hours monthly to these tasks.
- Subscription cost of €79,000 over three years. The composite organization’s subscription cost plan is composed of a fixed monthly fee of €2,650. This plan cost is based on the volumetry of transactions, invoices, and orders processed through the solution.
The representative interviews and financial analysis found that a composite organization experiences benefits of €315,000 over three years versus costs of €146,000, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of €170,000 and an ROI of 116%.
Key Statistics
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Return on investment (ROI)
116%
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Benefits PV
€315K
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Net present value (NPV)
€170K
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Payback
8 months
Benefits (Three-Year)
Accounting cost savings Cost savings due to reduction in errors Increase sales Printing savingsRegistration Required To Continue
TEI Framework And Methodology
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment Cegid XRP Flex.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that Cegid XRP Flex can have on an organization.
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Due Diligence
Interviewed Cegid stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Cegid XRP Flex.
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Interviews
Interviewed five representatives at organizations using Cegid XRP Flex to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
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Composite Organization
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations.
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Financial Model Framework
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
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Case Study
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Disclosures
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Cegid and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Cegid XRP Flex.
Cegid reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Cegid provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Consulting Team:
Alexis Ouelhadj, Consultant
Lara d’Armancourt, Associate consultant
Drivers leading to the Cegid XRP Flex investment
Interviews
| Role | Industry | Region | Revenue | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management accountant | Research | France, Spain | €20 million | 1,000 purchase orders and 5,000 invoices |
| Head of accounting | Hospitality | France | N/A | 250,000 accounting lines |
| CEO | Retail/wholesale | France | €5 million | 6,000 sales orders and 1,100 purchase invoices |
| Finance director | Consulting | France | €55 million | 1,200 sales invoices and 200 supplier invoices |
| Finance director | Data | France | €12 million | 60,000 accounting lines |
Key Challenges
The interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
- Poor digitalization resulting in lengthy manual processes. The interviewees mentioned their organizations’ previous solutions offered poor digitalization options and required heavy manual work from accounting team members to share information.
- Not scalable and adaptable to needs and growth objectives. Interviewees mentioned that because their organizations’ previous solutions were not cloud-native, they did not allow for additional or expansion of usage and capabilities, and therefore were not in line with their growth objectives. They also mentioned limited possibilities to configure the solutions’ interfaces based on their needs.
- Limited access and mobility. Each interviewee mentioned that their organization’s previous solutions did not permit remote access from accounting staff members. They highlighted that this was a significant limitation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when employees were required to work remotely.
Solution Requirements/Investment Objectives
The interviewees’ organizations searched for a solution that could:
- Be a centralized point of access for key financial activity information and overview.
- Be scalable based on their needs and growth objectives.
- Help them comply with current regulations and conformity.
- Allow for remote access and mobility.
- Support digitalization efforts.
Composite Organization
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the five interviewees, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The composite organization is a retail/wholesale distributor operating in France with annual revenues of €10 million. The organization sells products to both businesses and end customers.
Deployment characteristics. The composite organization utilizes the financial/accounting, sales, and purchase modules of Cegid XRP Flex. In addition, it integrates Cegid XRP Flex with four marketplaces and its bank interface. In Year 1, it receives and executes 10,000 sales orders with 5% year-over-year growth. It emits 1,833 purchase orders in Year 1, and the average cost per order is €1,000.
Quantified benefit data as applied to the composite
Total Benefits
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Accounting cost savings | €32,000 | €32,000 | €32,000 | €96,000 | €79,579 |
| Btr | Cost savings due to reduction in errors | €40,223 | €41,852 | €43,631 | €125,706 | €103,935 |
| Ctr | Increased sales | €48,000 | €50,400 | €52,920 | €151,320 | €125,049 |
| Dtr | Printing savings | €2,569 | €2,682 | €2,802 | €8,053 | €6,657 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | €122,792 | €126,934 | €131,353 | €381,079 | €315,220 |
Accounting Cost Savings
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted that Cegid XRP Flex empowered the digitalization of financial information and processes that enabled real-time flow of information across the solution that is accessible through one access point. As a result, their organizations eliminated certain manual tasks and reduced efforts on others, which ultimately resulted in efficiency gains for accounting teams.
- Before investing in Cegid XRP Flex, the interviewees’ organizations faced challenges in sharing and accessing financial and accounting information, primarily due to the poor digitalization offered by their previous solutions. The interviewees described substantial and repetitive manual efforts required for tasks such as sharing information with colleagues, searching for transactions or information, printing invoices and accounting books, preparing reports, processing expenses, and calculating the tax on value added.
- With Cegid XRP Flex, the interviewees’ organizations freed themselves from their prior limitations. Their finance and accounting teams gained access to real-time information that was all in one access point and could be easily shared. The management accountant at a research organization said: “Before [using Cegid XRP Flex], all the data was in different places. Now it’s in one place [and] everything is now centralized. … The digitalization gained from Cegid XRP Flex allowed us to save about eight days that were previously dedicated to archiving only.”
- In addition, the same interviewee noted: “[During audits or controls,] there are time savings for both the auditors and us. We can now share information with auditors or authorities in a fast and seamless way. We are regularly audited, and for each control, I was spending at least one day of work preparing ahead of time. Now I only spend 1 hour. … With all the improvements, we saved one to two FTEs.”
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The finance director at a consulting firm cited integration with other platforms, including banking interfaces, as an area of time savings. He said: “Before, I had to log in every night on three or four online banks separately and use a different calculator for each to validate all transactions. In the meantime, the accounting staff had to process each transfer manually. In total, we saved at least two days of work per month just from this.”
He also noted automation of some processes as a source of time savings for the accounting team. He said, “With the automation of the tax on value added calculation, our head of accounting saved at least one day per month.” - Moreover, the same interviewee said the convenience of obtaining real-time data and graphs and the remote access capabilities of Cegid XRP Flex contributed to additional time savings. He said: “Before, I was spending at least one day per month preparing steering committee presentations. Now, I have all the data and graphs I need in real time. [Additionally,] we opened the accounting module to our external accounting firm. They have remote access and can visualize the same data as us in real time. They no longer have to ask for information from our team [which], in turn, no longer has to share this information manually. This is saving time for them and us, particularly during closing periods.”
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The head of accounting in hospitality also mentioned time savings for their organization’s accounting team. He said: “As a result [of Cegid XRP Flex], we saved about 1 hour per day per employee on organizing, archiving, looking for invoices, and so on.”
He also said the digital capabilities Cegid XRP Flex provides (e.g., being able to attach digital invoices to each transaction or being able to categorize different point of sales) contributed to reductions in efforts by the accounting team. - The CEO at a retail/wholesale company said: “With the automation of information flows across Cegid XRP Flex and the integrated third-party solutions, we saved the equivalent of at least one headcount from no longer having to manually process all the information.”
Modeling and assumptions. Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite’s accounting efficiency improvements are equivalent to one FTE in Years 1, 2, and 3.
- The composite utilizes Cegid XRP Flex’s finance, sales, and purchase modules.
- The composite integrates Cegid XRP Flex with other interfaces.
- The average fully burdened annual salary of an accountant is €80,000.
- The composite’s productivity conversion rate is 50%.
Risks. Risks that could impact the realization of this benefit include:
- The organization’s previous environment and manual efforts.
- The Cegid XRP Flex modules and integrations the organization uses.
- The accounting team staff headcount.
- The salaries of accounting team employees.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €80,000.
Accounting Cost Savings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Reduced accounting efforts (FTEs) | Interviews | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| A2 | Fully burdened annual salary of an accountant | Interviews | €80,000 | €80,000 | €80,000 | |
| A3 | Productivity conversion | TEI standard | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| At | Cost savings for accounting due to improved accounting system | A1*A2*A3 | €40,000 | €40,000 | €40,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Atr | Accounting cost savings (risk-adjusted) | €32,000 | €32,000 | €32,000 | ||
| Three-year total: €96,000 | Three-year present value: €79,579 | |||||
Cost Savings Due To Reduction In Errors
Evidence and data. Interviewees mentioned that because flows of information are automated across Cegid XRP Flex, its different modules, and integrated third-party solutions, their organizations reduced the number of errors for purchases and sales.
- The head of accounting at a hospitality firm noted: “With the payment module of Cegid XRP Flex, payments can only be submitted when they’re in a specific status, which improves reliability of our expenses. [This is] something critical with [large] volumes of transactions.”
- The management accountant in research said: “Something we no longer see is erroneous double payments. Now, there is not a single expense that doesn’t go through Cegid XRP Flex, which is something we couldn’t do previously for overhead expenses. This aspect only prevented any errors of double payments, which used to happen previously. … The cost of errors was about €10,000 per year.”
- The CEO of a retail/wholesale company mentioned: “Previously, there were many sales errors either because of wrong pricing, inaccurate quantities, incorrect addresses, or missing contact information. There is a direct financial impact from all these errors, from having to contact the client, delaying the delivery, having to redeliver the product, or even compensating the client. With the volume we manage today, the savings are substantial. … We reduced our sales errors by about 10% due to the integration and automation of flows across modules, our stock management partner, and the different marketplaces on which we sell our products.”
Modeling and assumptions. Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite receives 10,000 sales orders in Year 1, and this number grows by 5% year-over-year.
- The composite’s rate of sales errors prior to using Cegid XRP Flex was 12%
- The composite’s rate of sales errors with Cegid XRP Flex is 2%
- Prior to using Cegid XRP Flex, customer support team members spent an average of 30 minutes per error.
- With Cegid XRP Flex, customer support team members spend an average of 10 minutes per error.
- The average fully burdened hourly salary of a customer support team member is €24.
- Twenty percent of sales errors require additional expenses or compensation.
- The average cost of additional compensation per error is €150.
Risks. Risks that could impact the realization of this benefit include:
- The organization’s previous number of purchase and sales errors.
- The average amount of time spent customer support teams spend on sales errors.
- The average salaries of customer support team members.
- The share of errors that require additional expenses or compensation.
- The average cost of errors that require additional expenses or compensation.
- The Cegid XRP Flex modules and integrations the organization uses.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 25%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €104,000.
Cost Savings Due To Reduction In Errors
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Avoided cost from reduction in payment errors to suppliers | Interviews | €10,000 | €10,000 | €10,000 | |
| B2 | Rate of sales errors prior to Cegid XRP Flex | Assumption | 12% | 12% | 12% | |
| B3 | Sales orders | Composite | 10,000 | 10,500 | 11,025 | |
| B4 | Errors prior to Cegid XRP Flex | B2*B3 | 1,200 | 1,260 | 1,323 | |
| B5 | Average time spent by customer support team per error prior to Cegid XRP Flex (minutes) | Assumption | 30 | 30 | 30 | |
| B6 | Total time spent by customer support team on sales errors prior to Cegid XRP Flex (hours) | (B4*B5)/60 minutes | 600 | 630 | 662 | |
| B7 | Rate of sales errors with Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 2% | 2% | 2% | |
| B8 | Errors with Cegid XRP Flex | B3*B7 | 200 | 210 | 221 | |
| B9 | Average time spent by customer support team per error with Cegid XRP Flex (minutes) | Assumption | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| B10 | Total time spent by customer support team on sales errors with Cegid XRP Flex (hours) | B8*B9/60 minutes | 33 | 35 | 37 | |
| B11 | Time reduction by customer support team on errors with Cegid XRP Flex (hours) | B6-B10 | 567 | 595 | 625 | |
| B12 | Average fully burdened hourly salary of a customer support operations FTE | Interviews | €24 | €24 | €24 | |
| B13 | Subtotal: Cost savings due to reduction in sales errors requiring customer support outbound only | B3*B4 | €13,630 | €14,303 | €15,024 | |
| B14 | Share of errors requiring additional expenses or compensation | Assumption | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| B15 | Errors requiring additional expenses or customer compensation prior to Cegid XRP Flex | B4*B14 | 240 | 252 | 265 | |
| B16 | Errors requiring customer compensation with Cegid XRP Flex | B3*B6*B14 | 40 | 42 | 44 | |
| B17 | Reduction in errors requiring customer compensation with Cegid XRP Flex | B15-B16 | 200 | 210 | 221 | |
| B18 | Average compensation cost per error | Assumption | €150 | €150 | €150 | |
| B19 | Subtotal: Avoided compensation cost with Cegid XRP Flex | B17*B18 | €30,000 | €31,500 | €33,150 | |
| Bt | Cost savings due to reduction in errors | B1+B13+B19 | €53,630 | €55,803 | €58,174 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓25% | |||||
| Btr | Cost savings due to reduction in errors (risk-adjusted) | €40,223 | €41,852 | €43,631 | ||
| Three-year total: €125,706 | Three-year present value: €103,935 | |||||
Increased Sales
Evidence and data. The CEO at a retail/wholesale firm noted that because Cegid XRP Flex enables integration of various modules, real-time automated information flow, and seamless integration with third-party marketplaces and solutions, their organization accessed and gained new customers, which ultimately led to an increase in sales profits.
This interviewee said: “[With Cegid XRP Flex,] there are many possibilities to be flexible and connect to other solutions in order to increase the activity while having a tool that is capable of processing this new activity.”
He noted that with Cegid XRP Flex, their organization now sells its products directly to end customers, which was a market segment it could not sell to previously. The interviewee said this is thanks to the solution’s integration with marketplaces and the automated flow of data across its ecosystem. They said, “This new segment we now have access to represents approximately 20% of our revenue … and we attribute 30% of this to Cegid XRP Flex.”
Modeling and assumptions. Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite receives 10,000 sales orders in Year 1, and this number grows at 5% year over year.
- The composite’s average revenue per sales order is €1,000.
- The composite’s revenue in Year 1 is €10 million.
- Twenty percent of this revenue is from the new market segment.
- Thirty percent of this new revenue is attributed to Cegid XRP Flex.
- The composite has an operating margin of 10%.
Risks. Risks that could impact the realization of this benefit include:
- The share of customers the organization verifies in new markets/segments.
- The organization’s resources and ability to access new markets.
- The organization’s existing presence across markets.
- The Cegid XRP Flex modules and integrations the organization uses.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €125,000.
Increased Sales
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Revenue | Composite | €10,000,000 | €10,500,000 | €11,025,000 | |
| C2 | Share of revenue improvement with Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| C3 | Share of revenue improvement attributed to Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
| C4 | Income margin | TEI standard | 10% | 10% | 10% | |
| Ct | Increased sales | C1*C2*C3*C4 | €60,000 | €63,000 | €66,150 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Ctr | Increased sales (risk-adjusted) | €48,000 | €50,400 | €52,920 | ||
| Three-year total: €151,320 | Three-year present value: €125,049 | |||||
Printing Savings
Evidence and data. Interviewees said that with Cegid XRP Flex, their organizations virtually eliminated the need for physical archiving while enhancing digital information sharing across the organization and with suppliers and clients. This shift resulted in savings on printing costs.
- The management accountant in research noted: “Before, we printed 5,000 pages for invoices per year and 1,000 additional copies. We also printed three copies for each order confirmation, and there were about 2,000 delivery confirmation receipts that we no longer print. That’s 11,000 pages that we printed in total [before using Cegid XRP Flex]. Today, we only print about 1,000.”
- The finance director at a consulting firm said: “All printings have been eliminated for purchase and sales invoices. We have about 1,200 sales and 200 supplier invoices per year, and we were printing about one page per invoice previously.”
- The head of accounting in hospitality mentioned: “We used to print a lot. We have about 250,000 transaction lines per year. This represented about 13,000 to 14,000 pages to print the end-of-year accounting books. Today, we almost no longer print.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite makes 1,833 purchase orders in Year 1, and this number grows at a rate of 5% year over year.
- Prior to using Cegid XRP Flex, the composite printed an average of five pages per purchase order.
- Prior to using Cegid XRP Flex, the composite printed an average of two pages for 2,580 other expenses.
- Prior to using Cegid XRP Flex, the composite printed an average of three copies of sales orders.
- The composite has 25,013 total accounting lines in Year 1, 26,013 in Year 2, and 27,263 in Year 3.
- The composite prints an average of 18.5 transaction lines per page for end-of-year book printings.
- Previously, the composite printed one end-of-year closing book printed per year previously.
- The composite has one control per year that requires printing an additional copy of the end-of-year closing book.
- Previously, the composite printed 15% worth of additional copies.
- The average cost of per printed page is €0.05.
Risks. Risks that could impact the realization of this benefit include:
- The number of printed pages eliminated.
- The number of copies previously printed.
- The average cost per page.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €7,000.
Printing Savings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Purchase orders | Composite | 1,833 | 1,925 | 2,021 | |
| D2 | Average copies printed per invoice prior to Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| D3 | Subtotal: Copies avoided for invoices | D1*D2 | 9,167 | 9,625 | 10,106 | |
| D4 | Other expense invoices | Composite | 2,580 | 2,580 | 2,580 | |
| D5 | Copies per purchase order prior to Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| D6 | Subtotal: Copies avoided for other expenses | D4*D5 | 5,160 | 5,160 | 5,160 | |
| D7 | Sales orders | Composite | 10,000 | 10,500 | 11,025 | |
| D8 | Copies per sales order prior to Cegid XRP Flex | Interviews | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| D9 | Subtotal: Copies avoided for sales orders | D7*D8 | 30,000 | 31,500 | 33,075 | |
| D10 | Accounting lines | Composite | 25,013 | 26,013 | 27,263 | |
| D11 | Copies for accounting books prior to Cegid XRP Flex | Composite | 1,351 | 1,405 | 1,472 | |
| D12 | Audit and/or control per year | Assumption | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| D13 | Copies per audit and/or control prior to Cegid XRP Flex | D12*D11 | 1,351 | 1,405 | 1,472 | |
| D14 | Total copies avoided with Cegid XRP Flex | D3+D6+D9+D11+D13+15% | 54,083 | 56,459 | 58,978 | |
| D15 | Average cost per printed page | Assumption | €0.05 | €0.05 | €0.05 | |
| Dt | Printing savings | D14*D15 | €2,704 | €2,823 | €2,949 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | |||||
| Dtr | Printing savings (risk-adjusted) | €2,569 | €2,682 | €2,802 | ||
| Three-year total: €8,053 | Three-year present value: €6,657 | |||||
Unquantified Benefits
Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
- Improved employee experience. Interviewees said the digitalization of processes with Cegid XRP Flex enhanced their organizations’ employee experiences. They said the user-friendly interface and centralized point of access made it easier for employees to find and retrieve information. The CEO of a retail/wholesale company said: “Cegid XRP Flex is very easy to use. Our team is really satisfied by the UX and the solution’s capabilities.”
- Improved compliance with authorities. The organizations’ previous outdated solutions lacked digital capabilities, which prevented them from sharing specific files with authorities in required digital formats. But interviewees said with Cegid XRP Flex, their firms now have access to these files if needed. The head of accounting in hospitality said: “Our previous accounting solution was outdated and no longer in line with current regulations, which required us to provide a digital file during controls. Now, with Cegid XRP Flex, we have access to this digital file and can share it directly.”
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Improved access. Interviewees said that because Cegid XRP Flex is a cloud-native solution, it provided their organizations with a tool that is accessible remotely. Each interviewee mentioned that the solution’s portability capabilities are a great advantage compared to their previous on-premises solutions. They also highlighted that this impacts their organizations’ partners in addition to their employees.
The management accountant at a research organization said, “Auditors have also gained possibility to remote controls with Cegid XRP Flex, which improved their work and reduced their physical presence by two.”
The CEO of a retail/wholesale company added, “Because Cegid XRP Flex is a cloud solution, [we] can create remote access for our external accounting firm, which is very convenient for them.” - Improved relations with partner organizations. Interviewees said that because Cc XRP Flex reduced errors and optimized the sharing of information, it enhanced relations with partner organizations. The management accountant at a research organization said: “With Cegid XRP Flex, we have asked our suppliers to share all their invoices digitally. This improved our payments, and it ultimately had a positive impact on our relations with them.”
- Improved predictability. Interviewees cited Cegid XRP Flex’s ability to integrate across modules and with third-party solutions and having access to the real-time data it provides as a contributor to improved tracking of activity and predictability. The CEO in retail/wholesale said: “Since our stock management solution is integrated with our marketplaces, we need to have precise stock management and data. With Cegid XRP Flex, we can track our stock more precisely, which helps reduce errors.”
Flexibility
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Cegid XRP Flex and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
- Flexible usage and functionalities. Interviewees highlighted the value of Cegid XRP Flex for its integration capabilities and the possibility to add different modules. They noted the adaptability of the solution to meet their specific needs and objectives and its configurable features, which provides their organizations with the ability to customize the solution according to their requirements. Each interviewee mentioned that with Cegid XRP Flex, their organization obtained a solution that is versatile and adaptable to meet its diverse needs.
- Reduced ecological footprint. Each interviewee noted their organization reduced its ecological footprint as a direct result of avoided printing due to using Cegid XRP Flex.
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
Quantified cost data as applied to the composite
Total Costs
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etr | Implementation and deployment costs | €52,133 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €52,133 | €52,133 |
| Ftr | Ongoing costs | €0 | €5,815 | €5,815 | €5,815 | €17,445 | €14,461 |
| Gtr | Subscription costs | €0 | €31,800 | €31,800 | €31,800 | €95,400 | €79,082 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | €52,133 | €37,615 | €37,615 | €37,615 | €164,978 | €145,676 |
Implementation And Deployment Costs
Evidence and data. Interviewees spoke about their organizations’ implementation and deployment of Cegid XRP Flex via third-party system integrators. The cost of deployment and implementation included the following:
- A fixed, one-time fee to evaluate, deploy, and test the solution based on the organization’s needs and volumetry along with configuring the solution, making custom developments, and integrating with third-party platforms.
- The accounting team’s time and efforts to test and train on the solution during the deployment phase.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- A Cegid partner system integrator performs the implementation and deployment over 1.5 months.
- During implementation, employed accountants participate in testing and training activities for one month. This testing and training overlaps with other deployment activities.
- Four accounting employees dedicate 20% of their time to the testing and training process.
- The fully burdened annual salary of an accountant is €80,000.
Risks. Risks that could impact the initial cost include:
- The organization’s previous accounting/financial environment.
- The organization’s system integrator fee.
- The organization’s deployment approach.
- The number of custom modules the organization develops.
- The annual salaries of accounting team members.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €52,000.
Implementation And Deployment Costs
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | System integrator implementation and deployment cost | Interviews | €40,000 | ||||
| E2 | Employee testing and training duration (months) | Interviews | 1 | ||||
| E3 | Accounting staff headcount (FTEs) | Interviews | 4 | ||||
| E4 | Share of time dedicated to testing and training | Interviews | 20% | ||||
| E5 | Fully burdened annual salary of an accountant | Interviews | €80,000 | ||||
| E6 | Labor cost of accounting team | E2*E3*E5*E4/12 months | €5,333 | ||||
| Et | Implementation and deployment costs | E1+E6 | €45,333 | €0 | €0 | €0 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑15% | ||||||
| Etr | Implementation and deployment costs (risk-adjusted) | €52,133 | €0 | €0 | €0 | ||
| Three-year total: €52,133 | Three-year present value: €52,133 | ||||||
Ongoing Costs
Evidence and data. Interviewees mentioned that an accounting staff member was involved in managing their organizations’ ongoing relationships and monitoring and reporting any issue with the solution to ensure proper continuous integration of its modules.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- One accounting team member dedicates 12 hours per month on an ongoing basis to managing the integration and relationship with Cegid, monitoring the solution, and reporting any issues.
- The average fully burdened hourly salary of an accountant is €33.46.
Risks. Risks that could impact this cost include:
- The amount of time the organization dedicates to managing integrations and detecting and reporting issues with Cegid.
- The number of modules the organization deploys.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €14,000.
Ongoing Costs
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Accountant project manager headcount for ongoing integration and relationship management (FTEs) | Interviews | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| F2 | Monthly time spent on ongoing integration and relationship management (hours) | Interviews | 12 | 12 | 12 | ||
| F3 | Fully burdened hourly salary of an accountant | A2/2,080 hours | €38.46 | €38.46 | €38.46 | ||
| Ft | Ongoing costs | F2*F3*12 months | €5,538 | €5,538 | €5,538 | ||
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | ||||||
| Ftr | Ongoing costs (risk-adjusted) | €0 | €5,815 | €5,815 | €5,815 | ||
| Three-year total: €17,445 | Three-year present value: €14,461 | ||||||
Subscription Costs
Evidence and data. Interviewees reported that Cegid charges a monthly subscription fee for Cegid XRP Flex. This fee is based on the modules used as well as the volumetry of transactions and data are processed through the solution. The subscription fee also includes maintenance and support.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite falls within Cegid XRP Flex’s M2 cost category.
- The composite utilizes the sales and purchase models in addition to the core financial/accounting module.
Risks. Risks that could impact this cost include:
- The volume of invoices processed with Cegid XRP Flex.
- The number and types of modules the organization uses.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 0%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of €79,000.
Subscription Costs
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Monthly subscription cost | Composite | €0 | €2,650 | €2,650 | €2,650 | |
| Gt | Subscription costs | G1*12 months | €0 | €31,800 | €31,800 | €31,800 | |
| Risk adjustment | 0% | ||||||
| Gtr | Subscription costs (risk-adjusted) | €0 | €31,800 | €31,800 | €31,800 | ||
| Three-year total: €95,400 | Three-year present value: €79,082 | ||||||
Consolidated Three-Year Risk-Adjusted Metrics
Cash Flow Chart (Risk-Adjusted)
Total costs Total benefits Cumulative net benefits-
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted Estimates)
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | (€52,133) | (€37,615) | (€37,615) | (€37,615) | (€164,978) | (€145,676) |
| Total benefits | €0 | €122,792 | €126,934 | €131,353 | €381,079 | €315,220 |
| Net benefits | (€52,133) | €85,177 | €89,319 | €93,738 | €216,101 | €169,544 |
| ROI | 116% | |||||
| Payback | 8.0 months |
Appendix A: Total Economic Impact
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
Total Economic Impact Approach
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Benefits represent the value delivered to the business by the product. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and the measure of costs, allowing for a full examination of the effect of the technology on the entire organization.
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Costs consider all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the product. The cost category within TEI captures incremental costs over the existing environment for ongoing costs associated with the solution.
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Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. Having the ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
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Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
Appendix B: Supplemental Material
Related Forrester Research
“Enterprise Resource Planning Market Insights, 2023,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 25, 2023.
“The State Of ERP Cloud Migration, 2023,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 17, 2023.
Appendix C: Endnotes
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
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